Greetings, Big Throws People! Today’s preview is for you—the few, the proud, the sickos who cannot get enough of watching extremely strong athletes heave weighty implements staggeringly far distances. Even with the most globally decorated thrower sitting this one out, we’re still going to get some truly incredible competition across all events. As is the case frequently at USAs, there will be athletes who are legit global medal contenders who don’t even finish top three!

In terms of actually getting to watch the action, throws fans won’t be surprised to learn the coverage will likely be spotty at best. Your best bet is to tune into USATF.TV, or hope that the NBC/Peacock feed (during Saturday’s and Sunday’s two-hour broadcast windows) features the usual smash cut condensed version of an event or two.

Before we dive in, here’s a quick rundown of the on-site coverage and group runs CITIUS MAG will be working on all meet long:

• 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!

Alright! Here we go—the top storylines and athletes to watch in each throwing event at the U.S. Championships.

Men's Shot Put

Final: Sunday, August 3, at 4:40 p.m. ET

Last year's Olympic team: Ryan Crouser, Joe Kovacs, and Payton Otterdahl

Who has the World Championship qualifying standard (21.50m) or is in the World Rankings quota: Ryan Crouser (World Champion), Joe Kovacs, Payton Otterdahl, Roger Steen, Tripp Piperi, Jordan Geist, Josh Awotunde, Jason Swarens, Tarik Robinson-O’Hagan, and two others

Top Contenders: The first Crouser-less U.S. outdoor final since 2015 opens the door for Joe Kovacs to claim his first outdoor national title in a decade. After a slower start to the season, the 36-year-old Kovacs exploded at the Pre Classic earlier this month with a world-leading mark of 22.48m. He’s still at the top of his game and is staying ahead of a handful of throwers trying to keep him off his ninth-straight national team. 

Roger Steen is still riding the high of his early-30s breakout that started in 2023, as he took silver at World Indoors in March and is the second-best American this year after throwing a PB of 22.11m at Pre. Tripp Piperi beat Steen for the U.S. title indoors before settling for bronze in Nanjing, and now enters USAs having strung together the three best competitions of his life over the past two months. 22m throws haven’t been coming as easily to Payton Otterdahl this season as they were last year, highlighted by a sixth-place finish (behind Kovacs, Steen, and Piperi) in Eugene four weeks ago. But this is a guy who’s been top five in the world each of the past two years. You can trust the P-Train to roll.

Note: Even though Crouser is not competing, updated USATF rules allow him to still use his wildcard bye as defending World Champion, meaning the top three plus Crouser will be headed to Tokyo.

Dark Horses: It’s been a while since we’ve seen Josh Awotunde in the form that earned him World bronze in 2022, but the 30-year-old is fresh off a SB of 21.43m and peaked well last year with a fifth-place finish at Trials. Jordan Geist has had a rough summer after a promising start to the season, but he was fourth at Trials last year and then smashed his PB of 22.25m two weeks later. However, he may stack up better in the hammer. Keep an eye on Jason Swarens, the NCAA champ from Wisconsin who’s tacked on almost a meter to his PB this season and claimed the collegiate title with an icy sixth-round throw last month.

One Good Stat: Six American men have secured the standard of 21.50m during the qualifying window, which goes back to August 1st of last year. No other nation has six men over 21.50m in its history. (The total number of Americans over 21.50m in history is 38, in case you were wondering.)

Women's Shot Put

Final: Saturday, August 2, at 3:45 p.m. ET

Last year's Olympic team: Chase Jackson, Raven Saunders, and Jaida Ross

Who has the World Championship qualifying standard (18.80m) or is in the World Rankings quota: Chase Jackson (World Champion), Jaida Ross, Maggie Ewen, Mya Lesnar, KeAyla Dove, Raven Saunders, Abby Moore, Akaoma Odeluga, Abria Smith, and five others

Top Contenders: Chase Jackson is the top dog heading into these champs, having won the last two World titles and eight of the last 12 U.S. titles indoors and out. She’s also been the best in the world this season by a significant margin, owning the four best outdoor marks of 2025, including throws of 20.95m and 20.94m about a month ago, the two best marks since 2013. In terms of domestic throwers, Jackson has 12 of the 13 20m performances by American this year and 21 of the 23 individual 20m throws. She already has two World golds on her mantle but we’ve never seen her this good. 

Jaida Ross and Maggie Ewen seem to be the most likely candidates to join Jackson on the podium in Eugene. Ross’s last collegiate indoor season didn’t go according to expectations, finishing runner-up at NCAAs and failing to break 19m, but she seemed to turn a corner in late June with marks of 19.62m and a 20.13m PB in back-to-back meets. Ewen is getting closer and closer to her 2023 form with each meet it seems, throwing at least 19.50m on six occasions this summer. She’s clicking on all cylinders after breaking her foot in February 2024.

Dark Horses: The absence of Paris finalist Raven Saunders, who has not competed at all in 2025, leaves room for a hotly contested battle over the final spot on the team. The strongest contenders may be a trio of collegians, led by NCAA outdoor champion Mya Lesnar. She’s fourth on the U.S. list this year with her PB of 19.60m, but only managed 18.23m and finished 10th in her pro debut at Pre. Abria Smith has won the award for “most absurd progression” this season, as she had never broken 16m across her three years at Hampton, but is now consistently a shade under 19m since transferring to Illinois and working with coach JC Lambert (husband to DeAnna Price). Managing to make a senior national team would be the cherry on top of a meteoric rise this season.

One Good Stat: By the time August 2nd rolls around, it will have been 4,764 days since a woman threw 21m in the shot. Will that streak end at the hands of Jackson on Saturday?

Men’s Discus

Final: Saturday, August 2, at 2:20 p.m. ET

Last year's Olympic team: Andrew Evans, Sam Mattis, and Joe Brown

Who has the World Championship qualifying standard (67.50m) or is in the World Rankings quota: Sam Mattis, Marcus Gustaveson, Reggie Jagers, Robbie Otal, Andrew Evans, and Joe Brown

Top Contenders: If there’s one guy in this field you can trust to manage a top three finish in Eugene, it’s Sam Mattis. At 31, Mattis is having the best season of his career, bettering his three-year-old PB in April at the Triton Invitational before coming up just short of Ben Plucknett’s American record with a 71.27m toss in Ramona (either 5cm or 1.07m short, depending on which marks USATF or WA officially recognizes during Plucknett’s steroid-aided career). He wasn’t necessarily remarkable in his handful of meets over in Europe, but the marks were better than in years past. Mattis has made five straight national teams, winning two U.S. titles in that span. 

Andrew Evans, the winner of last year’s Trials, has strung together a solid 2025 all over the country, with big wins coming in Tucson at the USATF Throws Festival and in Idaho at the Iron Wood Classic. He’s also just about a week removed from a nice SB of 66.99m in Ramona.

Dark Horses: The Trials last June was the best, most chaotic U.S. final ever, with the top seven men going over 65m, and a replication of that this year could open the door for the dark horses to run wild. Joe Brown has done a good job of carrying over momentum from an Olympic appearance last year with more big marks in Ramona, but he also threw 66.08m at a meet in Germany in May. His last two competitions haven’t inspired a ton of confidence, finishing behind four and three Americans at the LA Throws Cup and Ed Murphey, respectively, but he proved in this ring last year that you can’t count him out. 

Marcus Gustaveson has put out a couple of huge marks this season, throwing a PB of 69.00m last month in Ramona as well as 70.63m at an uncertified meet in Texas. However, he’s only competed outside of Texas or Oklahoma twice this year, and neither were quite to that level. Reggie Jagers struggled through the first three months of his season, but has picked it up over the past few weeks, culminating with a 68.52m bomb in Ramona last week, the third-best throw of his career. After never having broken 63m outside of Ramona entering 2025, Robbie Otal has found a new level this season when he’s not working 60 hours a week as a management consultant for Deloitte, throwing a huge PB of 68.41m.

One Good Stat: Of the six men mentioned above, Evans is the only man to have thrown his PB away from Ramona. Going off of SBs, the seven best Americans (including Mitchell Weber) have recorded their best mark of the year in Throw Town.

Women’s Discus

Final: Sunday, August 3, at 3:00 p.m. ET

Last year's Olympic team: Valarie Allman, Veronica Fraley, and Jayden Ulrich

Who has the World Championship qualifying standard (64.50m) or is in the World Rankings quota: Lagi Tausaga-Collins (World Champion), Valarie Allman, Jayden Ulrich, Veronica Fraley, Gabi Jacobs, Cierra Jackson, Erika Beistle, Shelby Frank, and Elena Bruckner

Top Contenders: Realistically, there’s one top contender and her name is Valarie Allman. Now a two-time Olympic champion, Allman has not missed a beat this year and is still just as untouchable as ever. The closest any of her countrywomen has been to her all year was in Ramona, where Allman shattered her own American record with a 73.52m bomb, nearly three meters ahead of runner-up Lagi Tausaga-Collins. If familiarity inside the ring is something you value, then Allman has that box checked too, as she’s only lost once inside the new Hayward and has thrown over 70m in this ring on four occasions, including her last three appearances in a row.

For Tausaga-Collins, this year has been a complete 180 from a 2024 campaign that saw her deal with foul issues all year, eventually failing to record a mark at Trials. An offseason coaching change and reset have helped the defending World champ find not just great marks (70.72m in Ramona, 66.59m at Iron Wood and a pair of 64-highs on the Diamond League circuit), but true consistency from series to series. Her spot to Tokyo is secured, but her resurgence this year means she probably would end up on the team anyway.

Veronica Fraley is the only woman to have joined Allman on each of the past three national teams, but her season has been anything but a linear progression. A PB opener was followed by four straight competitions under 61m, but she’s gotten back in the flow of things over the last month and is peaking well as she aims for another red, white, and blue kit.

Dark Horses: After stepping away from the sport in 2022 and 2023, Gabi Jacobs showed promise in her return last year, but nobody could have expected what she’s managed this season. She threw 68.21m in Kansas this spring to move to sixth on the U.S. all-time list (coincidentally she ranks fifth on the U.S. list this year alone), and has backed that up with solid runner-up finishes at the USATF Throws Festival (63.78m, behind Allman) and Iron Wood (65.66m, behind Tausaga-Collins). If she can manage to secure a spot in Tokyo, it’ll be another huge milestone in one of the year’s most surprising breakouts.

The collegiate ranks pack a punch in this event too. Cierra Jackson produced one of the best moments of the NCAA Championships with her first-attempt meet record for an upset victory, and she followed that up with a two-meter PB of 67.82m to finish behind only Allman at Pre. However, Jackson may be even more foul-prone than Tausaga-Collins was last year, as only three of her 12 throws across those two meets were legal marks. Trials runner-up Jayden Ulrich seemed like a virtual lock to make this team two months ago, having thrown 66.14m in her opener and then 69.39m out of the B-flight in Ramona, but finishing seventh at NCAAs and eighth at Pre have dimmed her momentum a bit. And just because she throws for NCAA DII Grand Valley State, don’t overlook Erika Beistle. The fourth-place finisher from Trials has thrown at least 65m on four occasions (none coming in Ramona), a feat that only Allman has matched this year among Americans. 

One Good Stat: Allman enters these championships on a 26-meet win streak that dates back to Worlds in 2023, and she’s won six national titles in a row as well. The last time a different woman was atop the U.S. podium was 2017, when Allman was a redshirt junior at Stanford and finished third.

Men's Hammer

Final: Thursday, July 31, at 7:30 p.m. ET

Last year's Olympic team: Rudy Winkler and Daniel Haugh

Who has the World Championship qualifying standard (78.20m) or is in the World Rankings quota: Rudy Winkler, Daniel Haugh, Tyler Williams, Trey Knight, Tanner Berg, Justin Stafford, Tarik Robinson-O’Hagan, and Alex Young

Top Contenders: This conversation starts and ends with Rudy Winkler. He shattered his own American record with an 83.16m nuke at Pre, downing Ethan Katzberg in the process, and has broken 80m in more competitions than he hasn’t this year. His last six competitions in a row have produced the six best marks in the country of 2025. It would be one of the upsets of the meet if anyone managed to unseat Winkler.

Usually, Winkler and Daniel Haugh finishing 1-2 would be somewhat of a foregone conclusion, as they’ve finished in those spots in some order each of the past four national championships. However, there’s been some inconsistencies in Haugh’s form that mean he’s not necessarily a lock. He’s been at his best this year in his two biggest competitions, throwing 78.55m at Pre and 77.60m at the USATF Throws Festival, but he’s also had a few days where the marks just haven’t been there. Whether any of that will matter once Haugh steps back into the comforts of the Hayward hammer cage remains to be seen, but it’s something worth keeping in the back of your mind.

Dark Horses: Only two Americans went to Paris last year, but that is guaranteed to not be the case this time around. Tyler Williams, who finished fourth at Trials, upped his PB to 78.30m at a small meet in May, joining Winkler and Haugh as the only Americans with the standard. It is an outlier performance, nearly three meters ahead of his next best mark this year, but he PBed by over a meter in his last trip to Eugene. If he can find that clutch gene again, a one-way ticket to Tokyo could very well be in his grasp.

Collegians take up the next two spots on the top list this year: Cal State Northridge’s Trey Knight and Tarik Robinson-O’Hagan of Ole Miss. Both men had very different ends to their collegiate seasons, as Knight fouled out of Regionals while Robinson-O’Hagan threw a huge PB of 76.78m to finish third at NCAAs. Knight did a great job of shaking off that disappointment, though, as he threw 78.15m, a mark that would have won him the collegiate title, at the Portland Track Festival four days after the NCAA final. Robinson-O’Hagan, who won the NCAA indoor shot put title and finished eighth in that event at Trials last year, is solely focusing on hammer for these championships.

Justin Stafford fell victim to quota casualties last year, as he finished third at Trials but wasn’t qualified for the Olympics. He’s in a much better spot this year, comfortably inside the quota and ready to make some noise. On the surface, he’s been over a meter-and-a-half back of his 77.07m PB this season, but he’s elevated his floor a ton, recording the fourth- through 11th-best marks of his career across his eight competitions. He’s also posted his season’s best at USAs each of the past three years, and a continuation of that trend could earn him his first national team kit 10 years after a brutal spine fracture that jeopardized his ability to ever throw or lift again.

One Good Stat: Excluding 2020, this is the latest into the year an American has held the world lead in this event since Lance Deal ended 1996 as the world leader with his 82.52m then-national record. (In 2020, Winkler actually ended the year as world leader at 80.70m.)

Women’s Hammer

Final: Thursday, July 31, at 4:30 p.m. ET

Last year's Olympic team: DeAnna Price, Annette Echikunwoke, and Erin Reese

Who has the World Championship qualifying standard (74.00m) or is in the World Rankings quota: Brooke Andersen (Bye as top performer on 2024 Continental Tour), Rachel Richeson, DeAnna Price, Janee’ Kassanavoid, Annette Echikunwoke, Jillian Shippee, Erin Reese, Jalani Davis, Shelby Moran, and Emma Robbins

Top Contenders: With the World champ wild card residing to the north with Camryn Rogers, it’s a big deal that Brooke Andersen was the leader on last year’s Continental Tour because it’d be bad for the sport if only three American women were in Tokyo. This field features two World champions, a two-time World medalist, an Olympic silver medalist, and four of the eight best women in history.

Andersen has yet to lose to another American this year, beating all of her top competitors at both the USATF Throws Classic and Pre. She’s the only woman over 79m this year, something she’s done twice, and should be an easy pick for national title No. 3. Championship meets haven’t been Andersen’s friend the past two years, however, as she failed to make the final in Budapest and then fouled out of Trials last year. With her spot already locked up thanks to the bye, it’ll be good to see if she can get back into the flow of things with no qualification-based pressure to perform.

The margins are so thin between the rest of the top Americans that it’s tough to separate the rest of the women behind Andersen. Rachel Richeson has entered the upper echelon of throwers this spring, starting with her 78.80m opener in April that currently has her situated sixth on the all-time list. She’s reinforced that form with performances of 77.81m and 76.65m, but the foul bug has been biting her all year long. She’s no-marked in three competitions this year and finished last at Pre after fouling each of her final five throws. There is no more boom-or-bust athlete in the world than Richeson, who very well could end up winning gold in Tokyo or sitting at home watching.

DeAnna Price is quite the opposite of Richeson, as she’s just been as steady this year as she always is. Her SB of 78.51m shows she can still pop one off to hang with the big dogs, and the only American that has managed to beat her this year is Andersen. After the way Trials played out last year, you can never say someone’s a “lock” to make this team, but you’ve gotta like Price’s chances to earn her eighth U.S. kit.

Dark Horses: Only in the U.S. can you call the defending Olympic silver medalist and the defending World silver medalist dark horses, but that’s the reality we’re living in. How fun is that!

Annette Echikunwoke and Janee’ Kassanavoid have by no means had bad seasons, it’s just that what they’ve done can be somewhat overlooked in the face of their counterparts’ greatness. Echikunwoke is actually in a much better spot this year than she was leading into Trials last year, which she won. Her 75.47m mark from Tucson in May is the third-best of her career, and her most recent competition produced a solid 74.57m throw. If there’s as much chaos as we saw at this venue last year, Echikunwoke has shown the form necessary to swoop in and capitalize.

Kassanavoid has had one banger of a performance with her 76.42m opener in Tucson, but the rest of her competitions have just been alright in comparison to her unbelievably lofty standards. However, it’s important to note that her fifth-place finish at Pre was ahead of both Echikunwoke and Richeson, which could prove to be a significant marker in the fight for national team spots on Thursday.

One Good Stat: Since she won the World title in 2022, Andersen has the five best marks in the world and eight of the 10 best. And yet, five women, including three Americans, have won global medals since then and none of them were named Brooke Andersen.

Men’s Javelin

Final: Thursday, July 31, at 4:20 p.m. ET

Last year's Olympic team: Curtis Thompson

Who has the World Championship qualifying standard (85.50m) or is in the World Rankings quota: Curtis Thompson and Marc Minichello

Top Contenders: Curtis Thompson, Team USA’s lone representative in Paris last year, and Marc Minichello are sitting pretty as they head to Eugene as not just the only two Americans qualified, but also the two best Americans this year by a wide margin. Of the 11 occasions in 2025 where an American man has cleared 80m, Thompson and Minichello own 10—five apiece. 

For Thompson, the biggest goal of this weekend should be trying to get close to his early-season form. He opened his season at Texas Relays with a PB of 87.76m, but hasn’t broken 82m since then. He’s been solid as of late, but he’ll need to be better than solid in Tokyo if he wants to make the final, which is something he’s only done once in four global championship appearances.

Minichello’s transition into post-collegiate life has gone about as well as he could’ve hoped, tallying the three best marks of his career in April and May. He’s been a consistently strong performer at USAs, finishing third in both 2022 and 2023, and it’s good to see that he’s essentially a lock to finally get his first national kit.

Dark Horses: Donavon Banks is the only other man in the field that has a shot of moving into the quota, and that’d take something close to his PB of 82.90m and a top three finish to enter the realm of possibility. Banks opened his season really well, but his best mark over the past two months is only 77.80m. The top three finish shouldn’t necessarily be a problem, but approaching his PB may be a bit of a reach.

One Good Stat: When Thompson officially makes his fifth national team, he’ll be behind only Tom Pukstys and national record holder Breaux Greer in total Team USA appearances since the introduction of Worlds in 1983.

Women’s Javelin

Final: Thursday, July 31, at 6:30 p.m. ET

Last year's Olympic team: Maggie Malone-Hardin

Who has the World Championship qualifying standard (64.00m) or is in the World Rankings quota: Madison Wiltrout, Maddie Harris

Top Contenders: These championships feel somewhat strange with America’s lone Olympian from last year absent, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have some fun competition! Madison Wiltrout and Maddie Harris, who currently sit 27th and 35th in the 36-woman quota, have seemed like a clear lead duo all year. Wiltrout, the third-place finisher from Trials, threw 60m in May and has had two more comps over 58m, while Harris put together a stellar final season at Nebraska despite finishing fifth in the best javelin competition in NCAA history. Considering the rankings points that come with national championship competition, if both women can manage even a solid showing in Eugene, they should be headed to Japan.

While Wiltrout and Harris are likely the team for Tokyo, there’s a decent chance neither one comes away with the national title thanks to Evelyn Bliss. The Bucknell sophomore exploded in the qualifying round at the World University Games last week, throwing 60.81m in Germany to become the 10th-best thrower in U.S. history. That 3.75m PB completely reframes what these championships might mean for Bliss, as the World U20 bronze medalist now stands a solid chance to top the national podium. The qualifying picture for Bliss to Tokyo is tough but manageable. Assuming no drastic changes to the quota cutoff, she’d need a combination of results and placing points of about 1112, which would come from: Winning at about 56-mid, finishing runner-up at about 57-mid, or finishing third in 58-low.

Dark Horses: Collegians are dominating this event domestically in 2025. Alongside Bliss (the national leader) and Harris (U.S. No. 3), NCAA athletes also occupy spots five through seven on the national list this year. Utah State’s Kelsi Oldroyd has been on a tear since May 1, notching the four best competitions of her life back-to-back-to-back-to-back. UNC’s Kate Joyce and Princeton’s Shea Greene could also be in the mix.

One Good Stat: This is the first U.S. final since 2007 without either Kara Winger or Maggie Malone-Hardin, the two best javelin throwers in American history.

Heptathlon

First event: Thursday, July 31, at 2:00 p.m. ET

Final event: Friday, August 1, at 8:55 p.m. ET

Last year’s Olympic team: Anna Hall, Taliyah Brooks, and Chari Hawkins

Who has the World Championship qualifying standard (85.50m) or is in the World Rankings quota: Michelle Athlerley (wild card as 2024 Combined Events Tour winner) Anna Hall, Taliyah Brooks, Chari Hawkins, and Timara Chapman

Top Contenders: The short version is that this event begins and ends with Anna Hall. Hall is a two-time World medalist already (bronze in Eugene, silver in Budapest… what does Tokyo have in store?) and became the world leader at 7,032 points when she won the prestigious Gotzis multi-event meet. That performance ties the 24-year-old Hall for #2 all time, leapfrogging three-time Olympic champ Nafi Thiam and was the first 7,000-point performance in the world since Thiam’s own Gotzis win in 2017.

Barring a disastrous fall or series of fouls, Hall will likely defend her U.S. title in fine form and—if she’s in an entertaining mood—could cap it all off with another stunning run in the 800m. One way or another, Michelle Athlerley will join her in Tokyo as the winner of last year’s combined events tour, a hard-earned relief and reward for the woman who finished fourth by a heartbreaking 17 points at last year’s Olympic Trials.