1. Max Burgin wins the 8. Coop gets top 5 and runs a small PR
2. Phanuel Koech wins the 15, fully announcing he has arrived. Hocker gets bronze and Strand makes the final
3. The 5k is actually fast but the 10k isn’t. Sub 12:55 winning time in the 5 and around 27:40 ish in the 10. Men’s 5k will be the race of the meet.
4. Nikki Hiltz pulls a Kenneth Rooks type move and goes with Kipyegon/ leads the race. They did say they want to be up there in the race and not settle for making finals anymore. Blows up but hangs on to medal.
5. No Americans make the men’s steeple final but the women get Napoleon and Halladay-Lowry in. Halladay-Lowry goes crazy and hangs on for a medal
BONUS, SPRINT TAKES: A US athlete wins the men’s and women’s 100 and 200 and they sweep both relays (not the mixed gender ones).
In the 400, Jacory Patterson completes the year of destiny and wins gold. Syd Mclaughlin misses the podium.
110 Hurdles: Grant finally breaks into form and runs 12.85 to win. Tinch 2nd and Mr. Walmart runs sub 13 for 3rd
Lastly, I think a world record time will be run by Karsten or Rai, just like 2021 in the same stadium to win the 400 Hurdles. It’ll be the only running event to feature a WR.
This post was edited 4 minutes after it was posted.
I'll flip it: after sending the strongest team in history, no Americans make the 800m final. Brazier's been phenomenal, and I think he has a great chance to win the whole damn thing. But for the sake of this scenario, he has his first off race of the year in a stacked semi. Cooper's 16 at the tail end of a truly mind-blowing season, and his close falls short this time.* And Hoppel just continues his string of underwhelming performances--which feels a bit harsh when he's ahead of last year's times going into Paris, but things haven't quite seemed right. Maybe it's because he was behind Hoey until USAs, but he's also dropped two complete eggs in Diamond League races.
Brazier's my favorite runner, Hoppel's probably in my top 3, and Cooper's a great kid, so I desperately hope this doesn't happen. My initial take was that they'll all make the final, but with how strong the team is I'm not sure that's hot enough to qualify for this thread (crazy to say about a high schooler and a guy who hadn't raced since an injury-riddled 2022). This, though, I can see in my nightmares.
*Also, Cooper barely made the final at USAs. That's a huge what-if moment, since without that he'd "only" have a 1:45, may not have decided to go pro, and wouldn't have knocked Hoey, the second-fastest in the world, off the team.
Edit: I checked World Athletics after posting and realized the Americans are 4 of the top 8 this year, despite the historical depth and world record chatter. I knew we were good, but holy hell. Maybe I should've said we'd sweep.
No one finishes the 800 and there's a 30 minute delay to clean up the track as it looks like the Seine after a downpour.
AIU springs into action, and bicarb is indeed banned beginning in 2026
a favourite trips in a sprint event (i think it will be the 400) like halfway through but recovers to a medal spot but then gets barely outkicked into 4th.