Making the U.S. Olympic track and field team is a herculean task.
"It doesn't matter who you are," Ato Boldon told NBC Olympics in a pre-Trials roundtable. "You're guaranteed drama. It's the toughest team in the world to make."
Boldon's words rang true during the women's 800m final on Night 4 of Trials.
Defending Olympic women's 800m champion Athing Mu shockingly tripped and fell just a few seconds into the final, so Mu will miss out on the Paris Games.
In her absence, Nia Akins, Allie Wilson and Juliette Whittaker finished 1-2-3 and are all going to their first Olympic Games.
The fourth night of the 2024 U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials also featured finals in the women's high jump, men's long jump, men's 1500m, men's 400m and women's 5000m.
- Grant Holloway kicked off the night with the fastest 110m hurdles time in U.S. Trials history, running a blazing 12.92 seconds. Holloway advanced to the 110m hurdles semifinal.
- Laulauga Tausaga-Collins was shockingly eliminated from the women's discus opening round after fouling out three times. Tausaga-Collins is the defending world discus champion but won't compete at the Paris Olympics. Meanwhile, Tokyo gold medalist Valarie Allman set a new U.S. Trials record with a 70.89m toss, securing her place in the women's discus final.
- Cole Hocker set a U.S. Trials record to win the men's 1500m final in 3 minutes, 30.59 seconds and book his second Olympic spot, alongside Yared Nuguse and 21-year-old Hobbs Kessler.
- Charity Hufnagel of the University of Kentucky won the women's high jump final over favorite Vashti Cunningham, who had won 12 consecutive national championships, including the Tokyo Olympic Trials. Cunningham finished third, so will head to the Olympics alongside Rachel Glenn, since both women have the Olympic standard. Hufnagel doesn't yet qualify for Paris, since she hasn't hit the standard of 1.97m.
- Florida State standout Jeremiah Davis won the men's long jump final with an 8.20m leap. Davis, second-place finisher Malcolm Clemons and third-place jumper Jarrion Lawson will all need to qualify for the Paris Olympics via World Athletics rankings, as they haven't met the Olympic standard of 8.27m.
- Anna Hall won the heptathlon, completing a grueling comeback from a complex knee surgery six months ago. Hall has earned a spot on her first Olympic team after breaking her foot at 2021 Trials. Hall's redemption story is now complete.
- Quincy Hall blew by Michael Norman in the final stretch to win the men's 400m final in 44.17 seconds and earn a spot on his first Olympic team, joining Norman and first-time Olympian Chris Bailey.
- Elle St. Pierre beat a 24-year-old U.S. Olympic Trials record with her time, winning the women's 5000m final by just .02-seconds over Elise Cranny. In an epic finish, St. Pierre clocked in with a stellar time of 14 minutes, 40.34 seconds to make her second Olympic team with Cranny and Karissa Schweizer.
See below for event recaps, highlights and more. For full event-by-event results from the first four days of Trials, click here.
Men's 110m hurdles
Three-time world champion Grant Holloway headlined the opening round of the men's 110m hurdles, and he did so in signature mind-boggling fashion. With a scorching time of 12.92 seconds in his heat, Holloway ran the fastest 110m hurdles heat time in the history of U.S. Olympic Trials. It also marks the second-fastest time of his career.
American Aries Merritt holds the world record of 12.80, which he set in 2012.
"The biggest thing coming out here was having it translate from practice to the track," Holloway told Lewis Johnson of NBC Sports. "You guys keep talking world record, my main focus is to make this team, and then we can talk more once we're in Paris."
Holloway's next step is the semifinal in Eugene, which he advanced to along with fellow heat victors Freddie Crittenden, Trey Cunningham and Jamal Britt.
Dylan Beard, who appeared on the TODAY Show in the spring, has made headlines for pursuing Olympic track and field as he works his day job at a local Walmart. Beard ran the second-fastest time of his heat to advance to the semis.
TOP 10 TIMES
- Grant Holloway | 12.92
- Jamal Britt | 13.07
- Trey Cunningham | 13.12
- Daniel Roberts | 13.14
- Ja’Qualon Scott |13.15
- Freddie Crittenden | 13.16
- Dylan Beard | 13.19
- Cameron Murray | 13.23
- Cordell Tinch | 13.33
- Myles Hunter | 13.33
Men's 1500m
In an epic men's 1500m final, Cole Hocker smashed the U.S. Trials record with a blazing 3 minutes, 30.59 seconds to win his second-consecutive Olympic Trials final. Hocker will headline the U.S. men's 1500m team at the Paris Olympics, which will be his second Olympics. Hocker placed sixth in the Tokyo 1500m final.
"I was ready for anything today," Hocker rold Lewis Johnson. "I know I'm the strongest I've ever been."
Hocker is a University of Oregon alum and now has clinched his second Olympic team on his former home track.
Yared Nuguse finished second in 3:30.86 to secure his Olympic spot, and 21-year-old Hobbs Kessler is headed to his first Games after finishing third in 3:31.53. Nuguse previously earned a spot on the U.S. team at the Tokyo Olympics, but a quad injury kept him from competing, meaning Paris will be his first Olympics.
"It means so much to come back and make up for three years ago," Nuguse said immediately after the race. "I know I'm really fit and where I want to be. Now, I'm excited to go to Paris."
FINAL RESULTS
- Cole Hocker* | 3:30.59
- Yared Nuguse* | 3:30.86
- Hobbs Kessler* | 3:31.53
- Vincent Ciattei | 3:31.78
- Nathan Green | 3:32.20
- Henry Wynne | 3:32.94
- Joe Waskom | 3:33.74
- Elliott Cook | 3:33.84
- Craig Engels | 3:34.21
- Cooper Teare | 3:35.17
- Liam Murphy | 3:36.37
- Ethan Strand | 3:39.08
*Secured Olympic spot
Entering the week, Kessler had yet to make any outdoor U.S. team, so his first is the granddaddy of them all, the Olympic squad. His time of 3:31.53 is his new personal best.
Hocker, Nuguse and Kessler will compete in one of the upcoming Olympics' headline events, featuring defending Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway and reigning world champion Josh Kerr of Great Britain. Ingebrigsten and Kerr have been sparring on and off the track for months, so the American trio now will enter a scintillating men's 1500m in Paris.
Heptathlon
Anna Hall won the women's heptathlon just six months after undergoing a complex knee surgery and earned a spot on her first Olympic team. Hall broke her foot at the 2021 Olympic Trials after crashing into a barrier and will now compete at the Olympics for the first time.
"I'm almost in shock," Hall said after running the 800m. "This year has been so hard. Falling in 2021, the journey to get here was so much harder than I imagined. I'm just so thankful.
"I thought about quitting, but everyone around me was like, 'No, we're doing this.'"
Chari Hawkins and Taliyah Brooks, who finished second and third, will have to wait before they can officially book their spot in Paris. Neither woman has hit the Olympic standard as of June 24, so they'll need to qualify based on World Athletics rankings.
FINAL RESULTS
- Anna Hall* | 6614
- Chari Hawkins | 6456
- Taliyah Brooks | 6408
- Michelle Atherley | 6391
- Allie Jones | 6199
- Erica Bougard | 6192
- Jadin O’Brien | 6108
- Timara Chapman | 6073
- Ashtin Zamzow-Mahler | 6058
- Jenelle Rogers | 5969
*Secured Olympic spot
Men's 400m
Quincy Hall stormed past Michael Norman over the final stretch to win the men's 400m final in 44.17 seconds and earn a spot on his first Olympic team.
In a thrilling final, Norman led for the first 300m before Hall blew past him to take the victory. Norman, who finished second in 44.41, heads to the Olympics along with third-place finisher Chris Bailey.
Norman competed at the Tokyo Olympics, winning gold in the men's 4x400m, and is now bound for his second Olympic Games. Bailey is a first-time Olympian. He owns a gold medal in the 4x400m from 2023 Worlds in Budapest.
Quincy Wilson, the 16-year-old phenom who set under-18 world records in back-to-back races over the weekend, finished sixth and is eligible for the U.S. 4x400m relay pool in Paris, but the teenager will wait for word from USA Track & Field.
FINAL RESULTS
- Quincy Hall* | 44.17
- Michael Norman* | 44.41
- Chris Bailey* | 44.42
- Vernon Norwood | 44.47
- Bryce Deadmon | 44.61
- Quincy Wilson | 44.94
- Khaleb McRae | 45.06
- Matthew Boling | 45.15
- Justin Robinson | 46.08
*Secured Olympic spot
Women's 5000m
Elle St. Pierre broke a 24-year-old U.S. Olympic Trials record with her 5000m time of 14 minutes, 40.34 seconds, winning by just .02-seconds over Elise Cranny. In a photo finish, St. Pierre officially made her second Olympic team.
St. Pierre gave birth to her son, Ivan, on March 4, 2023 and has since won a world indoor title in the 3000m and now the U.S. Olympic Trials in the 5000m. Next up: the Olympics.
"I've been waiting for this for a bit," St. Pierre said immediately after the epic finish. "I dug a little deeper at the end. It's just so emotional to have Ivan here, and I'm proud to be his mom."
Cranny is also bound for her second Olympics, as is third-place finisher Karissa Schweizer.
FINAL RESULTS
- Elle St. Pierre* | 14:40.34
- Elise Cranny* | 14:40.36
- Karissa Schweizer* | 14:45.12
- Parker Valby | 14:51.44
- Whittni Morgan | 15:05.53
- Allie Buchalski | 15:12.87
- Ella Donaghu | 15:14.27
- Taylor Roe | 15:15.37
- Rachel Smith | 15:22.16
- Abby Nichols | 15:25.19
*Secured Olympic spot
Women's 800m
The final event of the night, the women's 800m final, provided one of the most shocking moments in recent U.S. Olympic Trials memory.
Defending Olympic champion Athing Mu suddenly tripped and fell just a few just seconds into the final, which means the 22-year-old will miss out on the Paris Games.
In Mu's absence, Nia Akins, Allie Wilson and Juliette Whittaker finished 1-2-3 and are all going to their first Olympics.
Akins won her first U.S. Trials title in 1 minute, 57.36 seconds, topping Wilson by nearly a full second.
"I wasn't thinking about anything," Akins said. "I was just running. I'm just speechless. I don't know what to say."
FINAL RESULTS
- Nia Akins* | 1:57.36
- Allie Wilson* | 1:58.32
- Juliette Whittaker* | 1:58.45
- Michaela Rose | 1:59.32
- Sage Hurta-Klecker | 2:00.38
- Kristie Schoffield | 2:01.04
- Raevyn Rogers | 2:01.12
- Kate Grace | 2:02.37
- Athing Mu | 2:19.69
*Secured Olympic spot
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