Heading into yesterday’s U.S. 100-meter finals, Kenny Bednarek and Melissa Jefferson-Wooden were already among the best in the world at what they do.

And then they got better. Both Bednarek and Jefferson-Wooden are Olympic medalists and U.S. leaders in the sprint events, and both athletes have been running fast all year. In the 100m finals, however, they ascended to a new level, one everyone knew they were capable of, but was still fantastically impressive to watch come to fruition.

Bednarek picked up the first U.S. title of his career — despite being a two-time Olympic medalist, he’s heretofore always been overshadowed by the Noah Lyleses and Christian Colemans of the world. But not today: Today was Kenny’s day. He decisively dispatched an extraordinarily strong field and clocked the first wind-legal sub-9.80 of his career with a 9.79 victory, leading a field where the top five finishers ran under 9.90.

Jefferson-Wooden continued doing what she’s done all year: win. But despite consistently beating the competition, Melissa has been plagued by unhelpful winds all year — either over the legal limit for a tailwind, or blowing in her face and slowing her down. Finally, she got favorable race conditions at just the right time, and the results were astonishing: a 10.65 victory, the fifth fastest in history, tying the likes of Shericka Jackson, Marion Jones, and Sha’Carri Richardson on the all-time list.

Perhaps they were inspired by the the multi-events wrapping up a few minutes earlier, as Anna Hall recorded 6,899 points to secure her fourth straight U.S. title and Kyle Garland bounced back from an injury at last year’s Olympic Trials to record a lifetime-best 8,926 points and his first national crown. Or maybe it was the women’s 800m, where it took 1:59.40 just to qualify for the final and everyone ran so fast that former Olympic champ Athing Mu-Nikolayev ran a season’s best of 1:59.79 and still failed to advance.

Everywhere you looked, really great athletes were outperforming the past versions of themselves. Eugene may be 50 miles or so from the Pacific Ocean, but Hayward still felt like it was feeling the effects of rising tide in the sport, with Americans in all disciplines are forced to step up their game to new levels just to have a shot at competing with the rest of the world.

We’re always working to elevate our game as well, with Eric and Aisha’s Good Morning Track and Field getting funnier by the day and our YouTube channel filling up with interviews and live shows by the hour. Definitely check out our chat with 10,000m champ Emily Infeld if you haven’t already — it’s a funny, heartwarming, and inspiring look into one of the meet’s best comeback stories so far.

Races Of The Day: Men’s And Women’s 100m

We already talked a lot about the sublime performances at the top of the men’s and women’s 100m finals, but that was just the tip of the iceberg.

The men’s side featured the top seven finishers setting season’s or lifetime bests, and the smallest of margins separated qualifying from heartbreak. Courtney Lindsey made his first 100m team in second in 9.82, just 0.01 seconds ahead of T’Mars McCallum in third in 9.83 (both big PBs), who in turn was 0.01 seconds ahead of Trayvon Bromell in fourth. Team USA will get four spots at the World Championships in Tokyo, but unfortunately for Bromell the extra spot is spoken for as Noah Lyles is the reigning World Champion but didn’t race the final.

Back in sixth place, 18-year-old Maurice Gleaton equalled the U.S. high school record with a stellar 9.92 run, an impressive run for anyone but especially such a young athlete who’s never before raced under such bright lights. The old adage of “iron sharpens iron” was clearly true in the men’s final, where even those who didn’t make the team still ran incredibly well.

The rest of the women’s side was perhaps a bit overshadowed by Melissa Jefferson-Wooden’s history-making run, but her teammate Kayla White’s ascension in the 100m deserves its flowers as well. White made the team in the 200m in 2023 and won the NCAA title in the longer event in 2019, but before now she hasn’t been as strong in the 100m and now she’s run 10.84, making her first team in the shortest sprint. And it was great to see 30-year-old Aleia Hobbs keep showing up and get through the rounds in fine form, finishing third in 10.92 after a few years where injuries often prevented her from getting through all three rounds of racing.

When all is said and done, a lion’s share of credit has to go to coach Dennis Mitchell and his Star Athletics pupils. Members of Mitchell’s training group finished 1-2 in both events, and assuming the 4×100m relay pool utilizes a mix of World champions and top finishers, Star Athletics sprinters could account for seven of the eight legs across the two relays. Iron sharpens iron, indeed.

Athlete Of The Day: Anna Hall

At only 24 years old, Anna Hall has now won four U.S. titles in a row in one of the sport’s most grueling events: the heptathlon.

After her phenomenal 7,000+ point performance earlier this season, expectations were sky-high for Hall. The win was secured almost from the first step, as Hall won five of the seven events outright, but at this point she’s also competing against her own high marks. Although she didn’t quite equal her #2 all-time performance from Gotzis, she’s still improving every day, setting PBs in the shot put and the javelin throw and setting a season’s best of 13.12 in the 100m hurdles.

One of Hall’s most impressive events is her 800m, clocking performances that could be competitive in any middle-distance race and are purely dominant when she faces off with other heptathletes. But heading into the final event this time, she wasn’t quite within reach of another 7,000-point performance and was over 200 points clear of second place, so the only move was to play it safe. And “playing it safe” for Hall still means winning decisively in 2:04.60.

Hall has World medals of two colors already — bronze and silver — so it’s clear what her mission is for her third heptathlon of 2025 next month. But Anna Hall, like so many of the all-time greats, always seems to perform better the higher the stakes are. With USAs on lock, the next real challenge can only be global.

Photo Of The Day

Star Athletics training partners TeeTee Terry and Kayla White were in perfect sync in the semifinal of the women’s 100m, where they were separated by only 0.006 seconds and both clocked a 10.92 en route to making the final.

Social Moment Of The Day

Athing Mu-Nikolayev was surprisingly upbeat as she reflected on her last year, running a season’s best of 1:59.79 in the 800m semifinals but failing to make the final.