What a time to be American…disregarding politics. The United States turns 248 on the 4th and the Olympic Games start on July 26. The U.S. is slated to have a dominant performance with many great stories making their way to the games in Paris, France.
Track & Field
You are likely reading about phenom Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone once again breaking the 400-meter hurdles world record (she owns the top five fastest times) or that the 200-meter Olympic-likely Sha’Carri Richardson placed fourth in the trials and will not run that event in Paris. While McLaughlin-Levrone and Richardson capture headlines, another inspiring story unfolds.
Meet CJ Allen. The 29-year-old, long-time Olympic hopeful was used to coming up just short of the big event. In 2016, at just 21 years old, Allen competed, unsuccessfully, for a spot in the Rio Games. The years passed and the Washington State product continued to miss the mark. However, in 2023, CJ Allen became a part of the U.S. team and qualified for the World Championship in Budapest, Hungary. Entering this Olympic year, his 400-meter hurdles time ranked him 7th in the world. At the U.S. trials in Eugene, Oregon, Allen placed second (47.81 seconds), behind world leader Rai Benjamin (46.46 seconds). Nineteen years dedicated to hurdling led to this unmatched moment for the new Olympian. Coming in third, just one one-hundredth of a second behind Allen was Trevor Bassitt, an unsponsored product of Ashland University in Ohio. At 26 years old, he will be making his first Olympic appearance and will certainly be in line for an illustrious first sponsor.
Swimming
Katie Ledecky has stolen the swimming spotlight and will not be relinquishing it anytime soon, and for good reason. She competed in 4 events (200 freestyle, 400 freestyle, 800 freestyle, and the 1,500 freestyle) at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana. She dominated each race, finishing first and leaving her competition out of the TV frame.
Not every swimmer, however, was in the same situation as the 10-time Olympic gold medalist. Enter sisters Alex and Gretchen Walsh, alongside brother and sister Aaron and Alex Shackell. These siblings had the pressure of the world on them to make it to Paris.
Starting with the Walsh sisters, Gretchen easily punched her ticket to Paris by setting the 100-meter butterfly world record. Despite her sister qualifying on the first day, Alex Walsh would have to wait until the second-to-last day of the trials to secure her spot on the Olympic roster. Alex totes a silver medal from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in the 200-meter medley, while Gretchen looks to join the podium for the first time in her career.
Aaron Shackell, 19, was the first male swimmer to qualify for the Olympics by winning the 400-meter freestyle. Once again, it would not be as simple for the other sibling. Alex had to wait a week for her moment. The moment was not too big, as the 17-year-old would place second in the 200-meter butterfly, solidifying herself as an Olympian.
This duo of siblings is the first to accomplish this feat since 2004, where, ironically, a set of sisters and a brother and sister would qualify for the Athens Games.
That’s your snapshot of the U.S. Olympic trials in swimming and track & field. As we progress through the Olympic process be sure to check back for more updates across the various sports. Until then, be sure to subscribe to the free mailing list for daily sports blogs below!