EUGENE, Ore. (KOIN) — It’s been 5 years since the US Track and Field Olympic Trials have taken place at the University of Oregon’s Hayward Field. But they’re back.
For months, it was unclear if the trials would happen or, if they did, if fans would be allowed to watch because of the pandemic.
So seeing thousands of smiling faces anxious to get inside the news stadium and to see the Olympic trials that were delayed a year is a bit surreal.
There are vaccinated and physically-distanced sections, meaning it is not quite at the full 25,000-seat capacity. And fans who are at the stadium are fired up.
Gresham’s Ryan Crouser sets world record
(AP) — Gresham’s Ryan Crouser broke a 31-year-old world record in the shot put at U.S. Olympic trials with a heave of 76 feet, 8 1/4 inches (23.37 meters) that also qualified him for the Tokyo Games.
The 28-year-old Crouser will defend his Olympic title next month. He broke the record set by American Randy Barnes, whose mark of 75 feet, 10 1/4 inches, set on May 20, 1990, was one of the oldest in the record books.
When Crouser’s fourth try plunked into the dirt, well beyond where any other mark had been made, the quarter-filled stadium sent out a collective gasp. About a half-minute passed while officials checked the distance. When it came up on the board, he was mobbed by his competitors over near the circle.