Ten men’s events to watch at U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials

By Nick ZaccardiJun 29, 2016, 5:45 PM EDT

Getty Images

More than 100 athletes will qualify for Rio by the end of the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials in Eugene, Ore., from July 1-10 on NBC Sports.

The top three finishers per event, provided they meet the Olympic standard, are in line to go to the Games. More finishers in the men’s and women’s 100m and 400m sprints, usually the top six, make the team for the 4x100m and 4x400m relays.

The U.S. Olympic track and field team is always the largest in size across all sports.

This year’s squad could be favored for even more success than 2012, when it led the medal standings with 28 total and nine gold, with the Russian track and field out of the picture for now.

However, the U.S. will look to bounce back from the 2015 World Championships in Beijing, where it topped the medal table with 18 overall, its smallest haul since 2003. Jamaica and Kenya took more golds.

Track and Field Trials
Live Results
Daily Schedule
TV Schedule
Men’s Preview
Women’s Preview

Here are 10 men’s events to watch:

Shot Put
July 1
2012 Olympics: Reese Hoffa (bronze), Christian Cantwell (fourth), Ryan Whiting (ninth)
2015 Worlds: Joe Kovacs (gold), Reese Hoffa (fifth), Christian Cantwell (12th), Jordan Clarke (first round)

Outlook: The U.S. has earned a men’s shot put medal at each of the last eight Olympics, and that streak figures to extend in Rio. That’s because of Kovacs, who finished fourth at the 2012 Olympic Trials and has since emerged to become the best in the world. He had four of the five best throws in the world last year and has three of the four best this year. All three men’s shot putters could be first-time Olympians for the first time in 20 years, with Ryan Crouser and Kurt Roberts ranking Nos. 2 and 3 in the world this year.

10,000 Meters
July 1
2012 Olympics: Galen Rupp (silver), Dathan Ritzenhein (13th), Matt Tegenkamp (19th)
2015 Worlds: Galen Rupp (fifth), Hassan Mead (15th), Shadrack Kipchirchir (16th)

Outlook: Rupp is the premier U.S. distance runner and a heavy favorite. However, he may drop this event for Rio if he makes the team, since he previously won the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials. The Olympic 10,000m is on Aug. 13. The marathon is on Aug. 21. After Rupp, the most interesting man in the U.S. field is Bernard Lagat, who will try to become the oldest U.S. Olympic runner in history at age 41. Lagat owns two Olympic medals, but they were in the 1500m in 2000 and 2004. He failed to finish his last race, the Pre Classic 5000m on May 28.

400 Meters
July 1-3
2012 Olympics: Tony McQuay (semifinals), Bryshon Nellum (first round), LaShawn Merritt (first round)
2015 Worlds: LaShawn Merritt (silver), David Verburg (semifinals), Bryshon Nellum (semifinals), Vernon Norwood (semifinals)

Outlook: Merritt is the clear favorite as the fastest American this year by six tenths of a second. Starting with Arman Hall, at least the next 10 fastest Americans this year are within .36 of each other. Jeremy Wariner, the 2004 Olympic champion now 32 years old, is farther down the list but slated to give it one more go.

800 Meters
July 1-4
2012 Olympics: Duane Solomon (fourth), Nick Symmonds (fifth), Khadevis Robinson (first round)
2015 Worlds: Clayton Murphy (semifinals), Erik Sowinski (semifinals), Casimir Loxsom (first round)

Outlook: Two-time Olympian Symmonds is out of Trials due to a torn ligament and stress fracture in his left ankle. Symmonds took his sixth U.S. outdoor title last year then missed the World Championships in a contract dispute. Meanwhile, NCAA champion Donavan Brazier and world indoor champion Boris Berian are ranked third and fourth in the world this year.

Decathlon
July 2-3
2012 Olympics: Ashton Eaton (gold), Trey Hardee (silver)
2015 Worlds: Ashton Eaton (gold), Zach Ziemek (15th), Jeremy Taiwo (DNF), Trey Hardee (DNF)

Outlook: Eaton provided perhaps the greatest moment of the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials when he broke the world record in Eugene. He did it again at the 2015 World Championships and shouldn’t be challenged here. Hardee, if healthy, is a solid runner-up favorite as the last man to beat Eaton at a global meet (2011 Worlds). But he reportedly dislocated a foot in January after dropping out during the 2015 Worlds with a back injury.

Long Jump
July 2-3
2012 Olympics: Will Claye (silver), Marquise Goodwin (10th), George Kitchens (first round)
2015 Worlds: Jeff Henderson (ninth), Michael Hartfield (12th), Marquis Dendy (first round)

Outlook: Goodwin is the story here. The Buffalo Bills wide receiver will try to become the first person to play in the NFL regular season and then qualify for a Summer Olympic team. Goodwin was with the University of Texas when he competed in London. He took nearly three years off from the long jump before returning last summer. This year, he has the two best jumps in the world. Watch out for Henderson, who had the three best jumps in the world last year but had a disastrous World Championships final.

100 Meters
July 2-3
2012 Olympics: Justin Gatlin (bronze), Tyson Gay (fourth), Ryan Bailey (fifth)
2015 Worlds: Justin Gatlin (silver), Trayvon Bromell (bronze), Mike Rodgers (fifth), Tyson Gay (sixth)

Outlook: Gatlin, while recently slower than his torrid spring pace from last year, is the clear favorite. Bromell, the 20-year-old future of U.S. sprinting, is a serious question mark due to an Achilles injury. The Trials will mark Bromell’s first race in one month. Luckily for him, he can still make the Olympic team in the relay by finishing top six. The joint-second-fastest American this year, Ameer Webb, curiously scratched to focus on the 200m.

Triple Jump
July 7-9
2012 Olympics: Christian Taylor (gold), Will Claye (silver)
2015 Worlds: Christian Taylor (gold), Omar Craddock (fourth), Marquis Dendy (first round), Will Claye (first round)

Outlook: After his Olympic title, Taylor struggled a little and then decided to change his takeoff leg. The risky upheaval paid dividends in 2015, when he recorded the second-best triple jump of all time, one cigarette shy of Jonathan Edwards’ world record from 1995. Taylor owns the two best triple jumps in the world this year. He’s followed by Claye, Chris Benard and Craddock all in the world top six.

1500 Meters
July 7-10
2012 Olympics: Leo Manzano (silver), Matthew Centrowitz (fourth), Andrew Wheating (semifinals)
2015 Worlds: Matthew Centrowitz (eighth), Leo Manzano (10th), Robby Andrews (11th)

Outlook: Centrowitz’s international standing took a hit last year. He had previously finished fourth or better at the 2011 Worlds, 2012 Olympics and 2013 Worlds, but never won. Still, he is the cream of the American crop. Manzano has looked less impressive since London, which means two berths are likely up for grabs behind Centrowitz.

110 Meter Hurdles
July 8-9
2012 Olympics: Aries Merritt (gold), Jason Richardson (silver), Jeff Porter (semifinals)
2015 Worlds: Aries Merritt (bronze), David Oliver (seventh), Aleec Harris (semifinals), Ronnie Ash (first round)

Outlook: The world-record holder Merritt is the story here, after earning bronze at Worlds with kidney function at less than 20 percent. He is coming back from a Sept. 1 kidney transplant (and a follow-up procedure in October). Incredibly, Merritt has returned to rank third in the U.S. so far this year, behind Oliver and Ash.

MORE: Lolo Jones scratches out of Olympic Trials

Follow @nzaccardi

2023 French Open men’s singles draw, scores

By OlympicTalkMay 31, 2023, 6:46 PM EDT

Getty

The French Open men’s singles draw is missing injured 14-time champion Rafael Nadal for the first time since 2004, leaving the Coupe des Mousquetaires ripe for the taking.

The tournament airs live on NBC Sports, Peacock and Tennis Channel through championship points in Paris.

Novak Djokovic is not only bidding for a third crown at Roland Garros, but also to lift a 23rd Grand Slam singles trophy to break his tie with Nadal for the most in men’s history.

FRENCH OPEN: Broadcast Schedule | Women’s Draw

But the No. 1 seed is Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, who won last year’s U.S. Open to become, at 19, the youngest man to win a major since Nadal’s first French Open title in 2005.

Now Alcaraz looks to become the second-youngest man to win at Roland Garros since 1989, after Nadal of course.

Alcaraz missed the Australian Open in January due to a right leg injury, but since went 30-3 with four titles. Notably, he has not faced Djokovic this year. They could meet in the semifinals.

Russian Daniil Medvedev, the No. 2 seed, was upset in the first round by 172nd-ranked Brazilian qualifier Thiago Seyboth Wild. It marked the first time a men’s top-two seed lost in the first round of any major since 2003 Wimbledon (Ivo Karlovic d. Lleyton Hewitt).

No. 9 Taylor Fritz, No. 12 Frances Tiafoe and No. 16 Tommy Paul are the highest-seeded Americans, all looking to become the first U.S. man to make the French Open quarterfinals since Andre Agassi in 2003. Since then, five different American men combined to make the fourth round on eight occasions.

MORE: All you need to know for 2023 French Open

OlympicTalk is on Apple News. Favorite us!

Follow @nbcolympictalk

2023 French Open Men’s Singles Draw

At the French Open, a Ukrainian mom makes her comeback

By OlympicTalkMay 31, 2023, 5:15 PM EDT

Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina, once the world’s third-ranked tennis player, is into the French Open third round in her first major tournament since childbirth.

Svitolina, 28, swept 2022 French Open semifinalist Martina Trevisan of Italy, then beat Australian qualifier Storm Hunter 2-6, 6-3, 6-1 to reach the last 32 at Roland Garros. She next plays 56th-ranked Russian Anna Blinkova, who took out the top French player, fifth seed Caroline Garcia, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 on her ninth match point.

Svitolina’s husband, French player Gael Monfils, finished his first-round five-set win after midnight on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning. She watched that match on a computer before going to sleep ahead of her 11 a.m. start Wednesday.

“This morning, he told me, ‘I’m coming to your match, so make it worth it,'” she joked on Tennis Channel. “I was like, OK, no pressure.

“I don’t know what he’s doing here now. He should be resting.”

Also Wednesday, 108th-ranked Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis ousted three-time major champion Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-3 in four and a half hours. Wawrinka’s exit leaves Novak Djokovic as the lone man in the draw who has won the French Open and Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz as the lone men left who have won any major.

The top seed Alcaraz beat 112th-ranked Taro Daniel of Japan 6-1, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2. The Spaniard gets 26th seed Denis Shapovalov of Canada in the third round. Djokovic, the No. 3 seed, swept 83rd-ranked Hungarian Marton Fucsovics 7-6 (2), 6-0, 6-3 to reach a third-round date with 29th seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain.

FRENCH OPEN DRAWS: Women | Men | Broadcast Schedule

Svitolina made at least one major quarterfinal every year from 2017 through 2021, including the semifinals at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open in 2019. She married Monfils one week before the Tokyo Olympics, then won a singles bronze medal.

Svitolina played her last match before maternity leave on March 24, 2022, one month after Russia invaded her country. She gave birth to daughter Skai on Oct. 15.

Svitolina returned to competition in April. Last week, she won the tournament preceding the French Open, sweeping Blinkova to improve to 17-3 in her career in finals. She’s playing on a protected ranking of 27th after her year absence and, now, on a seven-match win streak.

“It was always in my head the plan to come back, but I didn’t put any pressure on myself, because obviously with the war going on, with the pregnancy, you never know how complicated it will go,” she said. “I’m as strong as I was before, maybe even stronger, because I feel that I can handle the work that I do off the court, and match by match I’m getting better. Also mentally, because mental can influence your physicality, as well.”

Svitolina said she’s motivated by goals to attain before she retires from the sport and to help Ukraine, such as donating her prize money from last week’s title in Strasbourg.

“These moments bring joy to people of Ukraine, to the kids as well, the kids who loved to play tennis before the war, and now maybe they don’t have the opportunity,” she said. “But these moments that can motivate them to look on the bright side and see these good moments and enjoy themselves as much as they can in this horrible situation.”

Svitolina was born in Odesa and has lived in Kharkiv, two cities that have been attacked by Russia.

“I talk a lot with my friends, with my family back in Ukraine, and it’s a horrible thing, but they are used to it now,” she said. “They are used to the alarms that are on. As soon as they hear something, they go to the bomb shelters. Sleepless nights. You know, it’s a terrible thing, but they tell me that now it’s a part of their life, which is very, very sad.”

Svitolina noted that she plays with a flag next to her name — unlike the Russians and Belarusians, who are allowed to play as neutral athletes.

“When I step on the court, I just try to think about the fighting spirit that all of us Ukrainians have and how Ukrainians are fighting for their values, for their freedom in Ukraine,” she said, “and me, I’m fighting here on my own front line.”

Svitolina said that she’s noticed “a lot of rubbish” concerning how tennis is reacting to the war.

“We have to focus on what the main point of what is going on,” she said. “Ukrainian people need help and need support. We are focusing on so many things like empty words, empty things that are not helping the situation, not helping anything.

“I want to invite everyone to focus on helping Ukrainians. That’s the main point of this, to help kids, to help women who lost their husbands because they are at the war, and they are fighting for Ukraine.

“You can donate. Couple of dollars might help and save lives. Or donate your time to something to help people.”

OlympicTalk is on Apple News. Favorite us!

Follow @nbcolympictalk

2023 French Open Men’s Singles Draw

More: Olympics

More: Olympics