From Sha’Carri Richardson to Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone: Top 5 storylines out of U.S. Olympic Team trials

The U.S. Olympic Team Trials in track and field wrapped up Sunday, and Team USA seems primed to have a productive showing at the 2024 Paris Olympics starting July 26.

With 48 combined men’s and women’s medal events, there are countless storylines that have come out of   trials held in June. Defending Olympic 800-meter gold medalist Athing Mu fell during the trials, costing her a chance to defend her title. Three-time Olympian Lolo Jones attempted a comeback at age 41 and advanced to the semifinals of the 100-meter hurdles. After breaking her foot during the 2021 Olympic trials cost her a spot in Tokyo, heptathlete Anna Hall finally earned her spot at the Games after winning gold at this year’s trials.

But with less than a month until the track and field events commence, Andscape looks at the top 5 American storylines coming out of the trials.

5. The high school phenom. The only headline you need to read about Quincy Wilson is this: youngest American male track athlete to appear at an Olympics. After capturing the world’s attention June 24 at the trials, the 16-year-old high school student is headed to Paris as a member of the men’s 4×400 relay pool. Wilson, who doesn’t have his driver’s license yet and has plans to start his own Twitch account, burst onto the scene after breaking the under-18 world record in the 400 meters at last week’s trials — twice. That record (44.69 seconds set by Darell Robinson in 1982) had stood for 42 years before Wilson ran 44.66 seconds in the first round at the trials and 44.59 seconds in the semifinals. Wilson’s 44.94 finish in the finals placed him in sixth and out of the 400 meters for Paris, but it was his third time finishing under 45 seconds over three days and led to his inclusion in the relay pool.

4. Can anyone catch Gabby Thomas? Thomas, the bronze medalist in the 200 meters at the Tokyo Games in 2021 and the 2023 world championships silver medalist, is already a favorite to take gold in the 200 in Paris, as she owns the two fastest times in the event this season, both of which came during the Olympic trials. If Thomas were to finish in first in Paris next month, she’d be the first American woman since 2012 (Allyson Felix) to win gold in the women’s 200. That path has become easier because two-time defending Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah of Jamaica will miss this year’s Games due to injury. Never mind, though: Thomas casually held her wrist and smiled after running a world-leading 21.78 seconds in the women’s semifinal June 28, showing that it might just be that easy for her at the Olympics. That is, unless Ole Miss redshirt senior McKenzie Long, who owns the third-fastest 200 meters time this season (21.83 seconds) when she won the NCAA championship in the event, has something to say about that.

3. The best to do it. The only reason Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone isn’t a bigger American track star is because her event, the 400-meter hurdles, isn’t as sexy of a race as the short sprints or relays. Know this though: McLaughlin-Levrone is the best there is, best there was, and best there ever will be in the hurdles. She set a world record in the hurdles back in 2021 — 51.46 seconds — and went on to set records four times over the last three years. It’s not so much if McLaughlin-Levrone wins gold in Paris next month, but rather what will be her time when she wins. No woman has broken the 50-second mark in the 400 hurdles, but with the way McLaughlin-Levrone has constantly reset the bar over the last few years, it may just happen. To further drive home just how good McLaughlin-Levrone is: She has the fastest time in 400 meters and sixth-fastest time in the 200 meters this season.

2. Can Noah Lyles make history? Possibly the least noteworthy thing about Lyles is him being the best sprinter in the world right now. His — no pun intended — track record speaks for itself. World leader in the 200 meters this season. Three-time reigning world champion in the 200 meters. Top American men’s sprinter. But no, instead it’s all of Lyles’ high jinks and shenanigans that make him one of the more fascinating athletes headed into Paris. His star turn came in 2023 when, after taking gold at that year’s world championships, he criticized NBA Finals winners for calling themselves “world champions.” That started a beef with American hoopers, that when you think about it, Lyles actually had a point. Now a year later and Lyles is whipping out rare Yu-Gi-Oh! trading cards while at the starting blocks before his races and puffing his chest after cruising to victories. Aside from a possible spoiler in Kishane Thompson of Jamaica, who set the world-leading 100 meters time (9.77 seconds) at his country’s Olympic trials June 28, Lyles could become the first American man since Carl Lewis in 1984 to win the Olympic 100/200 meter double at the Olympics.

1. Sha’Carri Richardson is back. Richardson’s story is well known. After taking first place in the 100 meters at the 2021 Olympic trials, Richardson was banned from the 2021 Games after testing positive for THC. Richardson didn’t take the loss well — she lashed out at critics on Twitter and had an embarrassing last-place finish in the 100 meters at the Prefontaine Classic meet in August 2021 against Jamaican sprinters Thompson-Herah, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Shericka Jackson. But after a two-year hiatus, Richardson returned with a come-from-behind victory over Fraser-Pryce and Jackson in the 100 meters at the 2023 World Athletic Championship in Budapest, Hungary. Richardson continued her comeback story, with a gold in the 100 meters June 24. While Richardson placed fourth in the 200 meters, failing to qualify for Paris, that was due more to circumstances than skill: She had the second-fastest time in the prelims, and sixth-fastest time of the year, at 21.92 seconds but had run five races by the time she ran in the 200 meters final. Richardson seems primed for a rematch with Jackson and Fraser-Pryce in the 100 meters in Paris, which based on performance so far — she has four of the fastest 11 times in the world this year in the 100 — makes her the favorite.