The USA Track and Field Outdoor Championships are a peculiar meet in world championships years because the biggest stars are often already qualified for worlds.
Reigning world champions have byes into those events at worlds. The rest of the nation’s top athletes are vying to join them on the team.
This year is different. All of America’s top sprinters have something significant at stake this week in Eugene, Oregon.
CNBC, NBCSports.com/live, the NBC Sports app and Peacock air live coverage starting Friday.
USATF OUTDOORS: Broadcast Schedule
Start with Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, who of course has a bye into worlds in the 400m hurdles. But she has not raced that event at all in 2023.
Rather than treat USATF Outdoors as prep for worlds, or skipping it entirely, she is entered in the flat 400m. Should McLaughlin-Levrone finish in the top three in Saturday’s final to qualify for worlds in that event, her coach, Bobby Kersee, said a decision will be made on whether she races the 400m hurdles or the flat 400m — but not both — at August’s worlds in Budapest.
McLaughlin-Levrone ranks second in the U.S. this year in the flat 400m with a best time of 49.51, racing it on the top international level for the first time in four years. Only Britton Wilson has been faster at 49.13.
For a sense of McLaughlin-Levrone’s ambitions, watch her vlog . She said that she wanted to break 49.00 at her most recent meet in New York City two weeks ago. That would put her in the top three in U.S. history after Sanya Richards-Ross (48.70) and Valerie Brisco-Hooks (48.83), the lone American women to win an Olympic 400m title.
Other reigning world champions want to add a second individual event to their plate for worlds: Fred Kerley (world 100m champ entered in the 200m) and Noah Lyles (world 200m champ entered in the 100m). The last man to win both events at a worlds was Usain Bolt in 2015.
Then there are the athletes seeking to break through. That list is led by Sha’Carri Richardson, the world’s second-fastest woman this year who is bidding to make her first global championship team.
Richardson won the Tokyo Olympic Trials 100m, then had the result stripped after testing positive for marijuana. Last year, she was eliminated in the first round of the 100m at USATF Outdoors.
She returns to Hayward Field for a third consecutive year, this time as the clear 100m favorite. Richardson is undefeated in four meets this year in the 100m and is a full tenth faster than the next-fastest American in 2023.
A top three-finish in Friday’s final will send Richardson to worlds in the 100m, and a top-six finish will likely get her to Budapest in the 4x100m relay pool.
Here are five of the deepest events at USATF Outdoors with the strongest competition for world team spots:
Women’s 100m (Friday final): Richardson is the favorite, but many are in contention for the three world spots. That includes the last four U.S. champions in this event — Melissa Jefferson, Javianne Oliver, Teahna Daniels and Aleia Hobbs. Add in TeeTee Terry, who anchored the U.S. to 4x100m gold over Jamaica at last year’s worlds, and youngsters Tamari Davis, 20, and Shawnti Jackson, 18, who are tied for third on the list of fastest Americans this year. Jackson can become the youngest U.S. sprinter to compete at a worlds since Allyson Felix’s debut in 2003, according to Bill Mallon of Olympedia.org.
Men’s 100m (Friday final): No American other than Kerley has distinguished himself in 2023, so the three world spots after Kerley, who has a bye, are up for grabs. Lyles is among 11 American men whose best time this year is between 9.89 and 9.99 seconds. He won the 2018 U.S. title (a year without a worlds), was seventh in the 100m at the Tokyo Olympic Trials and opted not to race the 100m at last year’s USATF Outdoors to focus on the 200m. Others in contention: 2022 silver medalist Marvin Bracy-Williams (9.93 this year), 2022 bronze medalist Trayvon Bromell (10.09 this year coming back from injury) and 2019 World champion Christian Coleman (9.91 this year). Michael Norman, the world 400m champion, is also entered but has not raced since May 5, reportedly dealing with a knee injury.
Men’s Triple Jump (Friday final): Notable not so much for the depth of competition, but for the presence of two-time Olympic champion and four-time world champion Christian Taylor, the active U.S. record holder for global titles now that Felix is retired. Taylor, now 33, ruptured an Achilles two months before the Tokyo Olympics and returned to competition in April 2022. He had a bye into last year’s worlds and placed 18th in qualifying. This year, he goes into USATF Outdoors ranked fourth in the nation by best mark this year. Three men can make the world team.
Men’s 1500m (Saturday final): The U.S. has not earned a global medal in this event since Matthew Centrowitz’s Olympic title in 2016. But a new generation has emerged, led by Yared Nuguse, who already this year ran the world’s second-fastest indoor mile in history and became the second-fastest U.S. 1500m runner in history. He’s joined by Olympic Trials winner Cole Hocker and 2022 U.S. champion Cooper Teare. But the second-fastest American this year is 20-year-old Hobbs Kessler, who can become the youngest U.S. male miler in world championships history, according to Mallon. There’s also Centrowitz, who missed the 2022 season due to knee surgery.
Women’s 100m Hurdles (Saturday final): Consistently one of, if not the deepest event in U.S. track and field over the last decade. There are no byes here, adding to the pressure. Notables: Tokyo Olympic silver medalist and American record holder Keni Harrison. Rio Olympic silver medalist and 2019 World champion Nia Ali. Alaysha Johnson, who was one hundredth behind Harrison at last year’s USATF Outdoors. Plus NCAA stars Masai Russell and Alia Armstrong, who are the third- and fourth-fastest women in the world this year.