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

Final: Sunday, August 3rd at 1:52 p.m. ET (Watch it on NBC, Peacock)

Last year's Olympic team: Graham Blanks, Grant Fisher, and Abdi Nur

Who has the World Championship qualifying standard or is in the World Rankings quota: Fisher, Nico Young, Blanks, Cooper Teare, and Cole Hocker have run under the World Championships standard of 13:01.00; Dylan Jacobs and Morgan Beadlescomb are in the World Rankings quota.

Top Contenders: Grant Fisher is the reigning Olympic silver medalist and popped off a 3:48.29 mile at Pre. Barring calamity, he’ll finish top three. Nico Young and Graham Blanks—both of whom had killer races at the Bislett Games, with Young securing his first Diamond League win—make the most sense to round out the top three.

But Cooper Teare will have freshness on his side, as he’s all in on the 5000m. He can close and he’s run under 13 this year—put that all together and he’s best situated to pull an upset out of anyone else.

Dark Horses: That said, Fisher, Young, and Blanks are all doubling, so here’s the standard disclaimer that races aren’t run on paper, and that any of these guys could opt to sit out the 5000m if they didn’t like—or really like—what they saw in their first event.

Hocker is also doubling, but he seems confident in his ability to run a hard 5000m on legs that have withstood multiple 1500m races, or else he wouldn’t have declared. Nobody in the field—and possibly the world—can hang with his kick if he’s firing on all cylinders. Dylan Jacobs and Morgan Beadlescomb would go to Tokyo with a top-three finish. They’re both talented, and reasonably strong closers. It could happen.

Parker Wolfe hasn’t had the smoothest ride to Eugene—he hasn’t strung together more than a couple months of consistent work since his incredible indoor campaign. But after a multi-month racing hiatus starting in April, Wolfe ripped the bandaid off this month with a 3:34.44 1500m at Stumptown Twilight. If the engine is primed, the wheels appear to be willing. Wolfe is a supreme talent, who placed third at the Trials last year but lacked the standard. It’s a long shot, but with a top three finish this time around, the schedule allows for him to chase the time this year.

One Good Stat: Since 2020, Abdi Nur is the only American man without a sub-13 PB to make multiple U.S. teams in the 5000m. Nur is battling back from a torn tendon at last summer’s Olympics and a subsequent surgery—his 13:34.86 season’s best makes him a long, long, long shot, but that race did come in a victory and he does have a track record of exceeding expectations at U.S. championship events.

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