USATF Tokyo Olympic Preview - Men

USATF Tokyo Olympic Preview - Men
 
*All times Eastern
 
Men's 100m
1^st round: July 31, 6:45 a.m. ET
Semis: Aug. 1, 6:15 a.m. ET
Final: Aug. 1, 8:50 a.m. ET
Team USATF: Trayvon Bromell (Jacksonville, Florida / USATF Florida), Ronnie Baker (Fort Worth, Texas / USATF Southwestern), Fred Kerley (Taylor, Texas / USATF Gulf)
OG Medal History: 40 medals - 17G, 15S, 8B
Last Gold: 2004 - Justin Gatlin
Last Medal: 2016 - silver, Justin Gatlin
 
Bromell has rebuilt himself after injuries in 2016 hampered his performance at Rio, where he was eighth in the 100m and went off the track on a cart after the 4x100m relay. Rounding back into elite form in 2020, this season has been almost flawless as he has moved to No. 4 on the all-time U.S. performer list with a PR of 9.77 and won the Trials. He has six wind-legal sub-10 clockings and is the putative favorite to take Team USATF's first gold in the event in 17 years.
 
Baker will be his top challenger after a 9.85 PR put him second at the Trials, and he has also chalked up six sub-10s this year. The World Indoors 60m bronze medalist in 2018, Baker is making his first Olympic appearance.
 
Kerley has one of the more interesting stories, dropping down from the 400m where he was a bronze medalist at the 2019 Worlds to rack up a string of eye-opening dash times, topped by a 9.86 lifetime best at the Trials. His five sub-10 efforts put him in contention for a podium spot in an event that is pretty wide open. Rio bronze medalist Andre De Grasse of Canada also claimed bronze at Doha and has a best of 9.99 this year, while South Africa's Akani Simbine comes in with a 9.84 PR and was fourth at Doha and fifth at Rio.
 
Men's 200m
1^st round: Aug. 2, 10:05 p.m. ET
Semis: Aug. 3, 7:50 a.m. ET
Final: Aug. 4, 8:55 a.m. ET
Team USATF: Noah Lyles (Alexandria, Virginia / USATF Potomac Valley), Kenny Bednarek (Minneola, Florida / USATF Wisconsin), Erriyon Knighton (Riverview, Florida / USATF Florida)
OG Medal History: 46 medals - 17G, 18S, 11B
Last Gold: 2004 - Shawn Crawford
Last Medal: 2008 - silver, Shawn Crawford
 
Winner of the 2019 Worlds at Doha, Lyles has moved to No. 2 on the all-time U.S. performer list at 19.50, behind only Michael Johnson, and he is atop the yearly list with a 19.74 that gave him the Trials title. Lyles won the Youth Olympic Games 200m in 2014 and the world U20 100m crown in 2016 and anchored the U.S. 4x100m relay to gold in Doha in an American record 37.10.
 
Bednarek first appeared in the headlines while at Indian Hills Community College in 2019, putting up some stunning marks that included a wind-aided 19.49, but he proved to be the real deal this season as he has notched six legal sub-20 times and picked up wins at Ostrava, Gateshead and Doha.
 
Knighton is the youngest of the trio at just 17, and if he makes the final or medals, he will be the youngest ever to do so in the 200m. He twice broke Usain Bolt's world U20 record at the Trials, culminating in a 19.84 in the final, and he has set the world U18 best four times already.
 
Men's 400m
1^st round: July 31, 9:45 p.m. ET
Semis: Aug. 2, 7:05 a.m. ET
Final: Aug. 5, 8:00 a.m. ET
Team USATF: Michael Norman (Sherman Oaks, California / USATF Southern California), Michael Cherry (Inglewood, California / USATF Southern California), Randolph Ross (Burlington, North Carolina / USATF North Carolina)
OG Medal History: 45 medals - 20G, 13S, 12B
Last Gold: 2008 - LaShawn Merritt
Last Medal: 2016 - bronze, LaShawn Merritt
 
Norman leads a trio of American men who hope to reassert that stranglehold after taking top honors at the Trials in a season best 44.07, and the 2018 NCAA indoor and outdoor champion for USC has a lifetime best of 43.45 from 2019. He was the 2016 World U20 champion in the 200m and also helped the U.S. to gold in the 4x100m relay at that meet.
 
Cherry was the 2018 World Indoor silver medalist and picked up gold in Doha on the 4x400m relay, and he has gold from the 2014 world U20 4x400. This is his first global outdoor championship in the individual 400m.
 
Ross, whose father Duane was an Olympian in the 110m hurdles in 2004, won the NCAA title for North Carolina A&T in a world-leading 43.85 and also helped his school to gold in the 4x400 indoors and outdoors. Steven Gardiner of the Bahamas is fourth on the entry list at 44.47 and is the reigning world champion with a lifetime best of 43.48.
 
Men's 800m
1^st round: July 30, 8:50 p.m. ET
Semis: Aug. 1, 7:25 a.m. ET
Final: Aug. 4, 8:05 a.m. ET
Team USATF: Clayton Murphy (Pepper Pike, Ohio / USATF Lake Erie), Isaiah Jewett (Inglewood, California / USATF Southern California), Bryce Hoppel (Midland, Texas / USATF Missouri Valley)
OG Medal History: 23 medals - 9G, 5S, 9B
Last Gold: 1972 - Dave Wottle
Last Medal: 2016 - bronze, Clayton Murphy
 
Murphy knows what it takes to medal at the Games, boasting a bronze from Rio, and he has a best of 1:43.17 this year that puts him third on the entry list. He set his lifetime best of 1:42.93 at the 2016 Games and may need to run that or faster to get back on the podium. Eighth at Doha in 2019, Murphy won Pan American Games gold in 2015 and was the NCAA 1,500m champion for Akron in 2016. Jewett, the NCAA champion for USC, demolished his previous PR in the Trials final with a frontrunning 1:43.85 that included a 50.60 first lap and is making his international debut. Doha fourth-place finisher Hoppel was the NCAA indoor and outdoor champion for Kansas in 2019 and lowered his lifetime best to 1:43.23 at Monaco last year. He set a season best of 1:44.14 at the Trials and will need every bit of the racing savvy he showed two years ago to get on the podium. Botswana's Nijel Amos was second at London in 2012 in 1:41.73 behind David Rudisha's amazing world record and leads the world list at 1:42.91 this season. Kenya's Emmanuel Korir, the 2017 NCAA champion for UTEP, and Canada's Marco Arop, the 2018 NCAA runner-up for Mississippi State, are in top form and will likely contend for medals.
 
Men's 1,500m
1^st round: Aug. 2, 8:05 p.m. ET
Semis: Aug. 5, 7:00 a.m. ET
Final: Aug. 7, 7:40 a.m. ET
Team USATF: Cole Hocker (Indianapolis, Indiana / USATF Indiana), Matthew Centrowitz (Arlington, Virginia / USATF Oregon), Yared Nuguse (Louisville, Kentucky / USATF Kentucky)
OG Medal History: 15 medals - 4G, 7S, 4B
Last Gold: 2016 - Matthew Centrowitz
Last Medal: 2016 - gold, Matthew Centrowitz
 
Combine the reigning Olympic champion who has oodles of international experience with a pair of collegians, one of whom is the youngest man in the event, and you have the makings of an intriguing trio for Team USATF. Centrowitz of course won a historic gold at Rio, becoming the first American man since 1908 to win the metric mile, and his recent 3:49.26 PR mile time trial shows he is in top shape to perhaps repeat. This is his third Olympic Games and he has also run in five outdoor World Championships, picking up silver in 2013 and bronze in 2011, plus a gold at the World Indoors in 2016. Hocker is the NCAA champion for Oregon who outkicked Centrowitz for the Trials title and at 20 is the youngest entrant. He set his PR of 3:35.28 in winning the Trials, and earlier in the year won the mile and 3,000m at the NCAA Indoor Championships. Another relative newcomer, Nuguse set a collegiate record of 3:34.68 for Notre Dame in the prelims at the ACC meet and finished just behind Hocker in the NCAA final. He was the 2019 NCAA champion and represented the U.S. at the 2018 world U20 meet. Kenya's Timothy Cheruiyot ran away with the world title at Doha two years ago and set his lifetime best of 3:28.28 at Monaco earlier this month. Two other strong contenders are Stewart McSweyn of Australia and Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway, both of whom have dipped under 3:30 this season.
 
Men's 3,000m Steeplechase
1^st round: July 29, 8:00 p.m. ET
Final: Aug. 2, 8:15 a.m. ET
Team USATF: Hillary Bor (Colorado Springs, Colorado / USATF Colorado), Benard Keter (Colorado Springs, Colorado / USATF Colorado), Mason Ferlic (Ann Arbor, Michigan / USATF Michigan)
OG Medal History: 6 medals - 1G, 2S, 3B
Last Gold: 1952 - Horace Ashenfelter
Last Medal: 2016 - silver, Evan Jager
 
Evan Jager's silver at Rio was the first U.S. medal since 1984, and it will be an uphill battle for the American contingent in Tokyo given the dominance of the Kenyans since 1984 and now the Ethiopians. Bor is the best hope after an eighth-place finish at Doha in 2019, and he brings an 8:08.41 lifetime best. He was seventh at Rio and won NCAA silver and bronze for Iowa State. At the Gateshead Diamond League meet in May he won, and he set his season best of 8:14.69 finishing fifth at the Monaco DL meet. Winner of the NCAA title for Michigan in 2016, Ferlic lowered his lifetime best to 8:18.49 at the USATF Grand Prix in April. Keter went sub-8:20 for the first time with an 8:18.53 at Monaco this month and was runner-up at the Trials. His top NCAA finish for Texas Tech was sixth in 2017. Ethiopia's silver medalist Lamecha Girma is the top finisher from Doha in this field and leads the world list at 8:07.75, while Soufiane El Bakkali of Morocco is the top returner from Rio, where he placed fourth. El Bakkali has the fastest lifetime best in the field at 7:58.15.
 
Men's 5,000m
1^st round: Aug. 3, 7:00 a.m. ET
Final: Aug. 6, 8:00 a.m. ET
Team USATF: Paul Chelimo (Colorado Springs, Colorado / USATF Colorado), Grant Fisher (Portland, Oregon / USATF Oregon), Woody Kincaid (Portland, Oregon / USATF Oregon)
OG Medal History: 4 medals - 1G, 2S, 1B
Last Gold: 1964 - Bob Schul
Last Medal: 2016 - silver, Paul Chelimo
 
Chelimo survived an initial disqualification at Rio to take silver and he followed up with a bronze at the 2017 Worlds. An aggressive and confident racer who is apparently unbothered by heat and humidity, he has the ability to medal again in the right kind of race and has a 12:57.55 PR. Fisher and Kincaid will be coming back from the 10,000m final four days earlier and that will likely determine their readiness. The double didn't affect them much at the Trials, where they had a bit longer break between events, and both men have the speed to hang with the big kickers. Kincaid has the better PR at 12:58.10 from 2019, with Fisher sporting a 13:02.53 that he ran earlier this year. Fisher was the NCAA champion while at Stanford in 2017. Uganda's Joshua Cheptegei set a world record of 12:35.36 at Monaco last year and there are 14 entrants who have broken 13:00 in their careers. Norway's Jakob Ingebrigtsen may be a threat here if he tries the 1,500/5,000 double as he leads the world list at 12:48.45, just ahead of Canada's Moh Ahmed and Mohamed Katir of Spain.
 
Men's 10,000m
Final: July 30, 7:30 a.m. ET
Team USATF: Woody Kincaid (Portland, Oregon / USATF Oregon), Grant Fisher (Portland, Oregon / USATF Oregon), Joe Klecker (Boulder, Colorado / USATF Colorado)
OG Medal History: 3 medals - 1G, 2S
Last Gold: 1964 - Billy Mills
Last Medal: 2012 - silver, Galen Rupp
 
Depending on the pace, Kincaid and Fisher will either be in it for the medals in the final kick over the last lap, or they will be battling for a spot in the top eight. With luminaries like double world record holder Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda, a 26:11 man, and countryman Jacob Kiplimo, who has a 26:33.93 PR, a torrid pace could string out the field rather quickly. Eight men in the field have broken 27 minutes in their careers, which is 12 seconds faster than any of the three U.S. representatives. Klecker ran impressively at the Trials and has a lifetime best of 27:23.44. Watch for the early splits, and if the leaders are cranking out sub-65 circuits it will be a quick race rather than a kicker's affair. Keep in mind, though, that no one has ever broken 27 at the Games, with the meet record standing at 27:01.17.
 
Men's Marathon
Final: Aug. 7, 6:00 p.m. ET
Team USATF: Galen Rupp (Portland, Oregon / USATF Oregon), Jake Riley (Boulder, Colorado / USATF Colorado), Abdi Abdirahman (Tucson, Arizona / USATF Arizona)
OG Medal History: 11 medals - 3G, 2S, 6B
Last Gold: 1972 - Frank Shorter
Last Medal: 2016 - bronze, Galen Rupp
 
Rupp raced to bronze at Rio in 2016 and is almost always a contender for the podium in any championship race he enters. This is his fourth Olympic trip, and in 2012 he took silver in the 10,000m. Rupp has five times competed in the outdoor World Championships and also has made three trips to the World Indoors. His marathon PR of 2:06:09 came in winning at Prague in 2018. Riley placed second at the Trials last year, beating Abdirahman by one second in a PR 2:10:02, and is making his international debut. He was the NCAA 10,000m bronze medalist for Stanford in 2010. Making a record fifth Olympic appearance for Team USATF, Abdirahman is the oldest man in the field at 44. He finished 10^th in the 10,000m at the 2000 Games and ran that event in 2004 and 2008 before moving up to the marathon for the 2012 Olympics. Abdirahman's PR of 2:08:56 came in placing fourth at Chicago in 2006. World record holder Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya has to be a heavy favorite to defend the title he won in Rio, and he has a season best of 2:04:30. Marathoning is hugely popular in Japan, so don't discount a medal for the host nation.
 
Men's 20K Race Walk
Final: Aug. 5, 3:30 a.m. ET
Team USATF: Nick Christie (Vacaville, California / USATF Southern California)
OG Medal History: none
Last Gold: none
Last Medal: none
 
The highest ever placing for the U.S. in this event is fourth by Rudy Haluza at Mexico City in 1968. Christie will be making his first appearance in a global championship but competed at the 2012 and 2014 World Cup walks. He has a 20K walk PR of 1:24:15, set at La Coruña in 2019, and has won nine U.S. titles at assorted distances. Christie won the Trials race in Springfield by more than a minute and has walked 1:28:07 this season. This event looks to be a duel between Japan and China, with Kaihua Wang of China the fastest entrant at 1:16:54. Rio silver medalist Zelin Cai of China is also a threat for gold, and bronze medalist Dane Bird-Smith of Australia returns along with fourth-place finisher Caio Bonfim of Brazil.
 
Men's 110m Hurdles
1^st round: Aug. 3, 6:10 a.m. ET
Semis: Aug. 3, 10:00 p.m. ET
Final: Aug. 4, 10:55 p.m. ET
Team USATF: Grant Holloway (Gainesville, Florida / USATF Florida), Devon Allen (Annapolis, Maryland / USATF Potomac Valley), Daniel Roberts (Griffin, Georgia / USATF Georgia)
OG Medal History: 57 medals - 20G, 20S, 17B
Last Gold: 2012 - Aries Merritt
Last Medal: 2012 - gold, Aries Merritt
 
Team USATF has traditionally been the world power in this event, as evidenced by the amazing haul of medals over the years, but Rio pitched a shutout. Reigning world champion Holloway is just the man to right the ship and put the red, white and blue back atop the medal stand. He missed the world record by the blink of an eye in the semifinal at the Trials with a 12.81 and then safely won the final in 12.96. Holloway set the world indoor record in the 60m hurdles in February, breaking a mark that had stood for 27 years. Allen was the top U.S. finisher at Rio, placing fifth, and was seventh at Doha in 2019 after making the semis at the 2017 Worlds. His PR of 13.03 came in winning the Trials in 2016, and he has a season best of 13.10. Roberts fell victim to a false start at Doha two years ago but beat Holloway at the Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships that year. He has a PR of 13.00, set in taking silver for Kentucky behind Holloway at the 2019 NCAA Championships, and has clocked 13.11 in 2021. Spain's Orlando Ortega, the silver medalist, is the top Rio returnee, but Japan's Shunsuke Izumiya has emerged as a legitimate contender with a national-record 13.06 this season. Doha silver medalist Sergey Shubenkov of Russia isn't in the same kind of form that carried him to a 12.92 PR in 2018 but is always one to watch.
 
Men's 400m Hurdles
1^st round: July 29, 9:55 p.m. ET
Semis: Aug. 1, 8:05 a.m. ET
Final: Aug. 2, 11:20 p.m. ET
Team USATF: Rai Benjamin (Mount Vernon, New York / USATF New York), Kenny Selmon (Mableton, Georgia / USATF Georgia), David Kendziera (Chapel Hill, North Carolina / USATF North Carolina)
OG Medal History: 41 medals - 19G, 12S, 10B
Last Gold: 2016 - Kerron Clement
Last Medal: 2016 - gold, Kerron Clement
 
One of the most heavily anticipated and relished matchups of the Games comes early as Benjamin could faces Norway's Karsten Warholm, who broke the world record that had stood since 1992 on July 1 with a 46.70 in front of his hometown fans in Oslo. Benjamin was majestic in his 46.83 win at the Trials, becoming the second-fastest American ever behind only former world record holder Kevin Young, and it looked like there was a lot more in his tank. The duo finished 1-2 in Doha, with Warholm winning by .24, but this one is for the highest stakes possible and will hinge on which man executes his race plan most efficiently. Another lowering of the WR is more than possible. 2018 Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships gold medalist Selmon dropped his PR to 48.08 in the Trials final. He was a bronze medalist at the 2013 world U18 championships and took silver for North Carolina at the 2018 NCAA Championships. Kendziera is making his international championship debut with a PR of 48.38 and was an NCAA bronze medalist for Illinois in 2015 and 2018. Besides Warholm, the biggest threat for gold may be Brazil's young Alison dos Santos, who at 21 has already clocked a national record 47.34. Qatar's Abderrahmane Samba is one of only four men to have broken 47 in history but has suffered from injuries and has a season best of 48.26.
 
Men's High Jump
Qualifying: July 29, 8:15 p.m. ET
Final: Aug. 1, 6:10 a.m. ET
Team USATF: JuVaughn Harrison (Baton Rouge, Louisiana / USATF Southern), Darryl Sullivan (Marion, Tennessee / USATF Tennessee), Shelby McEwen (Abbeville, Mississippi / USATF Southern)
OG Medal History: 36 medals - 14G, 13S, 9B
Last Gold: 1996 - Charles Austin
Last Medal: 2012 - silver, Erik Kynard
 
Harrison is the first American since Jim Thorpe in 1912 to qualify for the Olympic team in the high jump and long jump. His incredible leaping ability wowed the crowd at the NCAA Championships and Trials, where he completed a double-double, and the big question here is how he will handle his first senior-level international championship after taking bronze at the world U20 meet in 2018 and placing ninth in the long jump. Qualifying for the long jump is on the day between the qualifying and final in the high jump, but Harrison is used to shifting between events. He has a best of 2.36m/7-8.75 this year, which ranks him third coming in, and his tendency to clear early heights first time puts him in good stead for advancing to the final. Sullivan and McEwen have both cleared 2.33m/7-7.75, and McEwen edged out Harrison and Sullivan for the NCAA indoor title in 2019. Qatar's Mutaz Essa Barshim won the world title in 2019 on home turf and was the silver medalist at Rio, and if he is on, he is extremely tough to beat with a lifetime best of 2.43m/7-11.5 that ranks him No. 2 all-time. Ilya Ivanyuk of Russia and Maksim Nedasekau of Belarus have the top marks this year at 2.37m/7-9.25.
 
Men's Pole Vault
Qualifying: July 30, 8:40 p.m. ET
Final: Aug. 3, 6:20 a.m. ET
Team USATF: Chris Nilsen (Vermillion, South Dakota / USATF Dakotas), KC Lightfoot (Lee's Summit, Missouri / USATF Missouri Valley)
OG Medal History: 46 medals - 19G, 14S, 13B
Last Gold: 2004 - Tim Mack
Last Medal: 2016 - bronze, Sam Kendricks
 
A lot can change in a couple years, and the emergence of Sweden's Mondo Duplantis as the dominant pole vaulter since 2020 has altered expectations across the board. Nilsen won the Trials and was the NCAA champion for South Dakota in 2018 and 2019 after winning the indoor crown in 2017 and has a lifetime best of 5.95m/19-6.25. He won Pan American Games gold in 2019 after making the Worlds team in 2017. Lightfoot, a U.S. team member at Doha, became the newest member of the six-meter club indoors for Baylor, clearing a collegiate record 6.00m/19-8.25 on Feb. 13 at Lubbock before winning the NCAA indoor gold and then turning pro. France's Renaud Lavillenie, the 2012 Olympic champion and the silver medalist in Rio, has gone over 6.06m/19-10.5 this season, and Rio gold medalist Thiago Braz of Brazil will hope for another run of good luck to retain his title.
 
Men's Long Jump
Qualifying: July 31, 6:10 a.m. ET
Final: Aug. 1, 9:20 p.m. ET
Team USATF: JuVaughn Harrison (Baton Rouge, Louisiana / USATF Southern), Marquis Dendy (Ocala, Florida / USATF Florida), Steffin McCarter (Copperas Cove, Texas / USATF Southwestern)
OG Medal History: 49 medals - 23G, 15S, 11B
Last Gold: 2016 - Jeff Henderson
Last Medal: 2016 - gold, Jeff Henderson
 
Part deux of the Harrison quest for historic double gold comes less than one full day after the high jump final. His PR jump of 8.47m/27-9.5 to win the Trials ranks him No. 2 coming in behind Greece's Miltiadis Tentoglou, but never count out the NCAA indoor and outdoor champion from LSU. Harrison's six best career jumps have come this season and he has looked ready to burst past the 28-foot mark at any time. A World Indoor champion in 2016 and bronze medalist in 2018, Dendy’s series at the Trials was very good, topped by an 8.38m/27-6 season best that was less than two inches off his PR. Dendy competed at the 2013, 2015 and 2017 Worlds, and also contested the triple jump in 2015. McCarter tied his PR of 8.26m/27-1.25 in the Trials final to make the Tokyo team after placing fifth for Texas at the NCAA Championships. Doha gold medalist Tajay Gayle of Jamaica and bronze medalist Juan Miguel Echevarria of Cuba have scary leaping ability and could near 29-feet on the right day.
 
Men's Triple Jump
Qualifying: Aug. 2, 8:00 p.m. ET
Final: Aug. 4, 10:00 p.m. ET
Team USATF: Will Claye (Buckeye, Arizona / USATF New York), Donald Scott (Ypsilanti, Michigan / USATF Michigan), Chris Benard (Chula Vista, California / USATF San Diego-Imperial)
OG Medal History: 19 medals - 8G, 8S, 3B
Last Gold: 2016 - Christian Taylor
Last Medal: 2016 - gold, Christian Taylor
 
With two-time Olympic champion Christian Taylor sidelined due to an Achilles injury, it is up to Claye to move up from the silvers he won at the past two Games. Claye has won nine medals at global championship meets, including golds at the 2012 and 2018 World Indoors, and stands at No. 3 on the all-time world performer list with a PR of 18.14m/59-6.25. Returning from injury this year he has competed sparingly, doing just enough to win the Trials at 17.21m/56-5.75. Scott was sixth at Doha in 2019 and has won five U.S. titles. He made the 2017 Worlds team and set his lifetime best of 17.43m/57-2.25 in 2019 at Rome. Making his second straight trip to the Games, Benard was sixth at Doha in 2019 and went 17.48m/57-4.25 to set his lifetime best and place second at the USATF Championships in Sacramento in 2017. Burkina Faso's Hugues Fabrice Zango is an explosive jumper who is seeking his nation's first Olympic medal, topping the entry list with a 2021 best and PR of 18.07m/59-3.5. Former Cuban Pedro Pablo Pichardo was fourth for Portugal at Doha and has gone 17.92m/58-9.5 this season.
 
Men's Shot Put
Qualifying: Aug. 3, 6:15 a.m. ET
Final: Aug. 4, 10:05 p.m. ET
Team USATF: Ryan Crouser (Redmond, Oregon / USATF Oregon), Joe Kovacs (Powell, Ohio / USATF New York), Payton Otterdahl (Horace, North Dakota / USATF Dakotas)
OG Medal History: 51 medals - 19G, 20S, 12B
Last Gold: 2016 - Ryan Crouser
Last Medal: 2016 - gold, Ryan Crouser
 
What can Crouser and Kovacs do for an encore? After producing the greatest shot put competition ever at the 2019 Worlds in Doha, when Kovacs blasted a big PR on his final attempt to win by one centimeter over Crouser and New Zealand's Tom Walsh, Crouser came back with a vengeance this year and crushed the indoor and outdoor world records. His 23.37m/76-8.25 bomb at the Trials was indeed the shot put heard round the world as he took down a record that had stood for more than 30 years. The reigning Olympic champion, Crouser won his first global title at the world U18 championships in 2009 and he has six U.S. titles on his resume. Kovacs is tied for fourth on the all-time world performer list at 22.91m/75-2 and was the silver medalist at Rio. He won gold at the 2015 Worlds and silver in 2017 and picked up U.S. golds in 2014 and 2015. Otterdahl was the 2019 NCAA indoor champion for North Dakota State and is making his international debut after a 21.92m/71-11 PR at the Trials. Walsh sandwiched his 2017 outdoor world title between indoor world golds in 2016 and 2018, and he has a lifetime best of 22.90m/75-1.75 to rank sixth all-time.
 
Men's Discus
Qualifying: July 29, 8:45 p.m. ET
Final: July 31, 7:15 a.m. ET
Team USATF: Mason Finley (Overland Park, Kansas / USATF Missouri Valley), Reggie Jagers (Chula Vista, California / USATF Inland Northwest), Sam Mattis (East Brunswick, New Jersey / USATF New York)
OG Medal History: 36 medals - 14G, 9S, 13B
Last Gold: 1976 - Mac Wilkins
Last Medal: 1984 - silver, Mac Wilkins
 
None of the Team USATF discus men were even born the last time an American mounted the medal stand in this event, but the vicissitudes of wind can play tricks on the best of throwers and it's always tough to predict the outcome. Finley was a bronze medalist at the 2017 Worlds after making the final at Rio and he has a PR of 68.03m/223-3 from that medal-winning effort. His 63.07m/206-11 in round five won the Trials title, but Jagers left it until his final attempt to secure a Tokyo berth, going 62.61m/205-5 for second. Jagers won the U.S. title with a PR 68.61m/225-1 at Des Moines in 2018 and was the bronze medalist at the 2019 Pan American Games. Mattis won the NCAA title for Penn in 2015 and was a finalist at Doha in 2019. He has a lifetime best of 67.45m/221-3 and was the U.S. champion in 2019. Sweden's Daniel Stahl, the reigning world champion, is the favorite for gold with a monstrous 71.40m/234-3 season best, and Slovenia's Kristjan Ceh has also surpassed 70m this year with a 70.35m230-9 PR.
 
Men's Hammer
Qualifying: Aug. 1, 8:00 p.m. ET
Final: Aug. 4, 7:15 a.m. ET
Team USATF: Rudy Winkler (Ithaca, New York / USATF New York), Daniel Haugh (Marietta, Georgia / USATF Georgia), Alex Young (LaVergne, Tennessee / USATF Pacific)
OG Medal History: 19 medals - 7G, 5S, 7B
Last Gold: 1956 - Hal Connolly
Last Medal: 1996 - silver, Lance Deal
 
For the first time in recent memory, Team USATF has a chance to put three men in an Olympic hammer final. It has been 25 years since the last medal, but Winkler is in position to reset the clock after setting an American record with his 82.71m/271-4 winning throw at the Trials. Winkler finished 11^th at Doha in 2019 and took NCAA gold for Cornell in 2017. He has surpassed 81m in three meets this year and is ranked No. 2 behind reigning world champion Pawel Fajdek of Poland. Haugh jumped to No. 6 on the all-time U.S. performer list with his 79.39m/260-5 to take second at the Trials. He won the NCAA title for Kennesaw State in 2019 and was on the Worlds squad. Young captured U.S. titles in the indoor weight throw and hammer in 2017 and made the world championships team. His PR throw of 78.32m/256-11 in the final round gave him the final Tokyo berth. Poland's other gold medal threat is Wojciech Nowicki, while Mykhaylo Kokhan of Ukraine has also surpassed 80m this season.
 
Men's Javelin
Qualifying: Aug. 3, 8:05 p.m. ET
Final: Aug. 7, 7:00 a.m. ET
Team USATF: Curtis Thompson (Florence, New Jersey / USATF New Jersey), Michael Shuey (Johnsonburg, Pennsylvania / USATF New York)
OG Medal History: 5 medals - 1G, 2S, 2B
Last Gold: 1952 - Cy Young
Last Medal: 1972 - bronze, Bill Schmidt
 
Thompson was the Trials champion at 82.78m/271-7, the second U.S. title he has won, and has a lifetime best of 82.88m/271-11 that he set in finishing second at the 2016 Trials. Thompson won the NCAA gold for Mississippi State in 2016. Shuey won the 2019 U.S. title and blasted a big PR two weeks ago at the JavFest in Pennsylvania, going 85.67m/281-1 on his final attempt to elicit a celebration for the ages. He was fourth at the 2019 Pan American Games and 18^th in qualifying at Doha. Germany's Johannes Vetter, the bronze medalist at Doha, is the heavy favorite for gold after a massive 96.29m/315-11 to win the Euro Teams Championship at the end of May. Vetter is No. 2 on the all-time list with a 97.76m/320-9 last September. 2012 Olympic champion Keshorn Walcott of Trinidad and India's Neeraj Chopra are also strong medal contenders.
 
Men's Decathlon
Day 1: Aug. 3, 8:00 p.m. ET
Day 2: Aug. 4, 8:00 p.m. ET
Team USATF: Garrett Scantling (Athens, Georgia / USATF Georgia), Steven Bastien (Ann Arbor, Michigan / USATF Michigan), Zach Ziemek (Sun Prairie, Wisconsin / USATF Wisconsin)
OG Medal History: 27 medals - 14G, 7S, 6B
Last Gold: 2016 - Ashton Eaton
Last Medal: 2016 - gold, Ashton Eaton
 
A fabulous Trials competition saw Scantling fulfill the promise he has shown since he was a student at Georgia, stringing together a 171-point PR to win with 8,647 and move to No. 8 on the all-time U.S. performer list. That also ranks him second on the Tokyo entry list and if he can maintain the momentum from Eugene, he will be in the medal hunt. Bastien, whose father Gary was also a top multi-eventer, smashed his lifetime best and took over the No. 10 spot on the all-time U.S. list at 8,485. Bastien, who was fourth for Michigan at the 2017 NCAA meet, had six individual event personal bests on the way to his big score. Ziemek was seventh at Rio and placed sixth in the heptathlon at the 2018 World Indoors after taking gold in that event at the 2016 NCAA indoor meet. He added 58 points to the PR he set at the 2016 Trials to tally 8,471, helped by a huge pole vault clearance at 5.55m/18-2.5, one of the best ever by a multi-eventer. Canada's Damian Warner scared the 9,000 barrier at Götzis in May, moving to fourth on the world all-time performer list with 8,995, and will be a prohibitive favorite for gold.