Fred Kerley and Noah Lyles look beyond signature events at U.S. nationals
Ahead of this summer's World Championships in Budapest, the reigning title-holders were not obligated to compete in their trademark distance at the U.S. nationals in Eugene, Oregon.
So Kerley, who led an American podium sweep of the 100m at the world championships last year, will feature in the 200m at the U.S. trials after a quad injury in the semi-final at the worlds ended his hopes of a sprint double gold.
Lyles, the American 200m record holder who failed to make the U.S. Olympic team in the shorter sprint for the Tokyo Games, is determined to get it right in the 100m this time around.
"I am ready, plain and simple," said Lyles, who focused his indoor season on the 60m distance to build up his speed and has stuffed his outdoor agenda with 100m events, winning the Paris Diamond League last month.
"100's on full-frontal right now," he told reporters in New York at the USATF Grand Prix last month.
"Setting up the first 30, setting up the first 20 and making sure that it's faster than any other year. That why we did so many 60s this year and that's why we've been running a lot more 100s this year. And, you know, it's been working."
He ran a wind-aided 9.80 at the Bermuda Grand Prix in May but has otherwise been unable to get close to the world's best times this year.
He ran 9.95 in April, more than a tenth of a second slower than the world leading 9.83 seconds that Briton Zharnel Hughes ran in New York last month.
The fastest man in the United States, Kerley, will want to keep his grip on the 100 metres crown later this summer in Budapest and predicts he will be in the best shape of his career when he defends his title.
The Tokyo Olympic silver medallist, who once specialised in the 400m, long ago silenced the sceptics when he moved to the shorter distance and has yet to run slower than 9.94 in four races in 2023.
But with a pair of Diamond League titles and the world's third-fastest time this year in the 100m, Kerley is setting his sights on bigger game.
"I was comfortable, but I know I still got work to do," he told reporters after winning the 200m at Doha Diamond League meet in May in 19.92 for the ninth-best time in the world this year.
Richardson 'at peace' and primed for 100m revenge
Fan-favourite Sha'Carri Richardson rolls into the U.S. national championships this week as the fastest woman in America, in seemingly prime condition and hungry for revenge after previous trips to Eugene, Oregon, ended in disappointment.
The 23-year-old dynamo from Dallas was anointed the queen of American track when she punched her ticket to Tokyo in the 100 metres two years ago at "Tracktown, USA," but stayed at home after a positive cannabis test ended her Olympic quest.
A year later, she stunningly failed to qualify for the World Championships at Hayward Field but resolved to keep up her dream of a major title.
That goal appears tantalizingly within reach as she returns to Eugene with the second-fastest time in the world this year, a scorching 10.76 to win at the Doha Diamond League.
The performance, four hundredths of a second off her personal best, saw her finish ahead of serious contenders including Jamaican Shericka Jackson and the 2019 world champion in the 200m, Briton Dina Asher-Smith.
"I'm so blessed and thankful, I feel at peace. All I do is the best I do and I'm excited to do it," Richardson told reporters in Doha.
Just a hundredth of a second off Ivorian world leader Marie-Josee Ta Lou, few in the United States have come anywhere close to matching Richardson this year.
Her closest rival, Aleia Hobbs, ran 10.86 in Baton Rouge earlier this season and won the NYC Grand Prix in 10.98 at the end of June.
"I just have to stay consistent and do it when it counts," Hobbs said in New York.
"I have been consistently around 10.8-10.9, so I know it's going to drop when it counts. I just need be patient and wait on it."
The USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships kick off on July 6th.