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

Heats: Thursday, July 31st at 2:55 p.m. ET (Watch it on USATF.TV)

Semifinals: Friday, August 1st at 4:42 p.m. ET (Watch it on USATF.TV)

Final: Sunday, August 3rd at 1:26 p.m. ET (Watch it on NBC, Peacock)

Last year's Olympic team: Bryce Hoppel, Hobbs Kessler, and Brandon Miller

Who has the World Championship qualifying standard or is in the World Rankings quota: Hoppel, Josh Hoey, Donavan Brazier, Jonah Koech, Miller, Kessler, and Abe Alvarado have run under the World Championships standard of 1:44.50; Shane Cohen and Luciano Fiore are in the World Rankings quota.

Top Contenders: It’s not every day the in-his-prime American record holder, fresh off a fourth-place showing at the Olympics, is relegated to presumptive runner-up status. That’s not a knock at Bryce Hoppel. It’s a testament to the historic heater Josh Hoey has been on since placing fourth at last year’s Olympic Trial and just missing the team. 

These two feel like safe bets to make the team—or, as safe a bet as any athlete can be in this buzzsaw of an event—but behind them, the picture becomes quite a bit murkier. So much so that we’ll jump over to the dark horse zone right now.

Dark Horses: Donavan Brazier is back, baby. He ran 1:43.08 at the London Diamond League, finishing a ways back from the contenders, but he looked strong in his first taste of international competition. He’s a generational talent and should grow increasingly comfortable racing through the rounds, but he was away from the sport—he last raced regularly in 2022!—for a while, so he’s hardly a known quantity right now.

There’s a reason Brandon Miller keeps making U.S. teams. He is not shy about sticking his nose in races, no matter how hot the pace, and routinely puts himself in position to hold on for second or third at domestic championships.

The Isaiahs—Jewett and Harris—have made teams in the past, but haven’t thus far shown the same form in 2025. They don’t have the standard, but would likely be forced to run under 1:44.50 at some point in the process to make the team.

One Good Stat: The last time Donavan Brazier contested a World Championship—the 2022 edition in Eugene, of all places—he required surgery shortly thereafter and didn’t qualify out of the first round. The winning time that year? 1:43.71, run by Emmanuel Korir, a time that would rank 22nd in the world so far this year.

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