2024 Olympic Trials Day 1 Recap: Athing Mu is back; Valby, Tuohy race the pros; Richardson 10.88 despite stumble
Day one of the U.S. Olympic Trials answered plenty of questions about some of the nation's biggest stars and offered its fair share of excitement
By LetsRun.com
If you happened to miss the first day of the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials, don’t worry — we’ve got you covered with coverage of every event from the evening session. The 10,000-meter final was day one’s only final, where Grant Fisher picked up his first outdoor 10,000m title, and we covered it separately here. If you’re looking to check out splits, here are the live results, and if you want to join the discussion, check out the discussion boards from day 1 here or at the bottom of the page.
The biggest other news was Quincy Wilson breaking the high school record in the 400m by running 44.66 (separate article here), and Sha’Carri Richardson running 10.88 despite stumbling at the start. The one huge upset was American record holder KC Lightfoot failing in three attempts at 5.60 as he failed to qualify for the pole vault final.
Women’s 800: Athing Mu returns to action, collegians continue positive momentum from NCAAs
While on paper there looked to be little drama in round 1 of the women’s 800, where 6 of the 9 women in each heat would automatically advance to the semifinals, round 1 of the 800 represented the 2024 800m debut of Olympic champion Athing Mu. Mu passed her test and looked fine advancing in heat 2, while Olympic bronze medallist Raevyn Rogers in heat 1 took a step in a positive direction as well.
Heat 1:
In the first heat, NCAA champion Juliette Whittaker emerged with the win running 2:01.70 to lead a pack of women across the line including world silver medalist Raevyn Rogers who finished in third. Sammy Watson paced the heat through 600 and finished second. It was a mad dash to the down the homestretch for the entire pack to secure their spots in the final. This is a good run for Rogers who ran a season’s best and looked very calm coming across the line.
Heat 2:
Aside from Athing Mu’s return to action, there wasn’t much to the second heat. Allie Wilson, the defending U.S. indoor champion, led the entire race on the rail with Mu by her side, finishing in 2:01.57 and 2:01.73, respectively. They were separated by Nike’s McKenna Keegan, who came on late to finish in 2:01.71. Makayla Page of UNC and Helen Schlachtenhaufen overcame an extraordinary amount of stumbling over the final 200 meters to qualify as well.
Heat 3:
In heat three, 2023 NCAA champion Michaela Rose blitzed it out in a 56.50 and hung on to win in a 1:59.87 while 2022 world indoor champion Ajee’ Wilson ran a big season’s best of 2:00.96 to finish second followed by the talented youngster Addy Wiley who finished third in the heat. This represents almost a two-second season best for Wilson and is a big step up for her in performance this year.
Heat 4:
Nia Akins, last year’s U.S. champion ran away with the final heat, clocking 2:01.18. OAC’s Sage Hurta-Klecker followed her closely down the homestretch, finishing in second just 0.12 seconds behind Akins. Stanford’s Roisin Willis continued her positive momentum from NCAA’s finishing in third place–just ahead of 2016 Olympic Trials champ Kate Grace, who finished in fifth.
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Men’s 1500: Big names advance, Cole Hocker doesn’t bother with tactics
With 7 runners in each heat automatically advancing to the semifinals, the only big casualty not to advance was 2-time national team member Johnny Gregorek. The biggest news of note was Cole Hocker going wire-to-wire in heat 3 in a near-Olympic Trials record 3:34.54. Was it sending a statement or foolish? Time will tell.
Heat 1:
It was a blanket across the finish line of the first heat–0.07 seconds separating the top-5 finishers. Colin Sahlman, the NAU standout “won” the race; crossing in 3:38.67 alongside Casey Comber of UA Mission Run Baltimore and Craig Engels. Cooper Teare led for the greater part of the first 1000 meters and fell back over the last lap but stormed back to qualify in fifth place. Guest of LetsRun.com’s Track Talk podcast and Villanova standout Liam Murphy finished strong in fourth place.
Heat 2:
Hobbs Kessler won the second heat running from the front most of the way to win in 3:37.50. It was Kessler who took the lead the first two laps of the race before being overtaken by 2023 U.S champ Yared Nuguse at 800. The pair drove the pace the rest of the way with a ton of the field still there with 400 to go. This heat was much quicker than the heat before with the top nine finishers running quicker than heat one. Other qualifiers were Yared Nuguse, Vincent Ciattei, Henry Wynne, Elliott Cook, NCAA champion Joe Waskom, and Ethan Strand.
Heat 3:
Cole Hocker had no interest in practicing tactics in the final heat–clocking 3:34.54 en route to a dominant win. The Washington duo of Luke Houser (now with Brooks Beasts TC) and Nathan Green finished in 2nd and 4th, with sub-3:36 runs. Hocker took the lead early, guiding the field through 800 meters in 1:55.96, nearly 5 seconds faster than the previous two heats, and eased away from the field down the final homestretch. Veterans Sam Prakel and Eric Holt qualified for the semifinals as well–finishing in 3rd and 5th, respectively.
More interviews here: *Teare *Waskom now pro with adidas *Colin Sahlman *Eric Holt
Men’s Steeplechase: Is Jager Back? Wilkinson runs from the front
Heat 1:
The first heat was all Matthew Wilkinson, the former Division III standout led from gun to tape; clocking 8:20.61 for the win. Behind him was the collegiate crop of James Corrigan (BYU), Nathan Mountain (UVA), and Yasin Sado (UVA) who finished in 2-3-4 to qualify for Sunday’s final. 2021 Olympic Trials champion Hillary Bor slowed to a glorified walk over the 20 meters while conserving energy–dropping from 2nd to 5th place.
Heat 2:
It was 2023 champion Kenneth Rooks who led a compact pack of five across the line to win the second heat in 8:26.90. The first mile of the race had no fireworks with a variety of different leaders. The U.S Army WCAP pair of Benard Keter and Anthony Rotich pushed the pace from a mile out and broke up the field, with a pack of five all together at the bell. Keter and Rotich qualified along with 2016 Olympic silver medalist Evan Jager who was in second and Dark Sky’s Issac Updike. All the time qualifiers came from heat one where all seven qualifiers were quicker than heat two.
Women’s 5,000: Valby gets her first taste of the big leagues, St. Pierre crushes, Tuohy runs into the final
Heat 2 went out like a high school race, 5:45 for 1600, so all the time qualifiers were from heat 1. The biggest surprise was Katelyn Tuohy in her first race of the year securing auto qualification for the final in heat 2. But breaking up St. Pierre, Cranny, or Schweizer is looking formidable.
Heat 1:
Unsurprisingly it was U.S champ and favorite Elle St. Pierre that won heat one of the 5k qualifiers in 15:13.82. It was Florida star and NCAA champ Parker Valby who did all of the work in this one leading from the gun, coming through the mile in 4:59.63 and the two mile in 9:57.10. After the two mile she started to ramp it up in typical Parker fashion and ran another 73 followed by a 72 and then 71. She had broken the pack down to four by the bell but it was the seasoned veterans who had made the team before who showed her a thing or two about championship racing on the final lap. St. Pierre ripped a 31.69 final 200 to come home with the win. Former Olympian Karissa Schweizer closed in 32.95 to take the second spot while Valby would hold on for third. The first heat had all of the time qualifiers as heat two was much slower. The rest of the qualifiers were Whittni Morgan, Abby Nichols, Taylor Roe, Katie Wasserman, Lauren Gregory, and Molly Born.
Heat 2:
Elise Cranny had absolutely no interest in towing the second heat to any of the time qualifiers, instead, she chose to lead them through 1600 meters in 5:45–and while she would ultimately close down to win in 16:02.33, the defending U.S. champion ensured she wasted no additional energy in qualification. Cranny showed no signs of struggle over the 12 ½ lap distance, closing down in 63 seconds and winning by 2.51 seconds over Union Athletics Club’s Ella Donaghu. In fourth place, we got our first look at Katelyn Tuohy since turning pro in December of 2023. The former NC State star had struggled with injury since her move from the collegiate ranks but showed signs of life, finishing in 16:09.22 to advance. Josette Andrews of OAC, the third-fastest entrant in the field finished in fifth place–directly ahead of Emily Infield, the 2016 Olympian. Rachel Smith separated Donaghu and Tuohy, finishing in third.
WATCH: Elise Cranny talks coaching changes, outlook on Olympic trials
Women’s 100: The Sha’Carri show gets going
It was world leader McKenzie Long who looked great winning the first heat in 10.94 seconds, with 2022 world finalist Aleia Hobbs just behind her in 10.97. In heat two it was Florida State runner, Dajaz Defrand who bounced back nicely from getting eliminated in the heats at NCAA’s to win in 11.05 over a collegiate-heavy heat. 2022 U.S. champion Melissa Jefferson had a strong second half to win her heat in 10.91 and was followed by former U.S. 200 champ Jenna Prandini in second and Twanisha Terry in third. In heat three, a poor start by the defending world champion didn’t matter, Sha’Carri Richardson tore away over the final 40 meters to win in 10.88 seconds–the fastest qualifying time of the day. Of the trials, Sha’Carri says “I am enjoying the recognition of hard work” and “I will always show out for my fans.” Tamari Davis, the 2023 world championship finalist finished in second, clocking 11.01 seconds.
Men’s 400: Quincy Wilson Drops Massive 44.66 High School Record to Win Heat
High school sophomore Quincy Wilson dropped a massive 44.66 high school record to win his heat: LRC Sophomore Quincy Wilson Runs 44.66 to Break High School 400m Record at 2024 Olympic Trials. The old record was 44.69 and had stood since 1982. He is showing shades of Sydney McLauglin-Levrone, who made an Olympic team in 2016 as a high schooler. Wilson had the second fastest time among qualifiers only behind Quincy Hall who won the first heat of the men’s 400, cruising to a big Q with a big final 100. The third heat had USC runner Johnnie Blockburger taking down 2023 U.S. champion Bryce Deadmon. 2023 world fourth-place finisher Vernon Norwood narrowly won the fourth heat and 2022 world champion Michael Norman cruised through the last heat winning in 45.31.
WATCH: Quincy Wilson discusses setting HS record (44.66), racing the pros
If you’re looking for a more in-depth look at Wilson’s historic run, you can find it here.
Women’s 400: Shamier Little & Alexis Holmes get it done
Lynna Irby-Jackson cruised through the first heat easing up the final 100 to win in 50.89 while 2023 world finalist Talitha Diggs finished third in the same heat in 51.57. In heat two it was Georgia’s Aaliyah Butler who came home with the win in the final 100 running 50.44. 2023 world silver medalist in the 400 hurdles Shamier Little got out strong and never let up running 50.13 and cracked a smile crossing the line. Little said the goal was to execute and have fun in this opening round. She will also be running the hurdles later on in the trials. It was world indoor medalist Alexis Holmes who narrowly got the heat win in 51.05 over NCAA stars Rosey Effiong and Jameesia Ford. The final heat was won by Rachel Joseph of Iowa State in 50.92–who bested 2021 Olympic trials champion, Quanera Hayes and Arkansas’ Kaylyn Brown.
Men’s Pole Vault: KC Lightfoot fails to move on
In the men’s pole vault, we had a shocker as American record holder KC Lightfoot, ranked 6th in the world, failed to qualify as he had a tough day, failing three attempts at 5.60 m.
Men’s Javelin: No surprises so far
In the men’s javelin, all the expected contenders made it through the finals, with Curtis Thompson leading the field with a 79.64 m throw. DII star and U.S. leader Jordan Davis of Southern Connecticut State University is currently sitting in second.
Men’s Shot Put: Kovacs and Crouser easing through
Men’s shot also had all of the major players make it through, with many electing to save some of their strength for later in the trials and not take all their throws. The best mark in qualifying belonged to multiple-time world champion Joe Kovacs with a 22.13 m throw. World record holder Ryan Crouser had the third-best throw of the day at 21.44m.
Women’s Triple Jump: Jasmine Moore out ahead
In the Women’s triple jump, Jasmine Moore who was 5th at world indoors had the best jump of the day at 14.03 m as all the top women advanced.
Women’s Hammer: Brooke Anderson looks for another U.S. title
2022 world champion Brooke Anderson led women’s hammer qualifying with a 76.25 m throw.
Talk about the day 1 action on our world-famous messageboard
- MB: Official Olympic Trials Day 1 Thread
- MB: NICO MF YOUNG / The 21-year-old finished third in the 10,000 to qualify for the Olympics
- MB: QUINCY WILSON – US HIGH SCHOOL 400m RECORD – 44.66 / Sophomore phenom breaks 42-year-old HS record
- MB: Is Katelyn Tuohy opening up her season at the trials? / Tuohy returns to action and qualifies for the final
