Joan Benoit Samuelson is an American marathon runner who was the first women's Olympic Games marathon champion, winning the gold medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. She held the fastest time for an American woman at the Chicago Marathon for 32 years after winning the race in 1985. Her time at the Boston Marathon was the fastest time by an American woman at that race for 28 years. She was inducted into the Maine Women's Hall of Fame in 2000.
John Lee Gray Jr. is a retired American world class 800 meter runner from the mid-1980s to the late 1990s and the holder of the 600m world best. A four-time-Olympian (1984-1996) in 1985 he set the US record of 1:42.60 at a meet in Koblenz. That time puts Gray as the nineteenth fastest performer of all time. He came seventh in the 1984 Summer Olympics, fifth in 1988, and won the bronze medal at the Barcelona Olympics of 1992. In 1993 Gray was one of the favourites to win a gold medal at the World Championships in Stuttgart as he had won the A-race at the prestigious meeting in Zurich. However, he failed to qualify for the final in Stuttgart. He also set the world 600 meter record in 1986 at 1:12.81. In 1992 and 1993 Gray came close to breaking the world indoor record over 800 m several times. He held the US indoor record at 1:45.00 till February 2019.
Stephanie Hightower is an American former hurdler and former president of USA Track & Field (USATF). She is a four-time U.S. Champion at 100 meter hurdles and a five-time U.S. Indoor Champion at 60 meter hurdles. She also won the 1980 U.S. Olympic Trials, but was prevented from competing in the Moscow Olympics due to the boycott. She won a silver medal at the 1987 Pan American Games.
Amy Cragg is an American track and field athlete, specializing in long distance running events. She is the 2015 American champion in the Marathon, the 2012 American champion in the 10,000 meters, and a qualifier for the 2012 Summer Olympics.
The United States Olympic trials for the sport of track and field is the quadrennial meet to select the United States representatives at the Olympic Games. Since 1992, the meet has also served as the year's USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Because of the depth of competition in some events, this has been considered by many to be the best track meet in the world. The event is regularly shown on domestic U.S. Television and covered by a thousand members of the worldwide media. As with all Olympic sports, the meet is conducted by the national governing body for the sport, currently USA Track & Field (USATF), which was previously named The Athletics Congress (TAC) until 1992. Previous to the formation of TAC in 1979, the national governing body for most sports was the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU).
Jacqueline Hansen is a former long-distance runner from the United States who is recognized by the International Association of Athletics Federations as having set a world best in the marathon on two occasions.
Julie Ann Brown is an American retired distance runner. She won the IAAF World Cross Country Championship in 1975 and represented the United States in the 1984 Summer Olympics in the women's marathon, placing 36th.
Gary M. Fanelli is a long-distance runner from the United States who represented American Samoa in the marathon at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. Fanelli's 2:25:35 performance at the Olympics is an American Samoan national record. Known for running in costume, he has been called "the crown prince of road racing", "the king of costume", and "road-racing's longest-running joke".
Desiree "Des" Nicole Linden is an American long-distance runner. She represented the United States in the 2012 London Olympics and the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics women's marathon. In 2018, she won the Boston Marathon, becoming the first American in 33 years to win the woman's category in the event. She holds the women's 50K world record of 2:59:54.
Sara Hall is a professional American distance runner. She won the 3000-meter steeplechase at the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico representing the United States. Hall's personal best time for the marathon is 2:20:32 set at the Marathon Project in Chandler, Arizona on December 22, 2020, making her the third-fastest American woman in history. She is the second-fastest American woman ever to run the half marathon, running 1:07:15 on January 16, 2022–an American record at the time.
The 2012 United States Olympic trials for track and field were held at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon. Organized by USA Track and Field, the ten-day competition lasted from June 21 until July 1 and served as the national championships in track and field for the United States.
Randy Jenelle Givens is an American former track and field athlete who competed in sprinting events. She set personal bests of 11.06 seconds for the 100-meter dash and 22.31 seconds for the 200-meter dash. Givens was a 200 m finalist at the 1984 Olympic Games and represented her country at the 1983 World Championships in Athletics. She was the 200 m gold medalist at the 1983 Pan American Games and returned to win a silver medal at the 1987 edition.
The 2000 United States Olympic trials for track and field were held at Hornet Stadium in Sacramento, California. Organised by USA Track and Field, the ten-day competition lasted from July 14 until July 23 and served as the national championships in track and field for the United States. The men's Marathon trials were held May 7 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
The 1932 United States Olympic trials for track and field were held on July 15 and July 16, 1932 and decided the United States team for the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. The trials for men and women were held separately; men competed in Stanford Stadium in Stanford, California, while women competed in Dyche Stadium in Evanston, Illinois. Both meetings also served as the annual United States outdoor track and field championships. For the first time, only the top three athletes in each event qualified for the Olympics; until 1928, every nation had been allowed four entrants per event.
The 1936 United States Olympic trials for track and field were held in July 1936 and decided the United States team for the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. The trials for men and women were held separately; men's events were held at Randall's Island Stadium in New York City on July 11 and July 12, while women competed at Brown Stadium in Providence, Rhode Island on July 4. The top three athletes in each event qualified for the Olympic Games. The women's meeting also served as the annual outdoor track and field championships of the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU); the men's AAU championships were held separately a week before the Olympic trials.
The 1988 United States Olympic trials for track and field were held at IU Michael A. Carroll Track & Soccer Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana. This is the only time this venue has been used for the Olympic trials. With the 2013 installation of Field Turf, it is unlikely to host the event again. Organised by The Athletics Congress (TAC), the nine-day competition lasted from July 15 to 23. The national championships in track and field for the United States was a separate event that year, held a week earlier in Tampa, Florida, the last time the Olympic trials were not also the National Championships. The women's Marathon Olympic trials were held on May 1 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The men's Marathon trials were in Jersey City, New Jersey on April 24. That same day, the 50K Racewalk trials were held adjacent to the stadium.
The 2016 United States Olympic trials for track and field were held at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon. Organized by USA Track and Field, the ten-day competition lasted from July 1 to July 10 and served as the national championships in track and field for the United States.
The men's 1956 United States Olympic trials for track and field for men were held at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, California, on June 28 and 29. The 20 kilometer walk trials were held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on August 26, and the 50 kilometer walk trials were held on September 16 in Baltimore, Maryland. Two marathon trials were held between two races, the AAU National Championships in Yonkers, New York, on September 30 and the Boston Marathon in Boston, Massachusetts, on April 19. As it turned out, the three selectees were the top 3 Americans at both events. The 10,000 meters was held in Bakersfield, California, on June 23.
The men's 1952 United States Olympic trials for track and field were held at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, California, on June 27 and 28. The 10 kilometer walk trials were held in New York City on June 1, and the 50 kilometer walk trials were held on May 4 in Baltimore, Maryland. Three marathon trials were held between two races, the AAU National Championships in Yonkers, New York for both 1951 and 1952, on May 27, 1951 and May 18, 1952 and the Boston Marathon in Boston, Massachusetts, on April 19. Victor Dyrgall and Tom Jones finished 1–2 at both 1952 races to win selection. 1951's second placer John Lafferty was selected after finishing fifth in the same race in 1952. The 10,000 meters was held in Long Beach, California on June 20.
The 2020 United States Olympic trials for track and field were staged in Eugene, Oregon, having been moved from the initially selected Hilmer Lodge Stadium in Walnut, California. This was first major event for the redesigned and rebuilt Hayward Field.
