Hello again track and field fans! As opposed to the Olympic Trials, which stretch out over a week, athletes at USAs are packing their heats, finals, and attempted doubles into just four condensed days of racing. We can expect even more unexpected outcomes in already highly volatile events like the men’s and women’s 800m, but we did our best to make sense of the madness and lay out how to watch each race below. If you just can’t get enough track and field coverage, there’s plenty more where that came from:

- Each day before the meet begins, tune in to Good Morning Track and Field (presented by Bee Keeper Coffee), where Eric Jenkins and Aisha Praught-Leer give their takes on the action and happenings in Eugene. (Also available on the Off The Rails Podcast feed.)

- After each day at the track, tune in for CHAMPS CHATS—Chris Chavez, Eric, Aisha, Anderson Emerole, and Paul Hof-Mahoney will break down all of the results and offer up their analysis from each day’s competition. (Also available on the CITIUS MAG Podcast feed.)

- The CITIUS MAG Newsletter will be hitting your inbox daily with a recap of results and a round-up of the best content from the day.

- And for those in Eugene, we’ll be hosting two group runs with New Balance, Saturday and Sunday at 8 a.m. PT, meeting in front of Agate Alley on 1461 E. 19th Avenue. There will be coffee, treats, free “I Love Track and Field” t-shirts and the chance to try out the new FuelCell Rebel v5 and FuelCell SuperComp Elite v5. It’s going to be a great time!

Schedule + How To Watch

First Round: Thursday, July 31st at 6:03 p.m. ET (Watch it on USATF.TV)

Final: Saturday, August 2nd at 2:49 p.m. ET (Watch it on Peacock)

Last year's Olympic team: James Corrigan, Kenneth Rooks, and Matt Wilkinson

Who has the World Championship qualifying standard or is in the World Rankings quota: Rooks, Wilkinson, Isaac Updike, Duncan Hamilton, Nathan Mountain, and Corrigan have run under the World Championships standard of 8:15.00.

Top Contenders: Last year’s three Olympians were all first-timers, and with the possible exception of Rooks, all were surprises to make the squad. That sort of sudden upshift in expectation can present a real challenge. And it’s even tougher to live up to your newly-elevated promise when you pull off the shocker of the steeplechasing century and nab an out-of-left-field silver medal the way Kenneth Rooks did. Rooks has by no means had a bad season. He just hasn’t put up many results to suggest he’s the second best steepler on the planet right now. Still, the reigning Olympic second-placer has to be considered a top contender, and he does come in having run a top-three time by an American this year. 

Matt Wilkinson has cemented himself as the closest thing to a favorite we have here. He’s run 8:11.11 and 8:10.23, both in Diamond League settings, and looked very much the part of a global championship finalist. Because of his collegiate racing obligations, James Corrigan’s only international steeple since Paris was the Monaco Diamond League, where he finished three seconds back of Wilkinson. Meanwhile, Isaac Updike, who has been a mainstay on the domestic steeple scene for a decade, has slowly been whittling away at his PB. This year, he got down to 8:13.64, making him the second fastest American in the field in 2025.

Dark Horses: Nathan Mountain has the coolest name in the field, has run 8:14.43, and is wedged between Rooks and Corrigan on the entry list. He’s also notably run a respectable 3:38.94 1500m, winning his section at a low-key meet in Brussels. When the seed times are this close, and only one athlete (Wilkinson) appears to have given himself a half step on the field, that’s the sort of variable you’ve gotta factor in!

One Good Stat: This will be Evan Jager’s 11th U.S. championship. He won every U.S. title in the steeplechase from 2012 to 2018.