The US Olympic Track and Field Trials start today.
Once every four years, America revives its love for sports that typically don’t garner a lot of mainstream attention, especially gymnastics, swimming and diving, and, yes, track and field. That time is now.
For track and field athletes, it all starts with the June 21-30 U.S. Olympic Trials at Hayward field in Eugene, Oregon. Over 10 days of immense pressure, fierce competition, heartache, and glory, an estimated 900 athletes will compete for coveted spots to represent Team USA at the Paris Olympics this summer. It’s the best track meet in the world—save the Olympic Games themselves.
Hype around America’s top stars, including Sha’Carri Richardson, Noah Lyles, Ryan Crouser, Elle St. Pierre, Yared Neguse, Grant Holloway, and Anna Hall, is about to inundate your feed. Prediction contests will pop up. Track and field mania might even hit your run group. Here’s what you need to know to hold your own—and to soak up this magical time in the sport.
The U.S. Track and Field Olympic Trials is a showcase of hundreds of America’s best track and field athletes who will be battling for a chance to qualify for Team USA and compete in this summer’s Paris Olympics. For many athletes competing in Eugene, simply making it on to the start line is a life-long accomplishment. Each earned their spot by qualifying for the trials in their event(s). The athlete qualifier and declaration lists are expected to be finalized this week.
But for the highest echelon of athletes, the trials defines a make-or-break moment in their career. Only three Olympic team spots (in each gender) are available in each event, and given the U.S. depth in all facets of track and field—sprints, hurdles, throws, jumps, and distance running events—it’s considered the world’s hardest all-around team to make. How dominant is the U.S. in the world of track and field? It has led the track and field medal count at every Olympics since 1984.
At the trials, there are 20 total events for women and men—10 running events from 100 meters to 10,000 meters (including two hurdles races and the 3,000-meter steeplechase), four throwing events (discus, shot put, javelin, and hammer throw), four jumping events (long jump, triple jump, high jump, and pole vault), the quirky 20K race walking event, and, of course, the seven-event heptathlon (women) and the 10-event decathlon (men).
Read more at: https://run.outsideonline.com/news/u-s-track-and-field-olympic-trials-2024-guide