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The US track and field Olympic Trials are over and around 551 athletes have qualified so far for the Tokyo Olympics 2020. The US plans to send around 600 athletes to the Tokyo Olympics 2020, which will be its largest contingent since the 1996 Atlanta Games, where more than 640 American athletes participated.
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Overall, the US track and field team hopes to better their medal chances at the Tokyo Olympics 2020 from Rio Games — where they won 32 medals — 13 golds, 10 silvers and 9 bronze. We look at the top five US track and field athletes who can assure America of a gold medal.
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US Track and Field at Tokyo Olympics 2020: Top Five Stars
#1 Erriyon Knighton
Erriyon Knighton qualified for the Tokyo Olympics 2020 on Sunday night in 200m and will be the youngest male US track and field athlete to qualify in 57 years — since Jim Ryun at the 1964 Games.
Knighton made headlines in US track and field trials when he broke two of Usain Bolt’s records. In June, Knighton won the 200m final at an American Track League meet and beat Usain Bolt's Under-18 previous world record of 20.13 seconds.
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On 29 June, Knighton beat Bolt’s Under-20 world record in 200m, clocking a time of 19.84 seconds — Bolt’s time was 19.93 seconds.
Knighton was quoted as saying by Bay News9:
"Anybody can get beat. You just got to train.”
Knighton’s coach Jonathan ‘JT’ Terry believes that his pupil is a favorite to bring home the gold.
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#2 Grant Holloway
He may have missed the world record but Grant Holloway is going to Tokyo Olympics 2020 and is another US track and field gold medal hopeful. Holloway won the 110-m hurdles event in 12.96 seconds. Earlier, Holloway registered a time of 12.81 seconds in the semifinals, falling short by only one millisecond of Aries Merrit’s world record.
Speaking to Runners World about his gold medal hopes, Holloway said:
“We’ll find out. I just think at this point it’s definitely possible… It’s just executing at a very high level and figuring out ways to continue to get better.”
#3 Rai Benjamin
Like Grant Holloway, Rai Benjamin fell short of breaking the earlier world record in 400m hurdles, set by Kevin Young, at the US track and field Olympics trials. Although Karsten Warholm broke the world record at Oslo Diamond League, much before the Norwegian did so, Benjamin came agonizingly close to Young’s feat.
The 2019 World Championships silver medallist will join an elite list of hurdlers from the US track and field team, who are looking to clean sweep in the category — men and women.
Benjamin was quoted as saying by Lohud on coming close to Young’s record:
“I know it’s there. I just have to tweak some more things. … I can run so much faster. I know it. I can feel it.”
#4 Sydney McLaughlin
Competing against an Olympic medalist is a different ball-game but breaking a world record in the process is beyond superlative. The US track and field athlete, Sydney McLaughlin, has done both. The 21-year-old recently broke the world record in the 400m hurdles while racing against 2016 Rio Olympic gold medalist, Dalilah Muhammad.
US track and field McLaughlin clocked 51.90 seconds, breaking Muhammad’s two-year-old world record and becoming the first female athlete to run the event in under 52-second mark. She beat Muhammad’s previous best time of 52.16 seconds.
In a post-race interview, McLaughlin told NBC Sports:
“All the glory to God. Honestly, this season just working with my new coach and my new support system, it’s truly just faith and trusting the process. I couldn’t ask for anything more and truly it is all a gift from God.”
#5 Ryan Crouser
Coming from a family of throwers, Ryan Crouser is the most experienced on this list of US track and field athletes, having won the gold medal in shot put at the Rio Olympics 2016. He will be looking to defend his medal at Tokyo Olympics 2020 and has already proved many doubters wrong.
Even though he won a silver medal at World Championships 2019 in Doha, in his fourth attempt during the recent US Track and Field Trials, Crouser broke a 31-year-old record. The 28-year-old registered a distance of 23.37m and broke the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games’ gold medalist Randy Barnes’ record of 23.12m.
