A fitting theme for the penultimate day of competition at the 2024 Olympic Trials: it ain’t over ‘til it’s over.
Just ask Monae’ Nichols, who sat in fourth place in the final of the long jump competition. Nichols has a 6.97m personal best from 2022, but heading into Trials she was one centimeter shy of the Olympic qualifying standard with a 6.85m season’s best. In her last jump of the competition, Nichols came up clutch in multiple ways, jumping her way from 5th into 3rd and improving her season’s best to the 6.86m auto-qualifier.
The long jump was full of drama, with eventual champion Tara Davis-Woodhall needing a mark in the third round just to keep jumping and eventually pulling out a 7.00m leap in the fifth round to defend her national title. And three different women held the third position in the final round of competition, with Lex Brown starting the round in third at 6.77m, then Quanesha Burks landing a 6.80m jump, and finally Nichols taking the critical final spot with her final effort. There’s plenty of discourse around what role field events should play in the sport, and the women’s long jump final was a perfect example of why the stakes, drama, and rivalries of the field half of the sport deserve a bigger spotlight.
At the top of the ticket, the 200m finals went largely according to form with Gabby Thomas and Noah Lyles defending their U.S. titles in speedy times — 21.81 and 19.53. Both Thomas and Lyles finished third in Tokyo but head into Paris the favorite for gold. Behind Thomas, however, was a wild ride as #2 seed Sha’Carri Richardson was bested by 2019 World silver medalist Brittany Brown and NCAA champion McKenzie Long. Brown is an incredible gamer, making the team with a lifetime best of 21.90, and Long bounced back well after missing the final in the 100m.
The 10,000m drama isn’t just late-breaking; it may continue after the Trials end as Trials champ Weini Kelati secured her spot but 2nd- and 3rd-placers Parker Valby and Karissa Schweizer will have to await the final world rankings to know if they have a spot on the Olympic starting line. In the women’s shot put, Tokyo silver medalist Raven Saunders set their third season’s best in the competition after improving from 19.17m to 19.54m in the qualifying round, throwing 19.88m in the first round of the final and 19.90m on the last throw to finish 2nd and secure another spot on Team USA. Trials champ (and 2x World champ) Chase Jackson took home another U.S. title, but it also took her a little extra time and effort as she sat in fourth place halfway through the competition and only secured her Olympic spot with a 20.10m throw in the fourth round.
Even when the eventual outcome is the top seed comes out victorious, a lot of anxiety, drama, and excitement can emerge along the way. The beauty of watching any track and field competition from start to finish is being able to take the roller coaster ride along with the athletes, and to feel the rush they feel when the script gets flipped in the final moments.
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