The Top Races And Athletes To Watch At The 2025 USATF Outdoor Championships

Forbes

3 days ago

EUGENE, OREGON - JUNE 19: Sha'Carri Richardson competes in the Women's 100 Meter Semi-finals on day ... More 2 of the 2020 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Team Trials at Hayward Field on June 19, 2021 in Eugene, Oregon. (Photo by)
When national titles are on the line, there's no greater time to be a track and field fan, and starting Thursday at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, the USATF Outdoor Championships will highlight the very best athletes in America.
The stakes couldn't be higher as the four-day championship will determine the U.S. roster for the World Championships, which will take place from Sept. 13-21 at Japan National Stadium in Tokyo.
Per USATF selection guidelines, the top three athletes across each event will qualify for the World Championships. Reigning world champions from 2023 will receive automatic byes in their events.
We're here to break down the top races and athletes to watch out for.
How To Watch The 2025 USATF Outdoor Championships
If you were looking for an easy way to catch USAs, you're out of luck. NBC and Peacock are only airing the final two days of action from Hayward Field on Aug. 2-3, and they're doing so over a two-hour television window from 4-6 p.m. For more astute fans of track and field, you can catch all four days of coverage on USATF.TV, though you'll have to pony up a monthly subscription fee of $12.99 or a yearly cost of $129.99.
Legitimate Intrigue In The Women's 100 Meters
BUDAPEST, HUNGARY - AUGUST 20: Sha'Carri Richardson of Team United States competes in the Women's ... More 100m Heats during day two of the World Athletics Championships Budapest 2023 at National Athletics Centre on August 20, 2023 in Budapest, Hungary. (Photo by)
While reigning 2023 world champion and 2024 Olympic silver medalist Sha'Carri Richardson is entered and has her spot reserved for Tokyo, her inclusion in the top three of the women's 100 meters at USAs is hardly guaranteed.
Richardson just hasn't looked confident this year, and it didn't help that she finished last in the women's 100 meters at the Prefontaine Classic in May. In fact, Richardson has not broken 11 seconds in 2025 yet, which is highly concerning.
What compounds those issues is the fact that her Star Athletics teammate, Melissa Jefferson-Wooden, is currently on a heater, having won her last four races at the distance. She owns a world No. 1 time of 10.73 seconds.
Elsewhere, Twanisha Terry – Richardon's and Jefferson-Wooden's other teammate – arrives with a season-best time of 10.85, while Jacious Sears has run 10.85 and JaMeesia Ford owns a top effort of 10.87.
A total of six women, including Aleia Hobbs, will enter the first round of action with season bests under 10.90. Roughly a year ago at the U.S. Olympic Trials, it was the Star Athletics threesome of Richardson, Jefferson-Wooden and Terry who walked away with the top three placements.
How Will The College Newbies Fare at the USATF Outdoor Championships
A fun exercise will take place in the men's 1,500 meters.
On one hand enters Olympic gold medalist Cole Hocker and bronze medalist Yared Nuguse. Hobbs Kessler, who has the fifth-fastest time on the year for a U.S. athlete, has run under 3:32, while Jonah Koech and Vincent Ciattei are right there in the mix, with times at 3:31.43 and 3:31.69.
On the other hand lies recently-minted professionals like Nathan Green (Washington), Liam Murphy (Villanova) and Ethan Strand (North Carolina).
The 1,500 meters is often prone to jockeying and seesawing tactics, so no qualification is a foregone conclusion. The college guys should test the veterans, and vice versa. Expect some fireworks by the final.
The Men's 400 Meters Has Potential At The USATF Outdoor Championships
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - APRIL 25: Quincy Wilson of Bullis School (MD) competes in the High ... More School Boys' 4x400 Championship of America during the Penn Relays at Franklin Field at the University of Pennsylvania on April 25, 2025 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by)
The eye-opener in the men's 400 meters is the fact that Quincy Hall, the reigning 2024 Olympic champion, is not in the field. Neither is Michael Norman, who was second at the U.S. Olympic Trials a year ago.
That leaves the door open for up-and-comers like Khaleb McRae, Jacory Patterson, and 17-year-old Quincy Wilson.
Those three will arrive on the track with the fastest times on the season for U.S. athletes. However, only Wilson has featured on an Olympic team, and none of them have proven credentials (just yet) in qualifying outright for a U.S. team.
They'll have to outwit the likes of Vernon Norwood, Bryce Deadmon and Chris Bailey, who have proven themselves on that stage. All three reached the Olympics a year ago, with Bailey and Norwood qualifying individually.
Impressively, though, Wilson has upped his game in 2025. The rising high school junior ran 44.10 in July at the Ed Murphey Classic, lowering his American under-18 best at the distance. He could chase after the World U20 record of 43.87, which is owned by Steve Lewis.
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - JUNE 1: Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone crosses the line during the women's ... More 100m race at Franklin Field at the University of Pennsylvania on June 1, 2025 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Roger Wimmer/)
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone Could Have Her Eyes On History
This weekend won't be the first time McLaughlin-Levrone chases after a national title in the 400 meters. She last won nationals at the distance in 2023, clocking a time of 48.74 – just four-hundredths of a second shy of Sanya Richards-Ross' American record.
Perhaps that will be motivation enough for the 25-year-old. She'll face off against Aaliyah Butler (49.09), Isabella Whittaker (49.24) and Alexis Holmes (49.77).
McLaughlin-Levrone is coming off a win at the Prefontaine Classic over 400 meters in 49.43.
What Kind of Form is Grant Holloway In?
Grant Holloway has been handed a dose of reality in 2025. After dominating the hurdle landscape for such an extended period and scoring the Olympic win in 2024, Holloway has been anything but invincible.
His last win, in fact, was in March in the 60 meter hurdle final at the World Indoor Championships. In his most recent head-to-head on June 24, Holloway lost by a lean to fellow American Dyan Beard in Ostrava.
Maybe it all adds up to a winning formula in Eugene. But for Holloway, few things have been season in 2025 so far.
Roisin Willis' Opportunity Is Here At The USATF Outdoor Championships
EUGENE, OREGON - JUNE 14: Roisin Willis of the Stanford Cardinal reacts while crossing the finish ... More line in the Women's 800 Meter during the Division I Men's and Women's Track and Field Championship held at Hayward Field on June 14, 2025 in Eugene, Oregon. (C. Morgan Engel/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)
Few events will offer as much parity as the women's 800 meters.
With defending U.S. champion Nia Akins struggling and 2022 World Champion Athing Mu-Nikolayev out of the field, it has left a wide net for those wrangling for the top three spots.
Experience could favor the likes of Addison Wiley (1:56.83), who will enter with the top U.S. time of 1:57.43, though college standouts like Michaela Rose (LSU) and Willis (Stanford) could stand to benefit. Juliette Whittaker, who qualified for the Paris Olympics in 2024, is also in major consideration here.
Willis scored an NCAA outdoor title in June in 1:58.13.