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 3:21 p.m. PT (Watch it on USATF.TV)

Semifinals: Friday, Aug. 1st at 5:04 p.m. PT (Watch it on USATF.TV)

Final: Sunday, Aug. 3rd at 1:18 p.m. PT (Watch it on NBC, Peacock)

Last year's Olympic team: Nia Akins, Allie Wilson, and Juliette Whittaker

Who has the World Championship qualifying standard or is in the World Rankings quota: The U.S. has 13 women who have run under the World Championships standard of 1:59.00 and seven women in the World Rankings quota.

Top Contenders: The women’s 800m at the U.S. Championships is always one of the most dramatic and stunning events. There are early exits in the rounds. Some athletes catch fire throughout the championships and surprise people to make the team. Over four days, your thoughts on who will make the team will change often.

It’s hard not to lead a ‘top contender’ section with the 25-year-old Olympic champion in the group. All eyes will be on Athing Mu-Nikolayev and whether she can round into the form that has made her great in recent years. She does not have the World Championship qualifying standard (2:00.42 SB) but it’s expected that the rounds and final of the championships will require fast enough times for her to check that box eventually. Coach Bobby Kersee has taken a patient approach to easing her back into racing but the results have varied—2:03.44 for last place at the Pre Classic and then 2:00.42 for sixth place at the Ed Murphey Classic in Memphis, where she finished fifth among the Americans. Mu-Nikolayev has the biggest talent and upside of the field and it’s just a question of whether it will show up in time.

Addy Wiley is the fastest American on the year with a 1:57.43 season’s best at the London Diamond League. She has broken 1:59 on four occasions this season. If there’s an athlete you might consider a lock, it’s Wiley—except that she’s 0 for 3 in making the team across the last two championships, doubling 1500m/800m last year but missing the latter final and finishing fifth in the 1500m in 2023.

Sage Hurta-Klecker has the second fastest qualifying time (1:57.53, run last year in Croatia), and has been a mainstay in middle-distance events at US championships over the years, but has never made a global team. If there’s a year she can rewrite that narrative, it might be this one, where things look relatively wide open.

Veteran half-milers Ajeé Wilson and Raevyn Rogers—despite neither breaking two-minutes once in 2024—are both rapidly trending up in 2025, having run in the 1:58 range. Rogers isn’t just the 2020 Olympic bronze medalist in the event, she’s a beloved former Duck who’ll have the Oregon faithful spurring her on, and Wilson is as respected a presence at Hayward as you’ll ever find. Don’t be surprised to see either of them roll back the clock and make another World team.

Then there’s the wave of collegiate talent arriving onto the scene right now: Michaela Rose is always a wildcard with her intense front-running approach, Roisin Willis displayed her tactical savvy en route to an NCAA title this spring, Meghan Hunter and Maggi Cogdon have each shaved off a considerable bit of time from their PRs in recent months, and Makayla Paige tends to run well in championship contexts.

If it feels like we’ve written a ton about athletes who have a good shot to place top three… that’s because there are a ton of athletes who can place top three. This is gonna be a wild ride.

Dark Horses: Interestingly enough, each of last year’s Olympians in this event are probably best classified as dark horses this summer. Nia Akins has struggled with panic attacks this season, Allie Wilson is ramping up off an injury-abbreviated build, and Juliette Whittaker took some time off from competing this spring for mental health reasons. If things fall into place for any of these three, they have just as good a shot as any at qualifying. That said, it feels like a cop-out to call a reigning Olympian a dark horse. So we will go with Valery Tobias, who made the World Indoor team, but has flown largely under the radar since.

One Good Stat: The United States has had at least one woman qualify for every World and Olympic 800m final since 2016—if this is a year for ascendant stars, history suggests they’ll make a splash internationally, too.

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