USA track and field announced its Paris Olympic roster Tuesday.
The team is headlined by two-time Olympic champion and shot put world-record holder Ryan Crouser, Olympic champion and 400-meter hurdle world-record holder Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and defending 100 and 200 world champion Noah Lyles.
First-time Olympians include reigning 100 women’s world champion Sha’Carri Richardson and U.S. Olympic trials 400 men’s champ Quincy Hall.
Sprinter Christian Coleman, who didn’t qualify in an individual event, has been selected on Team USA’s 4×100-relay pool. High school phenom Quincy Wilson, who broke the under-18 world record in the 400 at the trials, is among the 4×400-relay pool. Wilson is the youngest male ever to make an U.S. Olympic track and field roster.
The Olympic track and field competition begins in Paris Aug. 1 and concludes Aug. 11.
Meet Team USA: See which athletes made the U.S. Olympic team and where they are from
Here are the full U.S. Olympic track and field rosters.
Alexis Ohanian, at his first-ever track and field event, found himself transported. In seats close enough to feel the tension, he was back on edge, equally stressed and thrilled, as he used to be at Serena Williams tennis matches. Instead of a box at Wimbledon, this time he was at Hayward Field on the campus of the University of Oregon for last month’s U.S. Olympic trials. Instead of living and dying with his wife’s every serve and groundstroke, he was agonizing as Gabby Thomas made the turn into the final home stretch.
He’d never been to an NWSL match before buying and founding Angel City Football Club. So he didn’t need to experience track to spark his motivation to invest in track. But sitting next to Thomas’ boyfriend, Spencer McManes, he felt that feeling again. The gripping drama. The fierceness of the competition. The brewing of excellence.
“Seeing in person, it was a little bit of Grand Slam PTSD,” Ohanian said. “It was a fountain of stories, a fountain of storylines, a fountain of drama in those trials. So I definitely was spoiled to have that be my very first. But it also opened my eyes … and reinforced the idea this is a huge opportunity.”
If Ohanian, the founder of Reddit, knows anything at this point, it’s to bet on women’s sports. A massive quarry in the industry still scarcely mined. He proved it true with the creation of Angel City FC, that his instincts and the data were spot-on about the untapped potential.
To that end: Athlos, a track-focused extravaganza designed to aim the spotlight on sports’ hidden treasure. Confirmation of a hypothesis already proven.
Formerly dubbed the 776 Invitational, as it’s rooted in the venture capital fund Ohanian founded, Athlos — Greek for athletics — announced Thursday the kick-off of its inaugural event, at Icahn Stadium in New York City, on Sept. 26. A final chance to capture some of the magic before the Olympic fervor fades.
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