I was looking at some transcripts from our archives, and I found this one. I think that the idea that both Justin Gatlin and Brittney Reese have retired made me nostalgic. But the spirit of my message rings true today.
The US Champs will be amazing in 2022, as athletes battle to make the top 3 positions in Eugene to compete a second time in Hayward Field in 2022. The weather will be hot, but the events will be hotter.
Watch athletes as they focus on the World Championships in Eugene, in July 2022!
Drake hosted the USA Champs in 2018 and 2019, photo by Adam Johnson Eder, for The Shoe Addicts
Hey, sports fans. Larry Eder with RunBlogRun. It’s the beginning of the week of July 22 and starting on July 25. The USA Track and Field Championships will be held at Drakes Stadium in lovely Des Moines, Iowa. At stake at this US Championships for 2019 will be positioned on all of the events for the USATF team going to the Doha, Qatar World Champs. That’s going to be held in Doha at the Khalifa Stadium from September 26 through October 5. The best athletes in the world will visit and many of them will be from Estados Unidos (United States.) Those positions will be decided, for the most part, in Des Moines, Iowa.
We only have five wild cards. They are Justin Gatlin in the hundred; Brittney Reese in the Long Jump; Emma Coburn in the Steeple; Tori Bowie in the hundred; and Sam Kendricks in the Pole Vault. There’s kind of a little flavor going there; i.e., you won a World Championship, you get a wild card. So, we had five individual World Champions, they’re already going to Doha if they compete in some event in at least one round in Des Moines. And they’ll be there. The crowd should be a little bigger. It’s going to be hot as hell, so make sure you have your light-colored clothes, you’re well-hydrated. Well-hydration does not mean drinking a ton of beers, although beers sure taste good. Make sure you get some water, get out of the heat, get a little exercise in, and enjoy some great Track and Field. What are going to be the hot events? Men and Women’s 100-Meters; Men and Women’s 200-Meters; Men and Women’s 800 and 1500; Shot Puts are going to be amazing, I think Ryan Crouser’s going to go out of this world. Curious to see how Matt Centrowitz does in 1500. Steeple without Evan Jager, for the first time in seven years; the Men’s five and ten without Galen Rupp. And on the women’s side, I’m waiting to see Shelby Houlihan, I believe in the 800 and 1500, which should be quite exciting.
But the US Champs is always a lot of fun. In Championship years they’re exceptional, sometimes they’re even better than the Global Championships. Why? We have 1.6 million high school kids running track, 200,000 in junior college and college track. And from that funneling comes several thousand world-class athletes who compete on this stage in Des Moines, Iowa. And you’ll be able to watch them on NBC TV, NBC Gold, Runner’s Space, USATF TV. It should be a lot of fun. I’m going to be there from the 24th to the 28th. If you see me walking around with my Göteborg hat and some scary Russian T-shirts, come up and say “hi.” We will put links to Track and Field New’s newest predictions on the men, done by Dave Johnson, and on the women done by Jack Pfeffer. Track and Field News is one of our global partners and they know their stuff. But it’s going to be a fantastic Championships. It’s going to be hot, so heat’s going to play a role. Watch for our coverage and have fun. Talk to you soon. This is Larry Eder with RunBlogRun signing off.
