USA Track & Field has chosen Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, over the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum to host the 2028 U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials, setting the selection meet for June 17-22, 2028 — a compressed six-day schedule that will run less than a month before the Olympic Games open in Los Angeles on July 14, 2028.
The decision, first reported by the Los Angeles Times, marks the ninth time the university town has staged the Trials and the sixth consecutive time Hayward Field has hosted the event since 2008. Eugene previously held the Trials in 1972, 1976 and 1980 before beginning its current unbroken streak, and the facility has also hosted the U.S. track nationals ten times, including the 2022 World Championships, according to the same report. USA Track & Field CEO Max Siegel said, in comments carried by the Times, that Eugene’s record of success in selecting America’s best track and field athletes speaks for itself.
Why L.A. Lost Out Again
The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, which will host the actual 2028 Olympic track and field competition, was considered as a potential host for the Trials as well, per the Times’ reporting. But holding the Trials in Los Angeles ran into issues with staging two major events in a short period, since the Coliseum needed to be ready for the Games themselves barely a month later.
That scheduling squeeze traces back to a bigger shift: the 2028 Games flipped the traditional Olympic calendar, placing track and field in the first week of competition rather than the second, as SwimSwam has reported. It will be the first Olympics to open with track since the 1968 Mexico City Games, according to the Times. That switch happened in part because SoFi Stadium needs several days after the July 14 Opening Ceremony to install temporary Olympic swimming pools, pushing swimming into week two.
A Shorter Trials, at Athletes’ Request
The 2028 Trials will also run shorter than usual. Previous editions spanned eight days with two built-in rest days in the middle, but the new six-day format followed direct consultation with athletes seeking a more efficient selection process, according to an August 2026 USA Track & Field statement reported by NBC Sports. To make room in the calendar, selection for the decathlon, heptathlon and 10,000 meters will be excluded from the June meet entirely and instead held earlier in spring 2028 at a location that has not yet been determined, the Times reports. That earlier spring scheduling is intended to allow those athletes additional recovery time before the Games…