LOS ANGELES — As track and field athletes from around the world gear up for the USATF Los Angeles Grand Prix, below is an event-by-event preview.
100m: Highly anticipated as a showdown between the top two American women in 2023, this event also brings in formidable foreign challengers and a host of contenders for the World Championships final in Budapest. Sha'Carri Richardson tops the list of entry times with a world-leading 10.76 set in winning the Doha Diamond League meet, and she will face American indoor 60m record holder Aleia Hobbs, the USATF Indoor champion in the shortest dash who has also zipped to a 10.86 already this year and is undefeated in 14 60m/100m races this season. Marie Josee Ta Lou of the Cote d'Ivoire showed that she is back in top shape after battling injury, clocking a 10.78 in Florida last week. Ta Lou was the 100m and 200m silver medalist at the 2017 World Championships and finished in the top five in both events at the last two Olympics. At opposite ends of the experience spectrum, Jamaica's 18-year-old sensation Alana Reid ran 10.92 in March, while Team USATF veteran Morolake Akinosun has a 10.95 to her credit already. Three other women who were in the final of the USATF Championships last year are also slated to start, led by reigning national champion Melissa Jefferson. Jefferson won the U.S. title in a windy 10.69, while Celera Barnes and Javianne Oliver were sixth and seventh, respectively. Need more to whet your appetite for speed? 2021 NCAA 100m/200m champion Cambrea Sturgis had a PB of 10.87 last year, and Hobbs' training partner, Mikiah Brisco, earned silver in the 60m at last year's World Indoor Championships and was the USATF Indoor champion. English Gardner has four Olympic and World Championships 4x100m relay medals on her resume, including gold in 2016 at Rio, and she won the Olympic Trials in the 100m that year with a PB 10.74. Doubling up with the 200m, Gabby Thomas has an 11.00 PB and was fourth at the Olympic Trials in 2021. 200m: Olympic bronze medalist Gabby Thomas has started her 2023 campaign at a high level, turning in a two-day 22.21/49.68 double in the 200m and 400m at Texas on April 28-29. She won the Texas Relays 100m in 11.09 and added a 22.46 200m victory earlier in April and is poised to dip under 22-seconds here. Her challengers include TeeTee Terry, who won the Nairobi Continental Tour-Gold 100m in 10.86w, as well as Jenna Prandini, a gold medalist on the U.S. 4x100m relay at the 2022 World Championships and a semifinalist in the 200m at the Olympic Games and World Championships with a PB of 21.89. Anavia Battle made the semifinal at the Tokyo Olympics and has run a lifetime best of 21.95. 400m: Lynna Irby and Kendall Ellis, sub-50 performers who were gold medalists in the 4x400m relay at Tokyo, are up against a very talented foreign contingent that is led by 2019 world champion Salwa Eid Naser of Bahrain, who is returning after suspension and has a lifetime best of 48.14, making her the No. 3 all-time world performer. Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic took silver at the Tokyo Games and last year's World Championships and has a PB of 48.99, while her countrywoman, Fiordaliza Cofil, was sixth at the World Championships last summer and has run 49.80. Jamaica's Stacey-Ann Williams won the Jones Memorial meet at Florida last month with a PB 50.12. 800m: Which Wilson will it be? Ajee' Wilson is a 12-time U.S. champion and former American record holder who has a PB of 1:55.61 and a devastating kick to go with great racing skill. She is undefeated in seven races across a gamut of middle distances this season and was the World Indoor gold medalist in 2022. Allie Wilson was the USATF Indoor Championships runner-up in February and has a lifetime best of 1:58.09 that was set in finishing second at the Lausanne Diamond League meet last summer. She had seven sub-1:59 performances last year and also tacked on a 4:04.02 1,500m PB. If it's not a Wilson winning, top honors could go to Olivia Baker, winner of last weekend's Bermuda Grand Prix and owner of a 1:58.05 PB from her third-place finish at the Monaco Diamond League meet in 2022. USATF Indoors third-place finisher Kaela Edwards also has sub-2:00 credentials. Uganda's Halimah Nakaayi won the 2019 world title in Doha and clocked 1:59.18 during this indoor season. She was also the World Indoors silver medalist in 2022. 1,500m: Ethiopia's Diribe Welteji is better known as an 800m runner who was fourth at last year's World Championships and has run 1:57.02, but she is ranked No. 2 on this year's world list in the 1,500m at 3:59.34 and boasts a 3:56.91 PB from 2022. Her national teammate, Ayal Dagnachew, also has sub-4:00 credentials and was the world U20 champion in 2021 at 800m. Atop the U.S. list in 2023 is Josette Andrews at 4:04.88, set in winning the Penn Relays. Andrews was fifth at the World Indoor Championships in 2022 and has run 3:59.72 in her career. A finalist in the 5,000m at the past two global championships, Elise Cranny is a 3:59.06 performer who placed third at last year's Monaco Diamond League meet. Steeplechase veteran Emma Coburn, the former American record holder and 2017 world champion over the barriers, is a savvy competitor in the metric mile, and fellow Colorado grad Dani Jones is also a threat for a podium spot. 100m Hurdles: Four of the world's 10 fastest women ever in the sprint hurdles make this one of the strongest non-championship fields assembled, led by Nigeria's world record holder and world champion Tobi Amusan, who stunned with a 12.12 at Eugene last summer. Keni Harrison, the woman whose record Amusan took down, is No. 2 on the all-time list at 12.20 and holds the American record to go with her silver medal from the Tokyo Olympics. Puerto Rico's Olympic champion, Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, flew to a windy 12.17w at the USATF Bermuda GP last weekend, the second-fastest time ever run in any conditions, while Jamaica's Danielle Williams won the 2015 world title and has a 12.32 PB. 2019 world champion Nia Ali also has a pair of World Indoor 60H golds, a 12.34 PB, and was the Rio 2016 silver medalist. She is rounding into top form again and was third at the Doha Diamond League meet. Drake Relays champion Tia Jones was the Diamond League final runner-up in 2022 and has a best of 12.38, and USATF Indoor Championships 60H gold medalist Alaysha Johnson brings a best of 12.35 from her second-place finish at last summer's USATF Championships. Just missing a World Championships berth in 2022 with a fourth-place finish at the USATF Championships, Tonea Marshall has a 12.44 PB. Pole Vault: America's top two women meet for the 61st time since 2014, supported by some of North America's best. Reigning Olympic and world champion Katie Moon has been the most successful at winning titles on a global scale of late and leads the world list with a best of 4.83m/15-10. She won the USATF Indoors title in February and took top honors at the Doha Diamond League meet. Two-time World Indoor Championships gold medalist Sandi Morris also has an Olympic silver from 2016 and three World Championships silvers. Morris set her PB of 5.00m/16-4.75 in 2016 at Brussels. Gabriela Leon made the U.S. squad for last summer's World Championships, finishing 12th, and was the NCAA champion for Louisville. Raising her PB to 4.77m/15-7.75 indoors in February, Bridget Williams was the USATF Indoors bronze medalist for the second time in a row. Shot Put: World champion and 2023 world leader Chase Ealey is in pursuit of the American record every time she steps in the ring, and she has a best of 20.06m/65-9.75 so far this season. Ealey needs to add only 13 centimeters to her PB of 20.51m/67-3.5 to claim the outdoor AR from Michelle Carter, who set the 20.63m/67-8.25 mark in winning the 2016 Olympic gold. Pushing her here will be Jamaica's Danniel Thomas-Dodd, the 2019 World Championships silver medalist, and Maggie Ewen, who was fourth at the Worlds in 2019 and the runner-up at last weekend's USATF Throws Festival. NCAA indoor champion Adelaide Aquilla won four career collegiate titles for Ohio State and was on Team USATF for the Tokyo Games and last year's World Championships. The second-best PB in the field is 20.38m/66-10.5 and belongs to China's Jiayuan Song, who was fifth at Tokyo and sixth at Eugene. New Zealand's Maddison-Lee Wesche was one place behind Song at both meets and has a PB of 19.50m63-11.75. Discus: Olympic champion and American record holder Valarie Allman is undefeated in 2023 and threw a world-leading 70.25m/230-5 at La Jolla, California, on April 7, her sixth career mark of 70m or better. Cuba's Yaime Perez won the 2019 world title and was the bronze medalist at the Tokyo Games before defecting to the U.S. following last summer's World Championships. She has a PB of 69.39m/227-8 and won last weekend's USATF Throws Festival. A World Championships finalist last year, Lagi Tausaga was second behind Perez last week and has a best of 64.49m/211-7 that was set in claiming the runner-up spot at the 2022 USATF Championships. Shadae Lawrence of Jamaica was the seventh-place finisher at Tokyo in 2021 and won the 2017 NCAA title for Kansas State. She has a lifetime best of 67.05m/219-11. 2021 Olympic Trials second-place finisher Micaela Hazlewood and Elena Bruckner are the other American hopefuls. Hammer: The top three women in U.S. history face off for bragging rights, led by reigning world champion Brooke Andersen and American record holder DeAnna Price. Andersen captured the World Championships gold at Eugene last summer and joined the 80m club last week with her winning 80.17m/263-0 at the USATF Throws Festival. Price, the 2019 world champion and holder of the AR at 80.31m/263-6, is making a comeback from injuries and set world bests in the 20-pound weight to win the USATF Indoor Championships in February. She has won three meets in a row in the hammer but will need to be at her best to stave off World Championships bronze medalist Janee' Kassanavoid, who is third on the all-time U.S. performer list with a 78.00m/255-11 PB. Also a finalist at last summer's World Championships, Annette Echikunwoke took third last weekend at Tucson and has a PB of 75.49m/247-8. Canadians Camryn Rogers, the World Championships silver medalist in 2022 and a three-time NCAA champion for Cal, and Jillian Weir, fifth at the 2022 World Championships, offer stern competition, as does Italy's Sara Fantini who placed fourth at Eugene last year. Alyssa Wilson was the NCAA runner-up for Texas State last year with a PB of 74.78m/245-4, the farthest ever by an American collegian, and she will be very familiar with the ring as she competed previously for UCLA. Javelin: A rematch of last week's USATF Throws Festival pits former American record holder Maggie Malone, the winner in Tucson, against China's reigning Olympic champion, Shiying Liu. Malone had a U.S.-leading 62.28m/204-4 for the win and has a PB of 67.40m/221-1 from 2021. Liu's PB of 67.29m/220-9 came in 2020 in a domestic meet in China. Three-time World Championships qualifier and 2021 Olympic qualifier Ariana Ince was the bronze medalist at the 2019 Pan American Games and won the USATF title that year. She has a career best of 64.38m/211-3. Watch the competition live on NBC and Peacock on Saturday from 4:30 to 6 p.m. ET. Join the conversation with USATF on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook using the hashtag #USATF.