The USA track and field Olympic trials are taking place in Eugene, Oregon until July 10. The best athletes are competing to become part of the team that will represent the United States at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Throughout history, the United States’ track and field and athletes have done great at the Summer Olympics. It is the only country with more medals than any. However in the last 2012 London Olympics, the United States did not receive any medal in the shot putter completion. Although Michelle Carter qualified for the Olympic in the women’s shot, she could not make it to the finals because she finished in fifth place.

A file foto featuring Vashti Cunningham in 2013, representing the United States in track & field performances. Back in 2013, the USA team got plenty of gold medals from different sports. Image Credit: Gazzete Net
A file foto featuring Vashti Cunningham in 2013, representing the United States in track & field performances. Back in 2013, the USA team got plenty of gold medals from different sports. Image Credit: Gazette Net

This Thursday we will see Carter again, as well as the finals of the triple jump and 3,000-meter steeplechase and some other qualifying rounds from other events.

The youngest squad since 1988

This could be the first time The United States will have sent its youngest track and field team to the Summer Olympics in years. 35 of the 50 athletes who have been selected to participate in the Olympics, will be first-time Olympians.

Max Siegel, the chief executive of USA Track & Field, says that it is sorrowful that some of the veterans will not represent the USA, but at the same time, it is exciting to see new members in the team. “The mix is excellent for me,” he said. According to the Washington Post, 25.8. Is the average age of the track athletes who will represent U.S. team? However, the full team is not yet selected until the twenty more events take place in Eugene this weekend.

This is the first time athletes under age 26 will be participating in 1998 Olympics Games in Seoul.  In the last summer Olympics, the average American squad age was 27.4.

Although it was common to see athletes aged 26, 27 or 28 in the USA team, in the 2004 Athens Games we saw a lot of young athletes in the American squad. Young stars like the Allyson Felix, Sanya   Richards, Lauryn Williams, Jeremy Wariner and Chaunte Howard and Justin Gatlin to name a few who made proud a lot of Americans.  Therefore, we saw their faces in a lot more competitions like Beijing and London. Felix, Gatlin, and Lowe have a place in the Rio Games.

“There’s a bunch of young talent coming, just like in ’04 when a lot of the team was young athletes,” said the twice time gold medalist at the Athens Games  Jeremy Wariner

As for the 2016 U.S Olympic track and field trials, we might see a lot of efforts and action this Thursday at Hayward Field.  So if you want to enjoy the amazing performances of the best USA athletes, Today NBCSN will live to stream the three women’s finals. The event will begin at eight p.m. ET, and it will probably last two hours.

Source: The Washington Post