The U.S. Olympic track and field trials concluded with two of Team USA's biggest stars, Rai Benjamin and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, showcasing their dominance in the 400m hurdles event. Benjamin, a 26-year-old hurdler, led the men's 400-meter hurdles with a meet record and world-leading time of 46.46. McLaughlin-Levrone, the defending Olympic champion and world-record holder in the women's 400-meter hurdles, broke her previous world record with a time of 50.65, becoming the only woman in the history of the event to run sub-51 seconds in the 400 hurdles.
Nikki Hiltz, a 29-year-old mid-distance specialist who identifies as transgender and non-binary, won the women's 1,500 at Hayward Field, narrowly edging out the second and third place finishers to take gold. Alaysha Johnson, a 29-year-old mid-distance specialist, expressed her emotional postrace interview, stating that her victory was for the hood babies, the poor, and the people who looked like her that was ever doubted.
Bryce Hoppel set a meet record in the 800, while Grant Fisher and Abdihamid Nur battled in the men's 5000, with Fisher winning the men's hammer with a season-best throw of 260 feet, 10 inches. Shelby McEwen won the men's high jump, and 16-year-old sprinting sensation Quincy Wilson has an outside shot at going to the Olympics to make the men's 4x400 relay pool.
