2019: Elite track and field year-in-review

No one really knew what to expect in a year with the latest World Championships in history, but as always, Team USATF athletes produced dazzling displays on the track, in the field, and on the roads.
 
The earliest indication of special things to come was the world indoor best in the 4xMile relay by the Brooks Beasts at the Armory in late January. Two weeks later at the Millrose Games, things heated up with a pair of American indoor records in the 800m from Donavan Brazier and Ajee' Wilson, and overseas in Madrid, Tori Franklin upped the AR in the women's triple jump.
 
Brazier continued to roll at the Toyota USATF Indoor Championships, blazing around the Ocean Breeze oval in Staten Island to set a world indoor best in the 600m, an event that also saw history made in the women's race. Teenager Athing Mu announced herself as a star in the making with a stunning AR, world U20 best, and the second-fastest time in history.
 
Florida's Grant Holloway prefaced outdoor heroics to come with an American record in the men's 60m hurdles at the NCAA Indoor Championships in Birmingham, where there were also world indoor-leading performances by Tyrell Richard in the men's 400m, Kayla White in the women's 200m, and Kaelin Roberts in the women's 400m.
 
As expected, outdoor performances outside the collegiate arena were somewhat subdued early in the season, except for a sizzling 43.45 400m from Michael Norman at the Mt. SAC Relays in late April. How good was that? It made him =4^th on the all-time list. Not bad for a training run.
 
Ideal conditions for speedy sprints in Austin at the NCAA Outdoor Championships produced a pair of world U20 records in the 100m and 200m by LSU's Sha'Carri Richardson, and Holloway became the first collegiate man to dip under 13 seconds in the 110m hurdles. Later in June, Jordan Gray set an AR in the relatively new women's decathlon.
 
Demonstrating the superb depth of U.S. talent, Team USATF squads set three world U20 relay records at the Pan American U20 Championships in July. Both men's quartets picked up records, including the first sub-3-minute 4x400. The women's 4x400 also dominated, knocking more than three seconds off the existing record.
 
Vying for spots on the World Championships team, the best of the U.S. best put on a show at the Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships in Des Moines. Dalilah Muhammad's world record in the women's 400m hurdles capped off a weekend that also saw American records from Sam Kendricks in the men's pole vault and DeAnna Price in the women's hammer throw.
 
The crowning event of the season, the World Championships in Doha, did not disappoint. Team USATF won 14 golds, equaling the highest total ever at Worlds, and tallied 29 total medals, the second-highest ever. In the team point standings, the U.S. had a record 300, almost 200 better than the next best country.
 
Repeating her feat from Des Moines, Muhammad again lowered the world record in the women's 400m hurdles to lead a 1-2 U.S. finish, and she added another gold to end the meet with a leg on the victorious 4x400m relay. Polishing off his best season ever, Brazier romped to gold and an American record in the men's 800, and Shelby Houlihan ran to an American record in the women's 1,500m.
 
World records were set twice by Team USATF foursomes in the mixed 4x400m relay, and the men's 4x100m relay squad roared to gold and an AR with help from individual 100m and 200m gold medalists Christian Coleman and Noah Lyles.
 
It didn't produce a record, but the men's shot put certainly elicited the greatest competition in event history, with Joe Kovacs blasting the fourth-farthest throw in history on his final attempt to win by one centimeter over fellow American Ryan Crouser.
 
History was also made in the women's hammer, with Price becoming the first U.S. athlete to top the medal podium, and Nia Ali and Keni Harrison zipped to a 1-2 finish in the women's 100m hurdles. Triple jump king Christian Taylor bounded to his fourth World Championships gold to edge teammate Will Claye, and Kendricks and Holloway came away with gold in the men's pole vault and 110m hurdles.
 
In all, Team USATF athletes set two world records, five American records and four meet records in Doha, giving a glimpse of what the world can expect at Tokyo 2020.