Sha’Carri Richardson, Noah Lyles Steal Show Over First Half Of U.S. Trials
Sha’Carri Richardson, and Noah Lyles are two of the many celebrities who stole the spotlight at the opening weekend in 2024’s US Olympic Trials in Eugene, OR.
By Maxx Bradley
Jun 27, 2024 10:12 PM
The first half of competition at the U.S. Olympic Trials, which saw breakthroughs, upsets and historic performances, is over.
You can learn everything you must learn about these Olympic Trials here.
Be sure to keep track on FloTrack and on all of our social media platforms to stay up-to-date with all happening within Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.
Women’s 100m
In the 100m final, Sha’Carri Richardson was awarded her second straight national title, and was officially qualified to compete in her debut Olympic Games.
The trio was followed by Star Athletics teammates Melissa Jefferson and Twanisha Terry Twanisha Terry, the trio clocked 10.71, 10.80 and 10.89 each. The three-time world champions were No. 1, No. 4 and No. 7 times around the globe this year.
Women’s Distance
One word is the best description of women’s final”chaotic..
American record-holder and current Olympic champ Athing Mu took a nasty tumble just 200m into and could not continue to keep the Olympic dreams alive.
Nia Akins, one of the U.s. champion in the previous year, won her second consecutive championship in 1:57.36 and also set an impressive personal record. Allie Wilson and NCAA champion Juliette Whittaker finished second and third with 1:58.32 as well as 1:58.45.
The dust had cleared after the final for women’s 5,000m was over.
The three women with the fastest times in the field snatched three of the qualifying spots to Paris.
In a fight that lasted to the last moment, it was Elle Purrier St. Pierre beat Elise Cranny in 14:40.34 and Cranny’s former trainer — and good friend Karissa Swiss placed third with 14:45.12.
After leading for the majority in the course, Florida superstar Parker Valby was fourth place, achieving the Olympic standard of 14:51.44.
Women’s Jumps
With two of three jumps finished during the U.S. Trials, teams in the theory were already established.
Vashti Cunningham who had won 13 of the last 13 national indoor and outdoor titles, was defeated by Kentucky Wildcat Charity Hufnagel who won 6-4.25 to victory.
Arkansas’ Rachel Glenn and Cunningham were ranked second and third.
Each of Cunningham and Glenn are likely to be able to compete in the Olympics by way of world rankings However, Hufnagel is still chasing for an Olympic standards of 1.98m prior to Sunday.
Women’s Throws
The second most shocking event of the beginning in the U.S. Olympic Trials, Brooke Anderson, the third-best thrower of hammers in the world’s history, didn’t make it to the final after fouling in all three attempts.
And, Janee Kassanavoid who was a two-time gold medalist as well as the 7th-best thrower all time was ranked the sixth best thrower of all time.
That’s right, the number currently in use is No. 1 and No. 4 athletes from the hammer will not be in Paris.
The positive side is that the U.S. hammer team is in good control and American record holder Deanna Price was runner-up, with the throw of 244-6. First-ever Olympic Trials qualifier Annette Echikunwoke was the winner of the first title at national level.
Erin Reese finished third, throwing 233-7. She will be in the world rankings.
Heptathlon
For the third year in a row, Anna Hall was the winner of the national title in the heptathlon event at Hayward Field, this time winning it after knee surgery in January.
Hall took the lead and put the score at 6,614, and was in the top two places in every single in one event. Hall is the first time he’s being a candidate for at the Olympics as a medal-worthy athlete and fourth overall in the world this year.
Chari Hawkins and Taliyah Brooks placed third and second respectively. They will both be heading to Paris in the same way through World Rankings.
Men’s Sprints
The most exciting 100m races Hayward Field has seen in recent times, Noah Lyles proved his point by winning a second U.s. race in 100m, and clocking an all-time world record of 9.83 which was his personal best of 9.83.
Kenny Bednarek finished just behind in 9.87 beating the previous best.
Each of Lyles and Bednarek both are Olympic gold medalists at the 200m race, however they both are first-time qualifiers for the 100m.
Fred Kerley, the world champion who is currently unsponsored also the Tokyo 2020 silver medallist placed third in 9.88 and was able to match his best season from last year.
Men’s Distance
As the men’s 10,000m race began There were three men who met the Olympic standard. Those three will be running in August.
The race itself was dominated by several different competitors at the front which included Grant Fisher, Woody Kincaid and Nico Young, who made the switch to professional sports by the signing of adidas.
At 2,000m the nine-man pack got away from the other field. However, just 1,000m further on, Fisher made a move to gain the lead and then sped away from the rest of the field after completing his two laps with 1:58.61.
Fisher was able to stop the clock at 27:49.47 Kincaid’s famous kick (55.72) wasn’t enough, as Kincaid crossed the line at 27:50.74.
Young took on a fast Drew Hunter at the final moment, winning the final Olympic position in 27:52.4 against Hunter’s 27:53.35.
Men’s Hurdles
In the men’s 3000m Steeplechase, Kenneth Rooks was back at it and won his second consecutive national title as well as becoming the first Olympian.
Rooks took a step back from the field to take victory in 8:21.92 and the former Division III national champion Matthew Wilkinson and Brigham Young’s James Corrigan were third and second.
With just a few days before the window for qualifying closes, Corrigan is the only one of the three not currently in the qualifying positions however he’s aiming to pursue the benchmark and increase his ranking in the world this weekend on Franklin Field in Philadelphia.
Men’s Jumps
In the men’s pole vault the American record-holder KC Lightfoot finished 16th in the opening round, but he surprisingly fell out of position.
But each of Chris Nilsen and Sam Kendricks and Chris Nilsen made the cut, and followed with second and first place finishes with clearances of 19-5 and 19-3.
Jacob Wooten, an ex- Texas A&M Aggie, was third in the league with a season-best of 19-3.
Men’s Throws
If anyone was doubting the skill of Ryan Crouser his skills, he shook them. He took home another national title by throwing a distance of 74-11.25.
Joe Kovacs, an athlete that has been the Crouser’s greatest obstacle over the years, was second with the throw of 73-7.25. Payton Otterdahl who was a former North Dakota State star, was able to throw 73-0.5 in his final throw.
Decathlon
In the greatest show of his career the Michigan State’s Heath Baldwin took on the veterans in the time of 10 contests beating Zach Ziemek and Harrison Williams by more than 100 points.
Baldwin scored 8,625 points, winning five events and finishing second in a different pair. Ziemek and Williams had a total of 8,516 and 8384.
The No. seventh decathlete from American historical records, Kyle Garland was forced to retire after seven events due to injuries.