The complete roster for USA men’s track events is ready. It features some of the young talents coupled with some world champions. Trayvon Bromell, Noah Lyles, Grant Holloway lead a star-studded lineup for Tokyo Olympics 2021.
The Olympic trials that concluded a few weeks ago gave a raw picture of where the American athletes stand. The shorter races have many favorites among USA athletes themselves.
Starting off with 100m, Trayvon Bromell is a firm favorite for the gold medal. He currently holds the two world-leading times of 9.77 and 9.80 seconds. After injuries troubling him in his initial 20s, he is now one of the fastest in the past few years. No wonder Usain Bolt has talked a lot about him.
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The other sprinters in 100m are Ronnie Baker, who is just behind Bromell in timing and Fred Kerley who toned down from 400m to 100m and now is under the 10-second mark. Along with the above three, Micah Williams and Cravon Gillespie are in the 4 x 100m relay pool.
200m brings a lot of promise for USA at Tokyo Olympics 2021
200m is where the USA could sweep all three medals. World Champion Noah Lyles leads this category. He won the trials and anything less than a gold medal would be disappointing for him. Kenneth Bednarek is next after Lyles and he is not much far behind, and hence will be a tough competition for all. And completing the 200m roster is the ‘next Usain Bolt’, Erriyon Knighton. He holds the U-20 and U-18 records previously held by Bolt and he is still only 17. Knighton is a dark horse in the race.
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Michael Norman is in the 400m sprint. He jumped from 200m and now is another medal prospect for the USA. Along with him, there are Michael Cherry and Randolph Ross. Trevor Stewart, Vernon Norwood, and Elija Godwin are in the 4 x 400m relay pool whereas Bryce Deadmon and Wil London are alternates in the 4 x 400 mixed relay pool.
Next in 800m is the 2016 Rio Olympics bronze medallist, Clayton Murphy. And along with him are Isaiah Jewett and Bryce Hoppel. For 1500m, Cole Hocker had stunned Olympic champion Matthew Centrowitz at the Olympic trials. Both of them are there in the roster and along with them, Yared Nuguse is also there. Capping off the 5000m is Paul Chelimo who is taking part in 5,000m. Grant Fisher and Woody Kincaid are participating in both, 5,000 and 10,000 whereas Joe Klecker is in only 10,000m.
Grant Holloway to break the world record in Tokyo?
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Next in the 110m hurdles, the USA will be represented by heavyweight, Grant Holloway. Holloway came close to breaking the world record at the recently concluded Olympic trials. Along with him Devon Allen and Daniel Roberts are also strong suitors for an Olympics medal.
At the 400m hurdles, Rai Benjamin is a strong contender for the gold. He came close to breaking Kevin Young’s world record which was later broken by his rival, Karsten Warholm. Along with Rai, there are Kenny Selmon and David Kendziera. In the 3000m steeplechase, Hillary Bor, Benard Keter, and Mason Ferlic will represent USA in Tokyo.