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You know it’s been a bleak summer when the funnest news of the season is the very public, very awkward unveiling of an affair at a Coldplay concert. Well, America, I come bearing good news.
After four days of kicking, elbowing, screaming, and shoving at the U.S. Track and Field Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Oregon, I can officially tell you that track and field in this country is not dead.
Sure, the TV production and distribution may be. You basically needed a PhD in Internet (plus two separate subscriptions) to watch the damn thing. And once you were there, the broadcast stubbornly refused to show us key moments of any race longer than two minutes.
But of what USATF TV, NBC, and Peacock did air, the athletes, like newborns desperate to escape the womb, practically bawled their way to life.
Maybe my bar was at an all-time low after sitting through three meets of Grand Slam Track, the new track league founded by Olympic gold medalist Michael Johnson that promised to revolutionize the sport. Instead, half-empty stadiums, a preponderance of dead air time, and broken promises over prize money only served to kick the sport towards the grave.
That cloud loomed over Eugene heading into the national championships, which began on July 31—coincidentally the deadline for Grand Slam to pay outstanding prize money from the first meet in Kingston, Jamaica, nearly four months ago on April 4-6.
“It’s going to be an all-round bad thing for the sport if things don’t come through,” Grant Fisher said in the pre-meet scrum on July 30. Fisher, who won the first two Grand Slam distance titles, is owed $200,000 in prize money.
But this is not a sad column today, no sir. (Which is why we won’t even get into Sha’Carri Richardson getting arrested on alleged domestic violence against boyfriend and fellow track star Christian Coleman en-route to the meet.)
More than anything, Grand Slam taught us this: There’s a gravitas to winning a national title—and making a world championship team in the process—that all the money (or empty promises of money) simply can’t replace. And for the first time that I can remember, nearly every event at USAs was filled with the reality TV-level drama that this (often self-serious) sport so desperately needs.
Here are the most pivotal moments from Hayward Field on July 31-August 3.
Emily Infeld Denies Father Time in Women’s 10,000
Emily Infeld has been a distance running star since representing Beaumont High School in Cleveland, Ohio, over two decades ago. In 2015, she won a bronze medal in the 10,000 meters at the world championships. But what a long, weary decade it’s been since.
While that decade included making an Olympic team and two more world teams, those accomplishments were overshadowed by a litany of injuries, moves, coaching changes, and three years of harassment from a stalker. On Thursday, at her 15th U.S. track and field outdoor championships, Infeld, 35, unleashed her lethal kick over the final 200 of the 10,000 meters to win her first national title.
“I’m so happy. First track national title at 35,” she said in the mixed zone after the race. “I’m working with my college coach [Chris Miltenberg] again, and he’s always like, You have an incredible last 50. Don’t forget that.”
The moment felt especially sweet after Infeld, who had spent the entirety of her career sponsored by Nike, switched to Brooks this season after she and the Big Dog parted ways. But Infeld hadn’t given up on herself.
“I’m in awe of Infeld,” a friend texted me after the race. “Honestly, at this point in my running, I needed that inspiration. Never give up and keep showing up!”
Cooper Lutkenhaus Makes Bid as Greatest High School Athlete Ever in Men’s 800
As poignant as Infeld’s race was, especially to us millennials, it will probably get eclipsed in the history books by what Gen Z did three days later.
It was like a magic trick. You may have never heard of Cooper Lutkenhaus. That’s because he’s 16 and just finished his sophomore year of high school. Well, his race in the men’s 800 meters mirrored his rapid rise to the top of the sport.
Lutkenhaus came out of nowhere in lane two over the final 50 meters to finish second behind Donavan Brazier—who completed his own remarkable comeback after three years away from racing. Not only that, Lutkenhaus’s time of 1:42.27 is a new under-18 world record and a personal best by a staggering three seconds.
Lutkenhaus’s final 100-meter split of 12.48 was two-thirds of a second faster than the rest of the field. And said field included the 2025 world indoor champ Josh Hoey, American record holder Bryce Hoppel, and fellow 2024 Olympian Brandon Miller.
That’s like a high school basketball team overcoming a 20-point deficit in the fourth quarter to the LA Lakers.
“This is the most impressive athletic feat in history,” the “mad scientist of running” Steve Magnus wrote on X. “Any high school phenom in history you can think of? This kid is better.”
Steve, I appreciate what you’re trying to do here. But in your excitement you must have forgotten swimmer Katie Ledecky, who at age 15 won gold in the 800-meter freestyle at the 2012 Olympics in the second-fastest time ever. (Now 28, Ledecky won the 800 meters for a record seventh time at the swimming world champs in Singapore this weekend.)
Now that I got that in there, back to Lutkenhaus, who most certainly provided a glimpse through the looking glass into the future of this event. Hopefully his teachers at Northwest High School in Fort Worth, Texas, understand why he’ll miss a week or two of school at the end of September. Tokyo is calling.
Shelby Houlihan is Back on Top in Women’s 5,000 after Doping Ban
After four years of exile for testing positive in 2021 for the banned substance nandrolone, Shelby Houlihan left many wondering whether she could ever return to the level of greatness as the former American record holder in this event.
The wondering seems to be over.
The women’s 5,000 fell right into Houlihan’s hands on Sunday afternoon, with four pedestrian, tactical kilometers teeing her up for the squeeze and eventual demolition of the field over the final lap, which she ripped in 61.85—nearly a second faster than second-fastest, Elise Cranny.
Notably, Alicia Monson, the current American record holder who’s coming off of pretty extreme meniscus root repair surgery, has yet to return to top form. (She finished 15th, 17 seconds back.) And perennial powerhouse Elle St. Pierre is out this season after the birth of her second son, Harvey, in May. But Houlihan still topped Josette Norris, the fastest American over this distance this year, and Cranny, a two-time Olympian in this event. Her commanding win also comes after earning silver in the 3,000 meters at the indoor world champs in March.
If you think Houlihan’s positive test was an accident, this is the comeback of the decade. If you think she cheated, her ascendance may feel unjust. Regardless, to display this level of sharpness after four years away from world-class competition is, well, unbelievable—to fans and skeptics alike.
Noah Lyles, Kenny Bednarek Feud in the Men’s 200
If you’ve made it this far: I have a confession to make. Unlike 99.99 percent of the world, I’m not a huge fan of the sprints. So much hype for so little action. That all changed with the men’s 200-meter final on Sunday. As the reigning world champion in both the 100 and 200, Noah Lyles already had a spot at the world champs. He didn’t have to be there. Indeed, he scratched from the 100-meter final for this very reason.
So it was a relatively fresh Lyles toeing the line against his primary competitor, Kenny Bednarek, who had three rounds of the 100 and two rounds of the 200 already in his legs going into the men’s 200 final on Sunday afternoon. By many accounts, Bednarek, who hadn’t been beaten in this event this year, was the favorite. And indeed until the final 50 feet of the race it looked like he had the title in the bag.
But Lyles turned on his signature late-action turbo chargers, powering by Bednarek while turning his head in Bednarek’s direction to stare him down.
It’s unclear exactly what happened next. Lyles, so engrossed in his power move, may have veered into Bednarek’s lane after he broke the tape. Bednarek may simply have not appreciated the taunting. Regardless, Bednarek lightly shoved Lyles out of his way.
“What he said doesn’t matter. It’s just what he did,” Bednarek said. “That’s it. It’s unsportsmanlike, and I don’t deal with that.”
“I’m here for it,” Ato Boldon said on the national broadcast.
Mr. Boldon, we’re here for it, too. Act II is coming to a TV screen near you on September 13-21 in Tokyo.
