USATF Tour moves West for Los Angeles Grand Prix

USATF Tour moves West for Los Angeles Grand Prix
 
LOS ANGELES — Picking up steam after a very successful Lone Star GP last weekend in Texas, the 2026 USATF Tour makes its 10^th stop this weekend at the USATF Los Angeles Grand Prix and the fields are chock-full of the world's top track and field athletes. Competition in this World Athletics Continental Tour Gold event kicks off Saturday with the hammer throw at the Colich Throws Facility at the South Bay Athletic Club, and the bulk of the events on the oval and in the field will be Sunday at the Allyson Felix Track at Loker Stadium on the USC campus.
 
Here's an event-by-event look at some of the top athletes scheduled to compete:
 
100 meters
Sub-10 has long the standard for excellence in the men's 100, and all eight entrants have cracked that barrier... and then some. Two of history's 10 fastest are here in Christian Coleman and Trayvon Bromell, who have both run 9.76 in their careers, and Bromell zipped to a windy 9.85 last week  to win the USATF Lone Star GP. Kenny Bednarek has been unbeatable over 200 meters on this year's Diamond League circuit, including a 19.69 at Rabat, and he dropped his PB to 9.79 last year. The reigning Olympic champion in the 200, Letsile Tebogo of Botswana, has a PB of 9.86 and is fresh off a stellar 19.84 win in the deuce at Oslo. Other top contenders are Sam Blaskowski, who cut his PB to 9.89 two weeks ago, and Courtney Lindsey, a 9.82 performer who picked up 4x100 gold on the U.S. team at the 2025 World Championships.
 
A crowd favorite whenever she steps on the track, 2023 world champion and Paris Olympic Games silver medalist Sha'Carri Richardson makes her season debut in the dash. Her 10.65 PB puts her sixth on the all-time world performer list, and she will be up against Cambrea Sturgis, Tamari Davis, and Kayla White. Sturgis, the 2021 NCAA champion, cracked the 11-second barrier twice at Pretoria, winning in 10.92 on April 28, while Davis was fourth at College Station last week in a season best of 10.99. White took gold on the U.S. 4x100 at the World Championships last year and has a PB of 10.84. 33-year-old Jenna Prandini has a PB of 10.92 that dates back to 2015, but she clocked 10.97 at the beginning of May to show she hasn't lost anything in the get-up-and-go department.
 
200 meters
Several women will be doing the sprint double, including the second and third place finishers at the Lone Star GP last week, Kayla White was the runner-up in a season best of 22.07, with Nigeria's Favour Ofili third in 22.15, also a season best. Olympic and World Championships finalist McKenzie Long is back Stateside after three Diamond League appearances last month, and she brings in a PB of 21.83. Former Oregon stars Jenna Prandini, Jadyn Mays, and Deajah Stevens are also expected to challenge for a podium spot, and Prandini has the best credentials of that trio with a 21.89 PB from 2021 and some solid early season efforts.
 
400 meters
Chris Bailey romped to an impressive win last weekend at College Station with a 44.35, and he has a World Indoor title from 2025 and a 2024 Olympic 4x400 gold to his credit to go with his PB of 44.15. Looming large in Bailey's path is Jacory Patterson, winner of the Rabat DL meet in 44.11 and owner of a 43.85 PB from last year. Patterson was seventh at the World Championships last year and earned bronze at the World Indoors. Grenada's Kirani James has been at or near the top of the global rankings since winning a world title in 2011 at age 19 and then the 2012 Olympic gold. James has dipped under 45 seconds 13 of the past 14 years and is opening his '26 campaign here. William Jones and Johnnie Blockburger both ran collegiately at USC so are very familiar with the oval and are young talents looking to move up into the elite. Second last week behind Bailey, Bryce Deadmon has a basket full of relay medals from the Olympics and World Championships and has a PB of 44.22 from 2023.
 
Winning with surprising ease at the Lone Star GP, Nigeria's Ella Onojuvwevwo notched a lifetime best of 49.47. She had a victory margin of more than a quarter-second and will have a target on her back here as she goes against Aaliyah Butler, the fifth fastest American woman ever with a 49.09 PB and 4x400 golds from the last two global championships. Butler has gone sub-50 twice this year, with a best of 49.78. Team USATF relay stalwart Alexis Holmes was third last week and has a best of 49.77 in her career. Holmes anchored  the U.S. to an American record in the 4x400 at Paris in 2024 and has a pair of mixed 4x400 golds from the last two World Championships. The trio of Bailey Lear, Rosey Effiong, and Paris Peoples helped the U.S. take gold in the 4x400 at the World Indoors in March, while Kendall Ellis was on the 2021 Olympic gold 4x400 and has run 49.46.
 
800 meters
2019 world champion and former American record holder Donavan Brazier has made a remarkable comeback from injuries that kept him off the track for two years, and he has been sub-1:45 in two Diamond League meets already in 2026. Britain's Josh Kerr won the world 1500 gold in 2023 and was a medalist in the 1500 at the last two Olympic Games. He garnered a PB in the 800 at the LA Track Festival last month with a 1:44.60 in third. The man that beat him, and everybody else for that matter, there, Brandon Miller has run 1:44.00 this season and is a front runner who isn't afraid to make it quick all the way. 2025 NACA champ Handal Roban of St. Vincent set his national record of 1:42.87 in taking that title, and he was seventh at the NCAA Indoor Championships this year for Penn State. Japan's 19-year-old sensation Ko Ochiai set a national record of 1:43.45 at Tokyo in May 30 and was the 2024 world U20 bronze medalist. One other American to watch for is Wes Ferguson, the bronze medalist at the 2025 USATF Indoors who set a PB of 1:44.41 in his only race this season.
 
1500 meters
Ethiopia's Birke Haylom is only 20, but she leads the world list at 3:55.66 this year and has a PB of 3:53.22 that ranks her among the event's best ever. Haylom picked up Diamond League wins at Shaoxing and Stockholm and has been sub-4:00 three times already, but may be pushed by countrywoman Worknesh Mesele, the sixth place finisher in the 800 at the 2024 Olympics and a 3:57.00 lifetime performer. One more Ethiopian, 18-year-old Saron Berhe has run 3:57.72 and youth is on her side. American hopes ride on the third fastest woman in U.S. history, Emily Mackay, who has a PB of 3:55.90 and was the silver medalist in the 3000 at this year's World Indoors after taking bronze in the 1500 at the 2024 World Indoors, and 2021 Olympian Heather MacLean, the former national indoor record holder with an outdoor best of 3:57.79. Gracie Morris lowered her PB to 4:00.29 at the Shaoxing DL meet, and Riley Chamberlain won the LA Track Festival in a season best of 4:04.59. Helen Schlachtenhaufen dipped under 4:00 with a 3:59.71 PB in 2024.
 
3000 meters
Sandwiched between the two distances where he won Olympic and World Championships gold, the 3K might just be the perfect test for Cole Hocker. Hocker has one of the most devastating finishing kicks in the sport and that quality earned him 1500 gold at Paris in 2024 and 5000 gold at Tokyo last summer. He was the 3000 silver medalist at this year's World Indoors and is making his outdoor debut for 2026. A PB of 7:23.14 that ranks him as the second fastest American ever puts him in rare company and barring anything odd he should control this race. Britain's Sam Atkin was an Olympian in the 5000 and 10,000 and has a PB of 7:31.97, while South Africa's Tshepo Tshite was an Olympian in the 1500 and has run 7:36.90 indoors this year. Eduardo Herrera of Mexico holds multiple national records and clocked 7:27.63 for seventh at the Shaoxing DL meet earlier this year. Former NCAA 5000 and 10,000 champ Dylan Jacobs was fifth in the 3000 at last year's World Indoors and has a PB of 7:30.45.
 
100 hurdles/110 hurdles
Oooooweeeee, buddy, the hurdles world has been on fire this year and it's only June.
 
Olympic champion Masai Russell exploded to an American record 12.14 at the Xiamen DL meet, the second fastest time in history. She won the Diamond League opener at Shaoxing in 12.25 and hasn't lost in four finals thus far. Jamaica's Danielle Williams isn't in the all-time top 10, sporting a PB of 12.31, but she wins. Williams picked up World Championships golds in 2015 and 2023 and has run in seven straight Worlds.
 
Former world record holder Keni Harrison set that standard 10 years ago with a 12.20, and she has kept on motoring through the decade. Harrison ran 12.53 to win the LA Track Festival, and was the runner-up at the Rome DL meet last week. Grace Stark opened her outdoor season with a modest 12.77 at the Lone Star GP, but her 12.21 PB ranks her fourth on the U.S. all-time list and fifth on the world version. Tonea Marshall was fifth at the 2024 Olympic Trials and her 12.24 PB puts her at No. 5 on the all-time U.S. list.
 
The rest of the field ? How about Olympic silver medalist Cyrena Samba-Mayela of France and 2022 World Championships fourth place finisher Alia Armstrong. Armstrong won the USATF indoor 60H title in March and has a PB of 12.32. Olympic and World Championships long jump gold medalist Tara Davis-Woodhall is dabbling in the hurdles this year and has solid credentials with a Big 12 title to her credit while at Texas in 2021.
 
Reigning world champion Cordell Tinch and brand new sub-13 man Trey Cunningham provide a marquee matchup in the 110H but are now chasing the stunning world record of 12.75 that was set by Auburn's Ja'Kobe Tharp in the heats at the NCAA Championships on Wednesday. Tinch set his PB of 12.87 last year and came away with gold at Tokyo in 12.99, while Cunningham clocked 12.98 to win the Rome DL meet last week. Those two will take on Jamal Britt, who was undefeated and on a roll with three PB runs of 13.07 and a pair of Diamond League wins before he crashed out over the final barrier at Rome as he challenged Cunningham. Fresh off a 13.04 PB to win the Lone Star GP, Jamar Marshall also won the LA Track Festival and is in the groove.
 
400 hurdles
Olympic silver medalist Anna Cockrell and former world record holder Dalilah Muhammad line up against the winner of the Lone Star GP, Kemi Adekoya of Bahrain, along with two-time World Championships silver medalist Shamier Little. Cockrell is the No. 4 all-time performer behind Muhammad with a 51.87 from her medal-winning effort at Paris '24, and she placed second at the Rabat and Rome DL meets the past two weeks. Muhammad, 36, had hinted at retirement, but the 2016 Olympic champ and 2019 world champ still has a great motor as evidenced by her 53.39 for fourth at Rome. Adekoya won in 53.71 last weekend ahead of a national record for Zimbabwe's Ashley Miller, with Little taking third. Panama's Gianna Woodruff lowered her national record to 52.66 at the 2025 World Championships and was fifth in the final.
 
3000 steeplechase
Four of the 10 fastest American sever will match up in this race, with reigning USATF champion Lexy Halladay facing former American record holder and 2017 world champ Emma Coburn as well as Courtney Wayment and Gabbi Jennings. Coburn has a PB of 9:02.35 and finished third at the LA Track Festival, while Halladay ran her lifetime best of 9:08.68 to earn silver at the 2025 NCAA Championships. She has been in the top eight at three straight DL meets in 2026. Wayment was an Olympian in 2024, setting her PB of 9:06.50 at the Trials, and Jennings ran 9:06.61 for sixth at the Pre Classic in 2025. 2023 NCAA champ Olivia Markezich and Gracie Hyde are looking for breakthrough performances.
 
Long Jump
As mentioned previously, reigning Olympic and world champion Tara Davis-Woodhall has done a bit of hurdling this season, but she opens in her specialty here. Davis-Woodhall, a California native, is the fourth best American ever with a PB of 7.18/23-6.75 and is a consummate entertainer along with her superior athletic abilities. 2025 World Indoor champ Claire Bryant was fifth at the outdoor worlds last year and has been going head-to-head with Monae' Nichols this season. Nichols, the World Indoor silver medalist in 2024, won the Shaoxing DL meet and had a pair of victories in Euro meets. Alexis Brown sailed out to No. 7 on the U.S. all-time list in April with a 7.07/23-2.5, while Quanesha Burks has been on Team USATF for the last three World Championships. Nigeria's Ese Brume was the Olympic bronze medalist at Tokyo in 2021, but at age 30 she is well off the form that saw her leap 7.17/23-6.25 that year.
 
Shot Put
A pair of superb fields are topped by American indoor and outdoor record holder Chase Jackson and 2026 world leader Joe Kovacs.
 
Jackson just won the Oslo DL meet with a 20.74/68-0.5 blast that was the sixth best in U.S. history. The two-time world champion and this year's World Indoor gold medalist has the eight best U.S. throws ever and set a national indoor record to take the USATF title in March. Jackson will have her hands full with Canadian rival Sarah Mitton, a two-time World Indoor champ who has thrown 20.68/67-10.25. Maggie Ewen the No. 3 all-time U.S. performer at 20.45/67-1.25, is a veteran at age 32 and has been to the mountaintop with five trips to the World Championships in the shot and hammer. Former Oregon star Jaida Ross is the No. 6 American ever with a PB of 20.13/66-0.5, once centimeter in front of 2021 Olympic Trials champ Jessica Ramsey. No. 10 all-time, Adelaide Aquilla was a four-time NCAA indoor and outdoor champ and was an Olympian in 2021.
 
Kovacs won the Rabat DL title with a big 22.58/74-1 to take the world lead and followed up with a runner-up finish at the Rome DL meet. He has eight global medals that include a pair of world titles in 2015 and 2019 to go with three silvers at the Olympics. Rajindra Campbell of Jamaica took bronze at Paris in 2024 and is a rare lefthander in the event. He has a PB of 22.34/73-3.5 that gave him the win at this year's Xiamen DL meet. Last year's USATF champion, Josh Awotunde, was the bronze medalist at the 2022 World Championships and ranks ninth all-time in the U.S. at 22.47/73-8.75.
 
A medalist at the last two World Indoor Championships, Roger Steen won this year's USATF indoor crown and has a best of 22.11/72-6.5, while Jordan Geist took silver at the World Indoors and has a PB of 22.02/72-3. Tripp Piperi earned bronze at the 2025 World Indoor meet and hit his PB of 22.29/73-1.75 to take third at last summer's USATF Championships. Nigeria's Chuk Enekwechi is a veteran of five World Championships and holds tha African record of 22.10/72-6.25.
 
Discus
Six of the top seven Americans in history are entered, but the center of attention, as usual, will be two-time Olympic champ, reigning world champ, and American record holder Valarie Sion. Sion, owner of nine of the top 10 throws ever by an American, had a lengthy win streak busted on April 9, but has bounced back with three straight Diamond League wins to reestablish her superiority. She set the world lead with a 73.10/239-10 at Ramona and has a PB of 73.52/241-2, making her the world's No. 6 all-time performer. Laulauga Tausaga is the only other American with a mark in the country's top 10 all-time performances, a 70.72/232-0 last year. Tausaga won the 2023 World Championships gold and was sixth last year. Jayden Ulrich, Veronica Fraley, Gabi Jacobs, and Cierra Jackson hold down places 3, 5, 6, and 7 on the all-time U.S. performer list and Jorinde van Klinken of the Netherlands won three straight NCAA titles. She has a best of 70.99/232-11.
 
Hammer
O Canada.... our neighbors to the north have been dominating the hammer of late, with Ethan Katzberg and Camryn Rogers mounting the top of the podium at the last three global championship meets.
 
Katzberg became the first man in 17 years to crack the world all-time top 10 performer list when he whirled the 16-pound ball out to 84.70/277-11 to win the World Championships in Tokyo last year. He picked up his first world gold in 2023 and added Olympic honors at Paris. In his season opener at Nairobi in April he nailed an 82.43/270-5 world leader. His top challengers include Ukraine's Mykhaylo Kokhan, the Paris bronze medalist with a PB of 82.02/269-1, and American record holder Rudy Winkler, who won the Pre Classic last year with an 83.16/272-10 toss to break his own AR that was set at the 2021 Olympic Trials. Two more Americans in the all-time U.S. top 10 are Daniel Haugh, a two-time Olympian with a best of 80.18/263-1, and youngster Trey Knight, who was a World Championships finalist last year and has thrown 79.33/260-3 in 2026.
 
Essentially the same women's field that produced an enthralling competition at last week's Lone Star GP will try to make an even bigger impression on the West Coast in a bit less humid conditions. Rogers, who set the world lead at 81.13/266-2 to win the Texas Relays, was pushed to the max by Rachel Richeson, winning by only three centimeters at 79.36/260-4 as Richeson uncorked a big PB of 79.33/260-3 for the farthest ever second-place mark. China's Jie Zhao, the Paris Olympic Games bronze medalist, grabbed third at 76.25/250-2.
 
A pair of Americans with world titles to their name took the next places, with 2022 world champ Brooke Andersen fourth and 2019 gold medalist and American record holder DeAnna Price fifth. Olympic silver medalist Annette Echikunwoke had the best ever throw for sixth place at 74.71/245-1, followed by World Championships bronze medalist Jiale Zhang of China. Erin Reese, the No. 6 all-time American, was eighth, with 2023 world silver medalist Janee' Kassanavoid in ninth.