The most exciting week of track and field on American soil is finally here: the 2024 USATF Olympic Trials! We’ve been watching eagerly all season, rooting for our favorites and scoping out the competition to try and figure out which Americans have the best shot at making the team for the Paris Olympics – and who might have the best shot at a medal once they get there.

Nothing beats the drama of the U.S. Trials. Unlike many other countries, which select their teams based on a combination of championship results and committee decisions, Team USA sets its team in the most objective way possible: top three at the Trials make the team. Of course, those athletes need to have achieved the Olympic standard or World ranking, so there still might be some numbers to crunch while athletes are handed those little American flags, but in most cases, it’s simple. You’ve got to perform your best on the day to book your ticket.

All the action kicks off Friday, June 21 at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon. And it will all be televised and/or streamed by the NBC/Universal networks. (The easiest way to watch is with a Peacock subscription.) You can also find all the helpful links to follow along at home below:

• Schedule of events
• Entry lists
• TV and streaming information
• Live results

Below, we break down everything you need to know about the sprint events at the U.S. Olympic Trials. You can find our distance events preview here and our field events preview here. Without further ado, here’s a preview of the top Americans to watch, their chances of making Team USA, and their potential to make a splash in Paris:

Men’s 100 meters

First round: Saturday, June 22, 9:22pm E.T.

Olympic standard: 10.00 Americans with standard: 9

State of the event: 2022 was a banner year for U.S. men’s sprints, with podium sweeps at our home World Championship in both the 100m and 200m. 2023 wasn’t quite as dominant for Team USA, but Noah Lyles did pick up his first gold medal over 100 meters in Budapest after not making the team the year before. So counting Christian Coleman’s 2019 World title, three different men on the Trials start line (Lyles, Coleman, and Fred Kerley) have claimed the “World’s fastest man” mantle in recent championships.

But reigning Olympic champ Marcell Jacobs has rounded into form nicely with a gold medal at last week’s European Championships, Jamaican upstarts Ackeem Blake and Oblique Seville are entering their prime and running faster than ever, and the new world leader is Kenyan Ferdinand Omanyala after his altitude-aided 9.79 at their Olympic Trials. Will an American land on the podium? Almost certainly. But the gold medal is far from guaranteed and currently feels up for grabs among at least half a dozen contenders.

Top contenders: Lyles is the defending World champ and hasn’t been shy about his aspirations to pick up three to four Olympic golds – but it’s easy to forget he’s not even the defending U.S. champ. That would be Cravont Charleston, the formerly-unsponsored, now adidas-backed short sprinter who hasn’t raced since picking up an injury in the first round of competition in Budapest, but is entered and declared here. It would be a surprise to see him going toe to toe with Coleman and Lyles, but it’s impossible to disregard the defending champ entirely.

Another big question mark: what exactly is going on with Fred Kerley? After all the drama of the NYC Grand Prix, we ultimately didn’t get a peek at Kerley’s form, as he withdrew from the competition after repeated difficulties with the starting blocks. The Olympic silver medalist has the racing experience and talent necessary to make the team, so it certainly wouldn’t be a surprise to see him back on top – but it also wouldn’t be shocking to see him knocked out in the semis, as he still only has a 10.03 season’s best. Coleman and Lyles, the 60m gold and silver medalists from World Indoors, have to be the closest thing the U.S. has to sure things in the event right now, but the third spot is anyone’s guess.

More athletes to watch: High school phenom Christian Miller had a sensational go in the semi-finals at New Balance Nationals, winning his heat in 9.95 to get under 10 seconds for the second time this season. (He opted to sit out the final to rest up for the Trials.) Can he perform just as well on the big stage under the bright lights of Hayward Field? We’ll have to see. If you like betting on experience, the guys you probably want to keep an eye on are Kenny Bednarek (more on him in the 200m below) and Kyree King, who’ve both raced frequently and consistently on the pro circuit this spring. They might get beat out by someone simply outrunning them to the tune of a 9.90 or faster, but they’re solid bets to make it safely to the final and not flame out early.

Brandon Hicklin of adidas via LSU has also raced a ton this year, with ten(!) 100-meter finals under his belt already. He most recently tied his season’s best 9.94 victory on the World Athletics Continental Tour in Prague on June 3, so it seems he hasn’t left his best form back in April. Any of these guys has a shot at the team on the right day, but it’ll probably take their best performance of the season to do so – no one’s coasting to an Olympic spot with a B+ effort in this event.

Women’s 100 meters

First round: Friday, June 21st, 8:53pm E.T.

Olympic standard: 11.07 Americans with standard: 19

State of the event: Just like in the men’s 100m, Team USA has the defending gold medalist here in Sha’Carri Richardson. But unlike the increasingly crowded men’s field, Richardson’s path to Olympic gold actually looks a lot clearer than it did a few months ago. That’s largely (and unfortunately) because none of the formidable Jamaican veterans in this event have shown the kind of dominance they did in Tokyo, where Elaine Thompson-Herah, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, and Shericka Jackson swept the podium – and then came back in 2022 and did it again.

Thompson-Herah is injured (although she’s still entered in one event at Jamaican Trials), Jackson hasn’t quite seemed like herself this season, and SAFP’s only raced once since 2023 – a win, but in a less-than-eye-popping 11.15 at a lowkey meet in Kingston. Instead, the woman to beat might be Texas-based St. Lucian Julien Alfred, the World Indoor champ in the 60m and 2023 Bowerman Award winner for the Longhorns. Alfred ran 10.78 at the Racers Grand Prix in early June and finished second to Richardson at the Pre Classic, and along with training partners Rhasidat Adeleke and Dina Asher-Smith, she’s clearly found a groove that works under Edrick Floreal.

Top contenders: Richardson didn’t lose a 100m race to an American all last year, so she has to be considered the favorite here. There were some questions about her early-season form following a few so-so 200s in China, but a decisive 10.83 victory at Pre put any doubts to rest. Behind her, 100-meter stalwart Aleia Hobbs has a 10.88 season’s best to her name, but Hobbs is famously injury-prone and has struggled in the past to make it through championships healthy. She has the talent to make the team, but will her body hold up? And the veterans will face a stiff challenge from newly-crowned NCAA champ McKenzie Long, whose better event is historically the 200m but who’s ascended to a new level in both events this spring.

More athletes to watch: On last year’s 100m team, Richardson was joined by Brittany Brown – who’s focused on just the 200m this time – and Tamari Davis, the now-21-year-old who turned pro at 16 and finished third at USAs last year. Davis has been under 11 seconds twice already this season and looked strong on the 4x100m at World Relays, so she should be in the mix to make another team.

TeeTee Terry, Tamara Clark, and Melissa Jefferson have all made U.S. teams in the past and shown they can deliver in a championship; among that trio Jefferson has the fastest season’s best at 10.94. And the big mystery coming out of the NCAA is what kind of form Jacious Sears will be in: after clocking a world-leading 10.77 in April, Sears limped in the final at SECs and didn’t race the rest of the collegiate season. If she’s back to full health, she’s got the wheels to contend for the team, but the 22-year-old’s conspicuous absence from the NCAA championship was not a promising sign.

Men’s 200 meters

First round: Thursday, June 27th, 10:33pm E.T.

Olympic standard: 20.16 Americans with standard: 13

State of the event: Until he slows down or someone else speeds up, the 200 meter crown is Noah Lyles’s to lose. Lyles has not lost a 200m race since finishing third in Tokyo three years ago, and although he’s only contested the event once this year (a 19.77 win into a headwind in New York), he’s clearly shown he’s fit and sharp with strong performances in the 100m and, earlier in 2024, indoors in the 60m. This event actually might be Team USA’s best shot at a sprint sweep, as the top two 200m marks this season are held by Americans (and training partners) Kenny Bednarek and Courtney Lindsey.

But that isn’t to discount the sublime Letsile Tebogo, who took bronze for Botswana in 2023 and is only getting better as he enters his prime sprinting years. Tebogo and Brit Zharnel Hughes both put together strong 2023 campaigns and will be well-positioned to contend for medals in Paris. And of course you can’t count out Canadian Andre De Grasse, who always seems to do his best running in an Olympic year.

Top contenders: Lyles is the top dog in this one but Bednarek should be able to give him a closer run for his money over 200m than 100m. The big mystery of this event is where is Erriyon Knighton? The 20-year-old has only competed once this year, a 20.21 indoors way back in February, and he’s skipped out on several outdoor meets including his sponsor’s marquee showcase at the adidas Atlanta City Games. Knighton has such prodigious talent that he probably doesn’t have to be 100% to contend for the team, but he does have to show up and make it through three rounds of racing in some kind of form.

More athletes to watch: Many of the same contenders from the 100m are declared here, including Kerley and Coleman, but neither is really a 200m specialist in the purest sense. They could still make the team, but the primary focus will surely be on the earlier and shorter event. Lindsey made the team last year fresh out of college and has only gotten better since then, so he’ll certainly be in the mix as well. And speaking of NCAAs, the top entrant by time is Alabama State’s Jamarion Stubbs at 19.95, but Stubbs only finished seventh at the NCAA Championships and Florida’s Robert Gregory, the runner-up at NCAAs, is probably the collegiate athlete who’s trending most in the right direction.

Women’s 200 meters

First round: Thursday, June 27th, 8:51pm E.T.

Olympic standard: 22.57 Americans with standard: 24

State of the event: Similarly to Lyles, in recent years it feels like the 200m has been the Shericka Jackson show. But unlike Lyles, Jackson hasn’t started out the year flawlessly, racing the event three times with only a 22.69 season’s best to show for it, as well as a rare loss at the Oslo Diamond League. We’ll know more about the Jamaican’s true form after their Trials – for what it’s worth, there’s probably less reason to worry about her than either Elaine Thompson-Herah or Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce.

In the meantime, the current world lead and only wind-legal sub-22 of the year belongs to NCAA champ McKenzie Long. It’s probably premature to call her the favorite for gold given the resumes of the Jamaicans and the Texas-based international crew, not to mention last year’s World silver medalist Gabby Thomas, but it’s intriguing that no one else has exactly been lighting the world on fire in this event this season.

Top contenders: Thomas is the defending U.S. champ and defending Trials champ, and when she’s healthy (2022 was a tough year), she’s not losing 200ms to domestic competition. One interesting wrinkle, however, is that Thomas is entered in both the 400m and the 200m and the longer event comes first, so if she does run three rounds of the 400m she’ll be heading into the second half of the Trials on tired legs.

That could be enough to set her behind the likes of Long or Sha’Carri Richardson, but if Thomas’s goal is to earn a few relay spots and rack up the Olympic medal count that way, this might be a calculated risk worth taking. One athlete who isn’t racing multiple events is Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, who was initially entered in the 200m, the 400m, and the 400m hurdles but is focused solely on the latter.

More athletes to watch: In addition to Long, South Carolina’s JaMeesia Ford and Oregon’s Jadyn Mays have been on fire in this event all year and could make a splash on the pro level as well. Particularly when it comes to Mays, the home field advantage of an Oregon Duck at the Olympic Trials cannot be discounted – just ask Jenna Prandini. Abby Steiner has had a bit of a long road coming back from surgery in 2023, but if she can keep progressing off the 22.32 she ran in May, she’ll be in the mix.

And last but certainly not least, Brittany Brown has to be one of the most underappreciated pros currently competing: she’s got a World silver medal from 2019, made the U.S. team in the 100m last year, and is coming off a Diamond League win at the Bislett Games. Discount her at your own risk.

Men’s 400 meters

First round: Friday, June 21st, 6:20pm E.T.

Olympic standard: 45.00 Americans with standard: 14

State of the event: The men’s 400m is potentially the most wide open event in the world right now. There are at least 15 men across the globe that you could make a legitimate argument could land on the podium in Paris. The U.S. has medalled in this event in almost every edition of the Olympics. Regardless of which three athletes make the team, the Stars and Stripes stand a solid chance at making the podium.

Top contenders: After focusing on the shorter sprints early in the season and eventually pulling out of Budapest, 2022 World champion Michael Norman has looked to be back in form this year. He’s only run twice, but his fastest time of 44.21 is two-tenths ahead of what any other American has run this year. Norman has won the last two national titles at this distance that he’s competed in, and signs are pointing towards him claiming a third. Last year’s national champion Bryce Deadmon and Chris Bailey have had encouraging starts to the season, as well as 2023 World bronze medallist Quincy Hall and Team U.S.A. mainstay Vernon Norwood.

More athletes to watch: The most interesting athletes to keep an eye on outside of the above favorites are a group of incredibly talented collegians. Johnnie Blockburger, Judson Lincoln IV, and Khaleb McCrae have all run very impressive open 400m times, but the most intriguing marks are a pair of relay splits from Auhmad Robinson and James Benson II. In the NCAA 4x400m final two weeks ago, these two ran some of the fastest splits in history, with Robinson clocking 43.20 on anchor for Texas A&M and Benson splitting 43.18 for Arkansas. Oh yeah, you also have 16-year-old sensation Quincy Wilson heading to Hayward fresh off a 45.13 PB at New Balance Outdoor Nationals.

Women’s 400 meters

First round: Friday, June 21st, 6:48pm E.T.

Olympic standard: 50.95 Americans with standard: 18

State of the event: The women’s 400m has been ridiculously fast to this point in 2024. Unfortunately for American medal prospects, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone will only be contesting the 400mH at the Trials, despite being the world leader in the flat 400m, and Britton Wilson was forced to pull out with a lingering injury. Even with two very strong contenders not competing this week, whoever does end up heading to Paris will have more-than-respectable medal chances.

Top contenders: The four fastest women this year heading to the Trials are all collegians. 19-year-old Kaylyn Brown has the fastest seed time with her 49.13 clocking from the NCAA Championships in Eugene two weeks ago. That’s half-a-second faster than any other woman in the field has run coming into this meet, so Brown has a great shot at becoming an Olympian. Behind this group, Alexis Holmes and Gabby Thomas could have the strongest claims out of the professional athletes in the field. Holmes made waves last year while anchoring a world record in the mixed 4x400m in Budapest and took home bronze in the open 400m at World Indoors in March. Thomas is doubling in the 200m as well, where she’s the favorite, but she has significant chops in the longer distance. Last April she ran a PB of 49.68 in Austin and currently has a season’s best of 50.37.

More athletes to watch: Shamier Little has struggled this year in both the 400m (season’s best of 51.27) and 400mH (58.22), but she'll be tough to beat if she can find the same form she had last year. Talitha Diggs is another athlete who hasn’t produced the most inspiring times yet outdoors, but she finished fifth at World Indoors and has historically performed very well at national championships, representing the U.S. in both Eugene and Budapest. Tokyo finalist Quanera Hayes has great momentum heading into the Trials, as her 50.44 clocking from two weeks ago was her fastest time in nearly three years.

Men’s 110m hurdles

First round: Monday, June 24th, 8:05pm E.T.

Olympic standard: 13.27 Americans with standard: 13

State of the event: The biggest storyline to watch in the event when Paris rolls around will be if three-time World champion Grant Holloway can claim the Olympic gold that eluded him in Tokyo. He’s set a world lead in each final that he’s stepped on the track for so far in 2024, and it was at this exact meet three years ago where he ran 12.81, the second-fastest time in history.

Italian phenom Lorenzo Simonelli has had a breakout 2024 where he took silver behind Holloway in Glasgow and last week broke the Italian record in the 110mH for the third time this year, running 13.05. After going out in the semis in Budapest, the 22-year-old will have a ton of pressure on him heading into Paris. How he handles that will be something to watch. Holloway’s Jamaican rivals Rasheed Broadbell and Hansle Parchment haven’t had the best starts to their 2024 seasons, ranking T-17th and 20th in the world this year.

Top contenders: Holloway is the top dog, but the battle behind him will be fascinating to watch. Unsponsored Walmart deli worker Dylan Beard is the second-fastest man in the country in 2024 after running a PB of 13.10 in Georgia two weeks ago. Last year was the first time the 25-year-old qualified for a national championship, and he failed to make it out of the semis. A year later, he’s in a great position to become an Olympian. Three-time national champion Daniel Roberts has been a model of consistency this year, running under 13.20 four times. Coming off a bronze medal from Budapest, it seems likely that Roberts will be heading to his second Olympics and will be looking to improve upon his semifinal exit in Tokyo.

More athletes to watch: 2023 did not go according to plan for Trey Cunningham, and he ended up finishing fifth at U.S. Championships and didn’t qualify for Budapest. He’s had a much better start to his season this year than he did last year, however, his season’s best of 13.12 has him sitting fourth in the U.S. right now. It’ll take a great run to make the team, but we know that the 2022 World silver medallist has it in him.

Cordell Tinch and Freddie Crittenden both made Team USA last year, but neither have looked particularly sharp so far. 18-year-old Auburn Tiger Ja’Kobe Tharp has been tearing up the track over the past two months, with his PB of 13.18 sitting as the second-fastest time by a junior athlete in history. About a week-and-a-half after becoming the national U20 champion, the prospect of Tharp becoming an Olympian as well is far from a pipe dream.

Women’s 100m hurdles

First round: Friday, June 28th, 8:28pm E.T.

Olympic standard: 12.77 Americans with standard: 21

State of the event: What can you say about the 100mH that hasn’t already been said? It’s probably the deepest event on the track in the world right now, and that has manifested itself in the fact that we haven’t seen a back-to-back global champion at either Worlds or the Olympics since Sally Pearson in 2011 and 2012. Much of this depth does lie in the U.S. (hence the 21 women with the standard), so a sweep in Paris could be in the cards. On the flip side, because of how deep the event is, there’s a distinct possibility that Americans are left off the podium entirely.

Top contenders: Making Team USA in and of itself will probably take times close to what it’ll take to make the podium in Paris (U.S. Championships were actually faster last year). Keni Harrison hasn’t run very much this year, and when she has it’s usually been into a tough headwind. The result of this is that she’s entering this meet with the eighth-fastest time in the country this year, but I would go so far as to say that the six-time national champion will still be the favorite when they line up in Hayward.

Tonea Marshall is the fastest woman in the country this year at 12.42 and her worst time over the last two months is 12.55 into a headwind. She’s in a great spot to make her first national team. 2019 World champion Nia Ali had the fastest season of her career last year at age 34, and early signs in 2024 pointed towards more of the same. She ran 12.44 to set a world lead in Gainesville in mid-April, but she’s since failed to break 12.80 in each of her last three races. It’s a situation similar to Harrison’s where I’m not going to count out someone as decorated as Ali, but those recent clockings do raise some eyebrows.

More athletes to watch: Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but there are a couple collegians (or freshly former collegians, I should say) who could shake some things up among the top contenders. Florida’s Grace Stark and UCF’s Raniyah Jones finished in first and third at NCAAs two weeks ago in new PBs of 12.47 and 12.59, respectively.

Alia Armstrong of LSU is also in the field, but unlike Stark and Jones she’s made the national team before, finishing fourth at the 2022 World Championships. She has been far from that windy 12.31 shape she showed on this track two years ago so far in 2024, but forgetting about one of the 25 fastest women in the event’s history would be an oversight. Of those in the professional ranks, Christina Clemons and Alaysha Johnson have both put together strong Olympic campaigns, and the always dangerous Masai Russell will be returning to Eugene in hopes of making her third consecutive national team, indoors or out.