BELGRADE, Serbia — Team USATF has dominated the overall medal count and scoring tables over the course of the previous 17 World Athletics Indoor Championships, nearly doubling the next closest nation, and the stage is set for another impressive performance in Belgrade, Serbia, as 23 women and 23 men don the red, white, and blue to compete for individual titles.
60m – Mikiah Brisco (Baton Rouge, Louisiana/USATF Southern) and Marybeth Sant Price (Denver, Colorado/USATF Colorado) ran shoulder to shoulder at the USATF Indoors in Spokane, with Brisco winning on the lean by .01 at 7.07. Sant Price is ranked No. 2 on the world list with a 7.04 this year at the Tyson Invitational and has improved her lifetime best by almost a full tenth this year. Brisco has the No. 6 time on the world indoor list and has international experience with a bronze in the 100m hurdles at the 2013 World Athletics U18 Championships. She has won two straight U.S. 60m titles and was the 2017 NCAA 100m winner for LSU. Poland’s Ewa Swoboda is the only woman to have cracked the 7-second barrier this season, leading the ‘22 list at 6.99. 400m – Lynna Irby (Indianapolis, Indiana/USATF Indiana) and Jessica Beard (Ocoee, Florida/ USATF Florida) bring a wealth of international experience. Irby was a gold medalist in the 4x400m at Tokyo, running in the heats, and won the NCAA 400m gold for Georgia in 2018. She was a silver medalist in the 400m at the 2015 world U18 and the 2016 world U20 meets, and she earned gold in the 4x100m and 4x400m at the 2016 world U20. Her indoor personal best of 50.62 was set at the 2018 SEC Championships. Beard is a four-time world outdoor 4x400m gold medalist and was twice a 400m semifinalist in those championships. Her indoor 400m PR is 50.79. Femke Bol of the Netherlands, the 400m hurdles bronze medalist at Tokyo, is the fastest entrant with a 50.30 this season. 800m – This will be the fourth straight World Indoors for Ajee’ Wilson (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania/USATF Mid-Atlantic), and she has two silvers from 2016 and 2018 to go along with her American indoor record of 1:58.29 that she set in 2020. She was also the 2017 and 2019 World Outdoors bronze medalist and is a two-time Olympian. In 2011, she won the world U18 title and she followed that with a world U20 gold in 2012. Olivia Baker (Atlanta, Georgia/USATF Georgia) has more experience internationally at 400m, earning silver at the 2013 U18 world championships and bronze at the 2014 world U20 meet. She lowered her indoor lifetime best for 800m to 2:00.33 in February, just off her outdoor PR of 2:00.08. Britain’s Keely Hodgkinson, the Tokyo Olympics silver medalist, leads all entrants with a 1:57.20 in ‘22. 1,500m – Heather MacLean (Brighton, Massachusetts/USATF New England) won a three-woman dash to the finish at Spokane to claim the U.S. indoor title in 4:06.09, .04 in front of Josette Norris (Tenafly, New Jersey/USATF New England). MacLean was an Olympic semifinalist in 2021 after placing third in the Olympic Trials, where she clocked her lifetime outdoor best of 4:02.09. Norris dipped under four minutes outdoors last year with a 3:59.72 and was third in the Diamond League final. She sports a 4:03.16 indoor PR that puts her No. 4 on the entry list. Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay is a heavy favorite after running 3:54.77 last month. 3,000m – A pair of Olympic finalists in different events, Elle Purrier St. Pierre (Enosburg, Vermont/USATF New England) and Alicia Monson (Longmont, Colorado/USATF Colorado), give the U.S. two potential medalists at this intermediate distance. Purrier St. Pierre was the Olympic Trials champion at 1,500m with a meet record and lifetime best of 3:58.03 last year and was 10th at Tokyo, while Monson placed 11th in the 10,000 at the Games. Monson won the USATF cross country championships in January and has the third-fastest time in the world coming in, with an 8:31.62 from winning the Millrose Games. Purrier St. Pierre, who has an indoor 3,000 best of 8:41.63 in 2022, made the final in the 5,000m at the 2019 World Outdoor Championships and won the NCAA indoor mile gold for the University of New Hampshire in 2018. She was a bronze medalist in the 3,000m steeplechase at the 2016 NCAA outdoor meet. Dawit Seyaum of Ethiopia has the top entry time with an 8:23.24. 60m Hurdles – Olympic 100H seventh-place finisher Gabbi Cunningham (Holly Springs, North Carolina/USATF North Carolina) cut her lifetime best in the 60H to 7.82 to win the U.S. crown in Spokane. It was her second straight national title in the event and she is tied for the second-fastest entry time. Cunningham is coached by three-time World Indoor champion Allen Johnson. Alaysha Johnson (Fort Lauderdale, Florida/USATF Florida) has made the most of 2022 after two very quiet years, speeding to a 7.90 lifetime best before her 7.91 runner-up finish at the USATF Indoors. She was fourth in the 2017 NCAA 100H for Oregon. Danielle Williams of Jamaica is atop the entry list with a 7.75 in 2022. High Jump – Rachel McCoy (Austin, Texas/USATF Southern), a 2021 Olympian after improving her lifetime best to 1.96m/6-5. McCoy placed fourth in Spokane and earned her Belgrade berth based on her world ranking. She was fourth at the 2014 world U20 championships. Australia’s Eleanor Patterson has been the dominant jumper this indoor season and has cleared 1.99m/6-6.25. Pole Vault – One of the most intriguing events on the schedule for Team USATF features the reigning Olympic and World Indoor champions, who are tied for the best entry mark. Sandi Morris (Mableton, Georgia/USATF Arkansas) won the 2018 World Indoor gold and was victorious in Spokane with a season-best 4.80m/15-9. She has an indoor PR of 4.95m/16-2.75 from 2016, and joined the 5-meter club outdoors with a 5.00m/16-4.75 at Brussels that year. Katie Nageotte (Powder Springs, Georgia/USATF New York) was the Tokyo gold medalist and brings an indoor lifetime best of 4.94m/16-2.5. She set her overall PR with a 4.95m/16-2.75 to win the Olympic Trials last summer. Nageotte was fifth at the 2018 World Indoors. Long Jump – Quanesha Burks (Baton Rouge, Louisiana/USATF Southern) was fourth at the 2018 World Indoors, setting her indoor lifetime best of 6.81m/22-4.25, and was an Olympian last summer. She finished third at the Olympic Trials with a personal best of 6.96m/22-10, and was fifth at the world U20 meet in 2014. Burks won the NCAA title for Alabama in 2015 and was the NCAA indoor champion in 2016. Tiffany Flynn (Ellenwood, Georgia/USATF Georgia) was fourth at the Trials last summer with a PR 6.80m/22-3.75 and has an indoor best of 6.66m/21-10.25. The Serbian crowd will boost Ivana Vuleta, who leads the entries at 6.88m/22-7. Triple Jump – Keturah Orji (Atlanta, Georgia/USATF Georgia) and Tori Franklin (New York, New York/USATF New York) are the two best triple jumpers in U.S. history and have traded the American indoor record over the past four years. Orji won the latest duel in Spokane, but Franklin still has the AR indoors at 14.64m/48-0.5. A four-time NCAA outdoor champion and three-time NCAA indoor champion for Georgia, Orji spanned 14.91m/48-11 outdoors last year and has been an international presence since her bronze at the world U18 meet in 2013. The two-time Olympian was fourth at the 2016 World Indoors and added a fifth-place finish in 2018. Franklin was eighth at the 2018 World Indoors and was an Olympian last summer after placing ninth at the World Outdoors in 2019. World record holder Yulimar Rojas of Venezuela is the prohibitive favorite for gold. Shot Put – Maggie Ewen (Dilworth, Minnesota/USATF Minnesota) set a lifetime best of 19.79m/64-11.25 to win the USATF Indoors title in Spokane and has the second best throw in the world coming into the meet. She was fourth at the World Outdoors in 2019 and won the NCAA indoor/outdoor double for Arizona State in 2018. Fourth on the world indoor list this season, Chase Ealey (Holman, New Mexico/USATF New Mexico) notched an indoor PR of 19.21m/63-0.25 in Iceland in early February. She was seventh at the World Outdoors in 2019 and won USATF indoor and outdoor titles that year. Pentathlon – Chari Hawkins (San Diego, California/USATF San Diego-Imperial) set a lifetime best of 4,492 points to win in Spokane, her first national title, and she was 12th in the heptathlon at the 2019 World Championships. Hawkins finished sixth at the Olympic Trials in the heptathlon, scoring a personal best 6,236, the fifth 6,000+ effort of her career. 2021 World Combined Events Tour winner Kendell Williams (Kennesaw, Georgia/USATF Georgia) has a pentathlon lifetime best of 4,703 and is one of the better hurdlers and long jumpers in the multis. She was fifth in the heptathlon at Tokyo, matching her placing at the 2019 World Championships, and she has twice been in the top 10 in the pentathlon at the World Indoors, taking fifth in 2016 and ninth in 2018.
60m – World indoor record holder and reigning world indoor champion Christian Coleman (Lexington, Kentucky/USATF Kentucky) has the fastest time in the world in 2022 at 6.45 and will join with Marvin Bracy (Jacksonville, Florida/USATF Florida) to give Team USATF a potent 1-2 combination in the shortest sprint. Bracy clocked a season best 6.48 in finishing second at Spokane, and he has a silver medal from the 2014 World Indoors to his credit. Coleman, the 2019 world 100m champion and the silver medalist in that event in 2017, set the current world record of 6.34 in 2018 at the USATF Indoor Championships in Albuquerque, while Bracy won U.S. indoor 60 titles in 2014-16 and 2020. 400m – Ashland University’s Trevor Bassitt (Elida, Ohio/USATF Ohio) pulled off a rare feat in winning the 400m at Spokane to secure a spot on the Belgrade team, becoming one of the few collegians ever to win the event while representing his school. Bassitt has a lifetime indoor best of 45.27, set in 2021, and has clocked 45.75 this season, the second fastest time on the entry list. Marqueze Washington (Fayetteville, Arkansas/USATF Arkansas), who has a best of 46.15 this year, ran in the heats of the 4x40m at the 2018 World Indoors and earned silver. Liemarvin Bonevacia of the Netherlands has the fastest entry time at 45.48. 800m – An Olympic and World Championships veteran, Bryce Hoppel (Lawrence, Kansas/USATF Missouri Valley) will make his first World Indoors appearance and is second on the entry list with a best of 1:45.30 this year. Hoppel ran his lifetime indoor best of 1:44.37 last season and finished fourth at the 2019 World Outdoors. He set an American indoor record in the 1,000 in 2021 with a 2:16.27 and was the 2019 NCAA indoor and outdoor 800 champion for Kansas. Isaiah Harris (Lewiston, Maine/USATF Pacific Northwest) was fourth at the Olympic Trials last summer and has a 2022 best of 1:46.30. Harris was the 2018 NCAA indoor champion for Penn State and he made the semifinal at the 2017 World Outdoors. Spain’s Mariano Garcia leads the entries with a 1:45.12. 1,500m – Josh Thompson (Hillsboro, Oregon) and Sam Prakel (Seattle, Washington/USATF Pacific Northwest) are making their international debuts in one of the toughest events on the schedule at Belgrade. Thompson won the 2020 USATF Indoors and was sixth at the Olympic Trials last summer, bringing a 3:37.96 season best into this meet. He has a lifetime indoor best of 3:34.77. Prakel was the 2020 USATF Road Mile champion and finished third in the 2018 NCAA indoor mile for Oregon. He has a 2022 best of 3:39.92. Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen set a world indoor record of 3:30.60 earlier this year and is favored in a clash with former world record holder Samuel Tefera of Ethiopia. 3,000m – Dillon Maggard (Logan, Utah/USATF Pacific Northwest) is the lone U.S. entry, carrying a lifetime best of 7:49.05 indoors. Maggard was the runner-up at the USATF Cross Country Championships in January and will be making his first international championship appearance. Ethiopia’s Berihu Aregawi is the clear favorite on paper with a 7:26.20 in 2022, four seconds faster than the nearest challenger. 60H – Team USATF has won more than half the gold medals awarded in this event at the World Indoors, and with Grant Holloway (Gainesville, Florida/USATF Florida) leading the way this year should add one more to that tally. Holloway, the Olympic silver medalist at 110H, hasn’t lost a 60H race since 2014 and he set a world record of 7.29 last season. He leads the 2022 world list at 7.35, more than a tenth faster than his nearest competitor. Jarret Eaton (Baltimore, Maryland/USATF Potomac Valley) was the silver medalist in 2018 and placed fourth in 2016. He has run 7.47 this year and has a lifetime best of 7.43. 2020 USATF Indoor Championships winner Aaron Mallett (Coralville, Missouri/USATF Iowa) set his lifetime best of 7.54 in winning that title and matched it to place third in Spokane. He is making his international championship debut. High Jump – Darryl Sullivan (Farmington, Arkansas/USATF Tennessee) was an Olympian last summer after taking second at the Trials, and he has a lifetime best of 2.33m/7-7.75. Sullivan cleared 2.25m/7-4.5 to finish second at Spokane. South Korea’s Sanghyeok Woo leads the entries with a 2.36m/7-8.75 best in 2022. Pole Vault – Twice this season Chris Nilsen (Vermillion, South Dakota/USATF Dakotas) has bettered the existing American indoor record, going over 6.05m/19-10.25 in France on March 5 to add 3cm to his lifetime best. The Olympic silver medalist at Tokyo, Nilsen won the Olympic Trials and has three NCAA pole vault golds from his time at South Dakota. KC Lightfoot (Lees Summit, Missouri/USATF Missouri Valley) was fourth at Tokyo and has a season best of 5.95m/19-6.25. Lightfoot joined the 6-meter club while at Baylor, setting a collegiate indoor record of 6.00m/19-8.25 in 2021 before winning the NCAA indoor title. Sweden’s Armand Duplantis is the world indoor record holder, recently clearing 6.19m/20-3.75, and is favored here. Long Jump – Looking to move up from a fourth-place finish at the 2018 World Indoors, Jarrion Lawson (Springdale, Arkansas/USATF Arkansas) won in Spokane with a season best 8.19m/26-10.5. Lawson was the World Outdoor Championships silver medalist in 2017 and finished fourth at the 2016 Rio Games. He was a two-time NCAA indoor champion in the long jump for Arkansas. Marquis Dendy (Ocala, Florida/USATF Florida) already has a pair of World Indoor medals, winning gold in 2016 and adding a bronze in 2018. He placed second at the Olympic Trials last summer and has a 2022 best of 8.14m/26-8.5. Dendy won seven NCAA indoor and outdoor long jump and triple jump titles for Florida. Miltiadis Tentoglou of Greece has the best entry mark at 8.25m/27-0.75. Triple Jump – Donald Scott (Ypsilanti, Michigan/USATF Michigan) and Will Claye (New York, New York/USATF New York) have a basket full of U.S. titles between them, and Claye is the reigning World Indoor champion after taking gold in 2018. He also won in 2012 and has Olympic silver medals from 2012 and 2016 to go with World Outdoor Championships silvers from 2017 and 2019. All told, Claye has nine medals from Olympic and Worlds competition, and his 18.14m/59-6.25 outdoor lifetime best makes him the No. 3 all-time world performer. Scott won the USATF Indoor Championships in Spokane, his third straight title, and was seventh at Tokyo last summer. He was sixth at the 2019 World Outdoor Championships and has an indoor lifetime best of 17.24m/56-6.75. Cuba’s Lazaro Martinez leads entries with a 17.21m/56-5.75 season best. Shot Put – After one of the greatest individual seasons in track and field history, Ryan Crouser (Redmond, Oregon/USATF Oregon) will be seeking his first World Indoor Championships title. Crouser set world indoor and outdoor records last year and won his second straight Olympic gold while putting together a remarkable undefeated season. He broke the world indoor record with a 22.82m/74-10.5 throw in January 2021 and then blasted a 23.37m/76-8.25 at the Olympic Trials to take the outdoor world record. His last loss was at the 2019 World Outdoor Championships, when he finished second in one of the most thrilling three-way battles ever. Josh Awotunde (Columbia, South Carolina/USATF New Jersey) has steadily improved after a ninth-place finish at the 2019 Pan American Games, recording a lifetime indoor best of 21.74m/71-4 to take second at Spokane. He was fifth at the Olympic Trials last year and set an outdoor lifetime best of 22.00m/72-2.25 in September. Heptathlon – The top two men from last summer’s Olympic Trials decathlon carry the U.S. standard in the seven-event multi. Garrett Scantling (Jacksonville, Florida/USATF Florida) was fourth at Tokyo and leads the world heptathlon list in 2022 with the 6,382 that he scored to win in Spokane. That score moved him to No. 3 on the all-time U.S. performer list and No. 9 on the all-time world performer list. Only Ashton Eaton and Dan O’Brien have ever scored higher as Americans. Steven Bastien (Ann Arbor, Michigan/USATF Michigan) was the decathlon runner-up at the Trials and took 10th at Tokyo. A full schedule of events can be found here. Join the conversation with USATF on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook using the hashtags #USATF and #WorldIndoorChamps.