INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana — The first of the two most anticipated track and field events of 2022 is kicking off this Thursday, June 23 with the Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships, set to take place at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon through June 26. The competition will serve as a selection event for the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 - the first of its kind to take place on U.S. soil in Eugene, Oregon July 15-24.
2022 U.S. leading performance – 9.86, Micah Williams 2020 Olympians entered – Fred Kerley, Trayvon Bromell World Championships wild card – Christian Coleman, 2019 World Champion Olympic silver medalist Fred Kerley (Miami, Florida/USATF Gulf) and reigning world champion Christian Coleman (Lexington, Kentucky/USATF Kentucky) top a loaded field that includes eight men who have broken 10 seconds in the past year. Kerley made complete his transition from the top collegiate 400m runner in 2017 to an elite dashman at Tokyo, zipping to a 9.84 to miss the gold by only .04 seconds. He has run 9.92 this season, the same time as Coleman and Olympic teammate Trayvon Bromell (Jacksonville, Florida/USATF Florida). Coleman has a bye into the World Championships as a result of the title he won in 2019, while Bromell won the Pre Classic at 9.93. This year’s fastest American, Micah Williams (Portland, Oregon/USATF Oregon), has clocked 9.86 and will have a vocal fan club as he is a local favorite and was a member of the Oregon team. Better known as a 200m man, Kenny Bednarek (Minneola, Florida/USATF Wisconsin) was fourth at the Trials and is a threat based on his 9.89 in that race. Marvin Bracy (Jacksonville, Florida/USATF Florida) brings in a 9.85 lifetime best and was the bronze medalist in the 60m at this year’s World Indoor Championships behind Coleman’s silver.
2022 U.S. leading performance – 19.49, Erriyon Knighton 2020 Olympians entered – Noah Lyles, Kenny Bednarek, Erriyon Knighton World Championships wild card – Noah Lyles, 2019 World Champion Reigning world champion Noah Lyles (Clermont, Florida/USATF Potomac Valley) has a bye into this year’s World Championships, and he was a bronze medalist at Tokyo as Team USATF went 2-3-4. Lyles was victorious at the USATF NYC GP in a blazing 19.61, his third-fastest time ever. Kenny Bednarek claimed silver at the Games in a PR 19.68 and had a remarkable 11 sub-20 races in 2021, the most ever in a single year, capped off by winning the Diamond League title at Zurich in 19.70. Teenager Erriyon Knighton (Riverview, Florida/USATF Florida), still just 18, stunned the track and field world in April with a 19.49 at LSU, making him the No. 4 all-time performer. Knighton set a slew of world U18 and U20 records last year and still has another year of U20 eligibility. Fred Kerley just missed an Olympic spot after finishing fourth at the Trials and sports a 19.76 PR, while Christian Coleman has a 19.92 to his credit in 2022.
2022 U.S. leading performance – 43.60, Michael Norman 2020 Olympians entered – Michael Cherry, Michael Norman, Randolph Ross World Championships wild card – Michael Cherry, 2021 Diamond League champion Dropping into sub-44 territory for the first time since 2019, Michael Norman’s (Los Angeles, California/USATF Southern California) world-leading 43.60 to win the Pre Classic announced that he was back in top form. Norman was fifth at Tokyo and won gold on the U.S. 4x400m relay with Michael Cherry (Los Angeles, California/USATF Southern California) and Bryce Deadmon (Arlington, Texas/USATF Gulf). Cherry has a bye into the Worlds after winning the Diamond League title last year, and he has run 44.28 in 2022. Deadmon was the NCAA runner-up for Texas A&M last year with a PR 44.44 and ran on both the 4x400m and mixed 4x400m relays in Tokyo, picking up a bronze in the latter. Two-time NCAA champion Randolph Ross (Burlington, North Carolina/USATF North Carolina) ran in the 4x400m heats at the Games and earned gold, and he has a best of 43.85 from last year’s NCAA win. The collegiate runner-up, Champion Allison (Gainesville, Florida/USATF Florida), set his lifetime best of 44.29 in the semis at that meet, and NCAA bronze medalist Elija Godwin (Athens, Georgia/USATF Georgia) is another young talent in an event where the U.S. has an embarrassment of riches, with 12 men entered under 45 seconds. International relay stalwart Vernon Norwood (Baton Rouge, Louisiana/USATF Southern) has won six medals across an array of indoor and outdoor global championships, including gold and bronze at Tokyo.
2022 U.S. leading performance – 1:45.07, Bryce Hoppel 2020 Olympians entered – Bryce Hoppel, Isaiah Jewett, Clayton Murphy World Championships wild card – Donavan Brazier, 2019 World Champion While U.S. athletes have fared very well of late in this event, question marks abound. American record holder and reigning world champion Donavan Brazier (Grand Rapids, Michigan, USATF Oregon) was slowed by injuries and missed out on the Games, but returned earlier this year to make the U.S. team for the World Indoor Championships, running the 4x400m relay. At that meet, Bryce Hoppel (Midland, Texas/USATF Missouri Valley) earned bronze in the 800m, and he was a semifinalist at Tokyo after a fourth-place finish at the 2019 World Championships. Trials champion Clayton Murphy (Macedonia, Ohio/USATF Lake Erie) was the 2016 Rio Games bronze medalist, and Isaiah Jewett (Inglewood, California/USATF Southern California) won the NCAA title for USC last year. Both men have sub-1:44 credentials. Three other entrants have dipped under 1:45 in the past year, including World Indoor seventh-placer Isaiah Harris (Lewiston, Maine/USATF Pacific Northwest) and NCAA bronze medalist Brandon Miller (O’Fallon, Missouri/USATF Ozark).
2022 U.S. leading performance – 3:34.81, Cooper Teare 2020 Olympians entered – Cole Hocker, Yared Nuguse Youth has been served here, with Cole Hocker (Indianapolis, Indiana/USATF Indiana) finishing sixth at Tokyo at age 20. Hocker has a terrific finishing kick and can run with anyone in the homestretch, and his 3:31.40 at the Games moved him to No. 8 on the all-time U.S. performer list. Unable to compete at the Olympics due to injury after placing third at the Trials, Yared Nuguse (Louisville, Kentucky/USATF Kentucky) has come back strong in 2022 and ran 3:34.98 at Portland on June 11. Hocker’s former Oregon teammate, Cooper Teare (Eugene, Oregon/USATF Oregon), has the fastest time by an American this year at 3:34.81 and was fourth in the 5,000m at the Trials. Three other men enter with times under 3:35 – Colby Alexander (Reston, Virginia/USATF New York), Henry Wynne (Seattle, Washington/USATF Pacific Northwest), and Johnny Gregorek (Sommerville, Massachusetts/USATF New York) – but in a tactical race there are numerous candidates to earn a top-three finish.
2022 U.S. leading performance – 8:12.19, Hillary Bor 2020 Olympians entered – Hillary Bor, Benard Keter, Mason Ferlic The lone U.S. finalist at Tokyo, Benard Keter (Colorado Springs, Colorado/USATF Colorado) placed 11th in what was his first global championship event. Keter has a best of 8:17.31, set in the heats at the Games, but the American leader is Hillary Bor (Colorado Springs, Colorado/USATF Colorado), who clocked 8:12.19 to take eighth at the Rome Diamond League meet on June 9. Bor was seventh at Rio and added an eighth-place effort at the 2019 World Championships, and has three times run under 8:10 in his career. Mason Ferlic (Ann Arbor, Michigan/USATF Michigan) was the third U.S. Olympian and has a lifetime best of 8:18.49. Duncan Hamilton (Bozeman, Montana/USATF Montana) of Montana State and Parker Stokes (Endicott, New York/USATF Niagara) of Georgetown claimed a share of the American collegiate record with identical 8:18.88 times at the NCAA Championships as Hamilton edged Stokes for second place by .002 seconds.
2022 U.S. leading performance – 12:53.73i, Grant Fisher 2020 Olympians entered – Paul Chelimo, Grant Fisher, Woody Kincaid A master of running the right race at the right time, Paul Chelimo (Colorado Springs, Colorado/USATF Colorado) has a silver medal from Rio and a bronze from Tokyo to go with the World Championships bronze he earned in 2017. He ran 12:59.05 to finish third at last year’s Olympics and has won seven U.S. titles in his career. Ninth at Tokyo was Grant Fisher (Portland, Oregon/USATF Oregon), who has had a terrific season already, clocking 12:53.73 indoors and then bettering the American record in the 10,000m with a 26:33.84 in March. As if that weren’t enough, Fisher already has a berth on the World Championships team after taking second behind Joe Klecker at the 10,000m championships in April. Woody Kincaid (Portland, Oregon/USATF Oregon) had to drop out of those 10,000m trials with a side stitch, but is a formidable competitor with a 12:58.10 lifetime best and a 14th-place finish at the Games. Nine men have dipped under 13:10 in the qualifying window, led by Emmanuel Bor (Colorado Springs, Colorado/USATF Colorado) at 13:00.48, with Trials fourth-placer Cooper Teare at 13:06.73. Any of those athletes could claim a top-three finish in this one-off race.
2022 U.S. leading performance – 12.84, Devon Allen 2020 Olympians entered – Grant Holloway, Devon Allen, Daniel Roberts World Championships wild card – Grant Holloway, 2019 World Champion Grab some popcorn and buckle yourself in for what may be a race for the ages. Reigning world champion and Olympic silver medalist Grant Holloway (Gainesville, Florida/USATF Florida) has a bye into the World Championships, but he ran 12.81 in the semis at the Trials last year on this track, missing the world record by .01 seconds, and may be looking for every opportunity he can get to run at Hayward again. Showing newfound confidence and speed after signing a free agent contract with the Philadelphia Eagles of the NFL, Devon Allen (Annapolis, Maryland/USATF Potomac Valley) beat Holloway at the USATF NYC GP with a stunning 12.84, the third-fastest time ever run. Allen, fourth at Tokyo, won Diamond League races at Oslo and Paris last week and has won seven of the eight finals he contested this season. In 2019, Daniel Roberts (Lexington, Kentucky/USATF Kentucky) was the only American to beat Holloway, taking his measure at the SEC Championships and the USATF Championships. Roberts was a semifinalist at Tokyo and has a lifetime best of 13.00. Florida State’s Trey Cunningham (Tallassee, Florida/USATF Florida) had an undefeated collegiate season this year, culminating in a blazing 13.00 to win the NCAA title. Eric Edwards (Houston, Texas/USATF Gulf) of LSU was second behind Cunningham in that race, clocking a lifetime best 13.15.
2022 U.S. leading performance – 47.49, Rai Benjamin 2020 Olympians entered – Rai Benjamin, Dave Kendziera When Rai Benjamin (Mount Vernon, New York/USATF New York) steps on a track in Eugene, magic seems to happen. At the 2018 NCAA Championships he rocketed to a collegiate record 47.02 in the rain, and then at last year’s Trials he became only the second American ever to break 47 seconds with his 46.83 win. Of course, all that was overshadowed at Tokyo by his historic part in the best 400m hurdles race ever. Benjamin crushed the American record with a 46.17 that earned him silver behind Karsten Warholm’s 45.94 world record and left even wizened track and field fans speechless. Benjamin also anchored Team USATF to gold in the 4x400m relay. The other two berths for this year’s World Championships will be scrapped for by a group of eight men who have run sub-49. Dave Kendziera (Chapel Hill, North Carolina/USATF North Carolina) was a semifinalist at Tokyo, but Khallifah Rosser (Fort Worth, Texas/USATF Southwestern) and Quincy Hall (Gainesville, Florida/USATF Florida) have had the hot hands, each with a season best of 48.10. Trials fourth-place finisher Aldrich Bailey (Arlington, Texas/USATF Southwestern) could also be in the frame, along with recent collegian Trevor Bassitt (Elida, Ohio/USATF Ohio), a silver medalist in the 400m at the World Indoor Championships.
2022 U.S. leading performance – 2.32m/7-7.25i, JuVaughn Harrison & Vernon Turner 2020 Olympians entered – JuVaughn Harrison, Darryl Sullivan, Shelby McEwen Completing a somewhat historic double last year, JuVaughn Harrison (Baton Rouge/USATF Southern) became the first American man since Jim Thorpe in 1912 to represent the U.S. in the high jump and long jump at an Olympic Games. Harrison won the Trials at 2.33m/7-7.75 and then matched that height to take seventh at the Games. Two weeks ago, he won the Rome Diamond League meet and he is the co-U.S. leader this year with an indoor 2.32m/7-7.25. Harrison’s Olympic teammates, Darryl Sullivan (Farmington, Arkansas/USATF Tennessee) and Shelby McEwen (Abbeville, Mississippi/USATF Southern), have also scaled 2.33m/7-7.75 and McEwen placed 12th at Tokyo. NCAA indoor champion Vernon Turner (Yukon, Oklahoma/USATF Oklahoma) of Oklahoma shares the 2022 U.S. lead with Harrison and notched a lifetime best of 2.33m in 2018.
2022 U.S. leading performance – 6.05m/19-10i, Chris Nilsen 2020 Olympians entered – Chris Nilsen, KC Lightfoot, Matt Ludwig World Championships wild card – Sam Kendricks, 2019 World Champion Over the past two seasons Chris Nilsen (Vermillion, South Dakota/USATF Dakotas) has been the most successful U.S. man in the pole vault, earning silver at the Olympics and bronze at the World Indoor Championships. Nilsen went over 6.05m/19-10 indoors in France in March to better the American indoor record and followed up with an outdoor 6.00m/19-8.25 at his home track in South Dakota. Another member of the U.S. 6m club, KC Lightfoot (Lee’s Summit, Missouri/USATF Missouri), tied for fourth at the Games and tied for 10th at the World Indoors. A late replacement at Tokyo for reigning world champion Sam Kendricks (Oxford, Mississippi, USATF Southern), who was third at the Trials, Matt Ludwig (Mentor On The Lakes, Ohio/USATF Lake Erie) made the best of the situation and cleared 5.50m/18-0.5 in the qualifying round. Ludwig has been on a European swing prior to the U.S. championships and has won two meets with clearances at 5.70m/18-8.25.
2022 U.S. leading performance – 8.27m/27-1.75i, Marquis Dendy 2020 Olympians entered – JuVaughn Harrison, Marquis Dendy, Steffin McCarter Winning the high jump/long jump double at the NCAA Championships and Olympic Trials in the same year is incredibly rare, but that’s just what JuVaughn Harrison (Baton Rouge/USATF Southern) did in 2021. Harrison went on to place fifth at the Olympics, the only American to make the final. Though he didn’t advance to the Tokyo final, Marquis Dendy (Ocala, Florida/USATF Florida) has medals from the last three World Indoor Championships, including a bronze from this year. Dendy has the best distance by an American in 2022 and twice won the NCAA long jump/triple jump double while at Florida. During his breakout season last year, Steffin McCarter (Copperas Cove, Texas/USATF Southwestern) recorded his lifetime best of 8.26m/27-1.25 to place third at the Trials, then ended his campaign with a runner-up finish in the Diamond League final. Collegians Brandon Hicklin (Spartanburg, South Carolina/USATF South Carolina) of North Carolina A&T and Matthew Boling (Athens, Georgia/USATF Georgia) of Georgia are also contenders for a top-three finish.
2022 U.S. leading performance – 17.21m/56-5.75i, Donald Scott 2020 Olympians entered – Will Claye, Donald Scott, Chris Benard World Championships wild card – Christian Taylor, 2019 World Champion American record holder, two-time Olympic gold medalist and four-time world champion Christian Taylor (Jacksonville, Florida/USATF Florida) has a bye into this year’s Worlds by virtue of his gold in 2019, and he is on the path to full recovery from an Achilles injury early last year that ruined his Olympic hopes. In his stead, the man who took silver behind him at four of those global championships, Will Claye (New York, New York/USATF New York), finished fourth at Tokyo after winning the Trials on his final attempt and is one of only three Americans ever to surpass 18m, his 18.14m/59-6.25 ranking him No. 2 on the all-time U.S. performer list. World Indoor Championships bronze medalist Donald Scott (Ypsilanti, Michigan/USATF Michigan) has won six U.S. titles indoors and outdoors and was seventh at Tokyo. He has the best mark by an American in 2022. Two-time Olympian Chris Benard (Chula Vista, California/USATF San Diego-Imperial) is the other entrant who has gone past 17m in the past year and his consistency almost always has him in or near the top three.
2022 U.S. leading performance – 23.02m/75-6.25, Ryan Crouser 2020 Olympians entered – Ryan Crouser, Joe Kovacs, Payton Otterdahl World Championships wild card – Joe Kovacs, 2019 World Champion It’s a bit unusual that the Olympic champion and world record holder isn’t the one with the bye into the World Championships, but in this event it’s a testament to just how good Team USATF’s throwers are. In his year of years in 2021, Ryan Crouser (Redmond, Oregon/USATF Oregon) set world indoor and outdoor records and captured his second straight Olympic gold before icing the cake with a Diamond League title to embellish an undefeated campaign. His titanic 23.37m/76-8.25 at the Trials destroyed a record that had stood for 30 years, but he cannot rest on his laurels with reigning world champion and Tokyo silver medalist Joe Kovacs (Brentwood, Tennessee/USATF New York) throwing as far as ever. Kovacs won the 2019 Worlds in dramatic fashion with a lifetime best 22.91m/75-2 on his final attempt to turn back Crouser and New Zealand’s Tom Walsh by one centimeter, and he has already had four meets at 22m or better this season. Payton Otterdahl (Lincoln, New England/USATF Dakotas) and Darrell Hill (Mesa, Arizona/USATF San Diego-Imperial) are each capable of 22m+ throws, along with World Indoors fifth-place finisher Josh Awotunde (Columbia, South Carolina/USATF New Jersey) and NCAA champion Tripp Piperi (Austin, Texas/USATF Texas Southern).
2022 U.S. leading performance – 68.69/225-4, Sam Mattis 2020 Olympians entered – Sam Mattis, Reggie Jagers A big PR at the USATF Throws Festival in May launched Sam Mattis (East Brunswick, New Jersey/USATF New York) into the top 20 on the U.S. all-time performer list, and the Olympic eighth-place finisher looks to have even more in him. The 68.69m/225-4 he hit at Tucson was his best since 2016 and puts him nearly a meter ahead of the next best entrant, Reggie Jagers (Chula Vista, California/USATF Inland Northwest). Jagers won the 2018 U.S. title with a lifetime best of 68.61m/225-1, but is a lefthander and often faces wind issues that right handed throwers don’t. He hasn’t competed much since the Games, and behind him Andrew Evans (Portage, Michigan/USATF Kentucky) and Brian Williams (Mesa, Arizona/USATF Arizona) both have had superb seasons thus far and should challenge for the top three. Evans nabbed a lifetime best of 66.74/218-11 to finish second behind Mattis at the USATF Throws Festival, while Williams has improved his PR to 66.14m/217-0. Trials 5-6 finishers Legend Boyesen-Hayes (Kempton, Pennsylvania/USATF Mid-Atlantic) and Josh Syrotchen (Saint Peters, Missouri/USATF Mid-Atlantic) are also capable of big throws on the right day.
2022 U.S. leading performance – 79.44m/260-7, Daniel Haugh 2020 Olympians entered – Rudy Winkler, Daniel Haugh, Alex Young Returning to the ring where he won the Trials with an American record throw of 82.71m/271-4, Tokyo seventh-place finisher Rudy Winkler (Ithaca, New York/USATF New York) will have all he can handle with 2022 U.S. leader Daniel Haugh (Marietta, Georgia/USATF Georgia). Haugh, who finished four spots behind Winkler at the Games, reached a lifetime best 79.44m/260-7 on June 3 to add five centimeters to his previous PR that came in taking second at the Trials. Olympian Alex Young (LaVergne, Tennessee/USATF Pacific) and Sean Donnelly (Chula Vista, California/USATF Inland Northwest) have both been out past 77m and, with Winkler and Haugh, these four should be clear favorites to challenge for the three World Championships slots. Morgan Shigo (Vermillion, South Dakota/USATF Dakotas) has improved his lifetime best by almost a foot this year to 76.10m/249-8 and is an outside threat to break up the favored quartet.
2022 U.S. leading performance – 82.92m/272-0, Ethan Dabbs 2020 Olympians entered – Curtis Thompson, Michael Shuey For the first time since 2012, the U.S. has six men who have thrown 80m or better in a single year. This mini-renaissance in the event has seen youngsters and veterans alike throwing world-class distances, and this year’s best is collegian Ethan Dabbs (Charlotesville, Virginia/USATF Virginia) of Virginia. Dabbs threw 82.92m/272-0 to win the ACC Championships, and was the NCAA runner-up. Olympian Michael Shuey (Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania/USATF New York) is No. 4 on the all-time U.S. performer list with a lifetime best of 85.67m/281-1 but has competed sparingly this season. His Tokyo teammate Curtis Thompson (Florence, New Jersey/USATF New England), on the other hand, has competed nine times in 2022, the most recent being a win at Canada’s Harry Jerome Classic. Two-time NCAA champion Tim Glover, 32, is back near top form 10 years after his last collegiate title, and has won three meets this year. He has a best of 82.81m/271-8 that won the USATF Throws Festival. Former U20 national champion Marc Minichello (West, Pittston, Pennsylvania/USATF Mid-Atlantic) of Penn won the NCAA title, and local favorite Zach Holland of Umpqua Community College has improved more than 20 feet since last year to join the 80m+ club. Follow along as the nation’s best compete for a spot on Team USATF at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22. The Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships will be broadcast on NBC, CNBC, and USA and webcast on USATF.TV. More information on how to watch can be found here. A full schedule of events can be found here. Join the conversation with USATF on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook using the hashtag #USATF.