For the past week and a half, a miniature Eiffel Tower was positioned prominently in the track infield at the University of Oregon’s Hayward Field. It was wrapped in material that could be scribbled on with Sharpie markers, and ended up getting covered with autographs.
Each of the signed names on the tower belonged to an American track and field athlete who, in the next month, will be competing in Paris — the signatures symbolically showing the world who had qualified for the Olympic Games.
Now that the U.S. Olympic track and field trials are complete, it’s worth looking back at the nine days in Eugene, Oregon, that helped craft Team USA. The trials had their share of major disappointments, broken world records, winners, losers and other surprises.
While Sha’Carri Richardson, Noah Lyles, Gabby Thomas and Ryan Crouser put on their expected displays of Olympic-qualifying dominance — and 16-year-old Quincy Wilson became a star — other athletes who made headlines, too.
Here are several key takeaways from a wild week at the U.S. Olympic track and field trials: