INDIANAPOLIS — Three Team USATF gold medalists from last summer’s Olympic Games in Tokyo highlight the 114th Millrose Games Saturday at New York City’s Armory track, led by double world record holder Ryan Crouser. Crouser shattered world indoor and outdoor records in the men’s shot put in 2021 on his way to an undefeated season that saw him take gold at Tokyo with an Olympic record throw. Putting together the greatest season in men’s shot put history, Crouser also won the U.S. Olympic Trials and the Diamond League final, blasting a 23.37m/76-8.25 at the Trials in Eugene to add the world outdoor record to the global indoor record of 22.82m/74-10.5 he set at Fayetteville, Arkansas on Jan. 24. The women’s pole vault final in Tokyo came down to a head-to-head battle between Katie Nageotte and Russia’s Anzhelika Sidorova. Nageotte went over 4.90m/16-0.75 on her second attempt to claim the gold and seal the No. 1 world ranking. She will take on defending Millrose champion Sandi Morris, the Rio silver medalist in 2016 and World Indoor champion in 2018 who cleared 4.91m/16-1.25 last year to win. Moving up a distance, Olympic 800m champion Athing Mu will run the women’s mile, where she will face a loaded field that includes American indoor mile record holder Elle Purrier St. Pierre, who ran 4:16.85 in 2020 to win at Millrose and claim the AR. Purrier won the Olympic Trials 1,500m and went on to take 10th in the Tokyo final at that distance. Olympians Cory McGee and Heather MacLean are also entered, as is Germany’s Konstanze Klosterhalfen, who finished just behind Purrier St. Pierre in 2020 and set a national record of 4:17.26. One of the hottest events of the meet will be the men’s 60m, where world record holder Christian Coleman, the 2019 World Outdoor 100m champion, lines up against defending Millrose champion Ronnie Baker, the third-fastest man in history at 60m, and 2016 World Indoor champ Trayvon Bromell, the fastest man in the world at 100m last year. Marvin Bracy, a silver medalist at the 2014 World Indoors, and Olympic 200m bronze medalist Noah Lyles add high-quality depth to the event as they go after a meet record of 6.44 that has stood since 2000. In the women’s dash, Olympic 200m bronze medalist Gabby Thomas earned silver on the U.S. 4x100m relay at Tokyo and will need her best top-end speed with Aleia Hobbs, Mikiah Brisco and English Gardner also entered. Hobbs has clocked 7.10 in early-season competition, while Brisco is the reigning U.S. indoor champion at 60m with a 7.04 lifetime best. Jamaica’s Briana Williams won gold on her nation’s 4x100m relay at Tokyo. Another strong field is on offer in the men’s 3,000m, where last year’s NCAA Indoor Championships 1-2 finishers Cole Hocker and Cooper Teare look to build on 2021 seasons that saw Hocker make the Olympic 1,500m final after winning the U.S. Trials, while Teare set a collegiate indoor best in the mile with his 3:50.39 in February. Drew Hunter, the 2019 Toyota USATF Indoor two mile champion, and 2021 USATF Half Marathon winner Conner Mantz are a contrast in style but both have the wheels to challenge for the win. Kenya’s Wesley Kiptoo won the 2021 NCAA Indoor gold for Iowa State in the 5,000m, while Guatemala’s Luis Grijalva was a Tokyo finalist at that distance. Always a fan favorite, the men’s mile has Britain’s Josh Kerr, the Tokyo bronze medalist in the 1,500m, and Australia’s Olli Hoare, the 2020 Millrose runner-up, but they will have to look out for Johnny Gregorek, the man with the fastest lifetime best in the field at 3:49.98, and youngster Hobbs Kessler, who set a U.S. U20 record in the 1,500m last season with a 3:34.36 and broke the high school indoor mile best with a 3:57.66. Craig Engels won the 2019 Toyota USATF Indoor title in the mile and added the outdoor 1,500m gold later that year, while Rio 2016 800m bronze medalist Clayton Murphy has the speed to win in a kicker’s race. American indoor record holder Ajee’ Wilson tops the women’s 800m entries with a best of 1:58.29 and will have a familiar face as her primary challenger. Wilson and Jamaica’s Natoya Goule have run against each other 25 times in the 800m since the 2014 Millrose Games, with Wilson taking the bulk of the wins. Those two are the only women to have broken the 2:00 barrier indoors in this field, but high schoolers Roisin Willis and Sophia Gorriaran would love to get close to that mark and have put up nation-leading prep marks at other distances already this year. Reigning World Indoor champion Keni Harrison brings Olympic silver in the 100m hurdles into the women’s 60m hurdles and sports a lifetime best of 7.70 that was set in taking global gold in 2018. Three other Tokyo 100H finalists will line up against Harrison, led by Devynne Charlton of the Bahamas, who was sixth at the Games. Gabbi Cunningham placed seventh in Tokyo, with Jamaica’s Britany Anderson eighth. 400m hurdles Olympian Anna Cockrell and Tonea Marshall, the fastest American over 100H last year, round out a very talented group who could threaten the meet record of 7.76, set in 2004 by Gail Devers. Devon Allen, the 2021 Diamond League champion in the men’s 110H, is joined by Trials 110H third-place finisher Daniel Roberts and sixth-placer Michael Dickson in the men’s 60H. Dropping down to half his normal distance, reigning 800m world champion and American indoor and outdoor record holder Donavan Brazier will go at 400m in his return from injury, chasing Vernon Norwood, a double 4x400m relay medalist at Tokyo. Norwood earned gold by running in the heats of the men’s 4x400m and added bronze in the inaugural mixed 4x400m. Olympic and 2019 World Championships 4x400m relay gold medalist Wadeline Jonathas and Tokyo 800m bronze medalist Raevyn Rogers head a sterling women’s 400m group with Jamaica’s Olympic 4x400m bronze medalist Roneisha McGregor and three-time World Championships 4x400m relay gold medalist Jessica Beard also strong contenders. Coming off a season that included an American indoor record in the 1,000m, reigning U.S. indoor 800m champion Bryce Hoppel leads three of the top four finishers from last summer’s Olympic Trials men’s 800m as they face meet record holder Michael Saruni of Kenya, who went 1:43.98 in 2019. Last year’s NCAA outdoor champion and Trials runner-up Isaiah Jewett and Trials fourth-place finisher Isaiah Harris have run under 1:45 outdoors, and Kameron Jones leads the 2022 world list at 600m. Two weeks after her USATF Cross Country Championships victory, 10,000m Olympian Alicia Monson is favored in the women’s 3,000m, but the unknown factor is Ethiopian steeplechaser Mekides Abebe. Abebe was fourth over the barriers at Tokyo and has a lifetime best of 9:02.52 in that event. That translates to a powerful challenger for Monson and the rest of the entrants, including Britain’s Amy-Eloise Markovc, the 2021 European Indoor champion, and Weini Kelati, the runner-up behind Monson at the recent national cross country championships. Olympic long jumpers Tara Davis, sixth at Tokyo, and Quanesha Burks open their season in their specialty against triple jump American record holder Keturah Orji and Sha’Keela Saunders, and Britain’s Jazmin Sawyers adds strong credentials after her eighth-place Tokyo finish.
Nick Christie and Miranda Melville, the two most recent USATF race walk national champions who took the 35K titles at Santee, California, two weeks ago, highlight entries in the USATF men’s and women’s 3,000m race walk championships, held as part of the Millrose Games. Christie has won four USATF indoor walk golds and is the reigning champion after clocking 11:55.44 at Albuquerque in 2020. He won the 35K title with a 2:48:48 on Jan. 16 and was an Olympian in the 20K walk last year. In 2020 he won the Millrose mile walk. Melville won the 2019 USATF Indoor gold in the 3,000m walk and was a dominant victor in the 35K at Santee with a 3:00:18, the best ever by an American woman. Other top contenders in the women’s event include Maria Michta-Coffey, who won nine straight U.S. indoor walk titles from 2010-18 and was third at the 35K event in Santee, as well as Katie Burnett, who was fourth at the 2017 World Championships in the 50K walk. Anali Cisneros is a top young talent and won the 2020 NAIA indoor title. John Risch and Emmanuel Corvera went 2-3 behind Christie at the USATF Indoors in 2020, and Dan Nehnevaj was the Trials runner-up at 20K last year. Live results may be found here. The Millrose Games will be streamed live on USATF.TV+ with elite coverage on Saturday, January 29 from 2:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. ET on NBC. For more information regarding Millrose Games coverage and ways to watch, please click here. Join the conversation with USATF on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook using the hashtag #USATF.