USC’s Isaiah Jewett and Bryce Hoppel celebrate after the Men’s 800 Meters Final during day four of the 2020 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Team Trials at Hayward Field on June 21, 2021 in Eugene, Oregon. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
Clayton Murphy, Isaiah Jewett and Bryce Hoppel cross the finish line in the Men’s 800 Meters Final during day four of the 2020 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Team Trials at Hayward Field on June 21, 2021 in Eugene, Oregon. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
Clayton Murphy celebrates after winning the men’s 800-meter run at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials Monday, June 21, 2021, in Eugene, Ore. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Clayton Murphy celebrates after winning the men’s 800-meter run at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials Monday, June 21, 2021, in Eugene, Ore. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Chris Nilsen celebrates in the Men’s Pole Vault Final during day four of the 2020 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Team Trials at Hayward Field on June 21, 2021 in Eugene, Oregon. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
Athletes compete in the Women’s 1500 Meters Final during day four of the 2020 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Team Trials at Hayward Field on June 21, 2021 in Eugene, Oregon. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
Elle Purrier St. Pierre celebrates after winning the women’s 1500-meter run at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials Monday, June 21, 2021, in Eugene, Ore. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Elle Purrier St. Pierre celebrates winning the Women’s 1500 Meters Final during day four of the 2020 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Team Trials at Hayward Field on June 21, 2021 in Eugene, Oregon. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
Elle Purrier St. Pierre, left, hugs Lianne Farber after winning the women’s 1500-meter run at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials Monday, June 21, 2021, in Eugene, Ore. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Curtis Thompson competes in the Men’s Javelin Throw Final during day four of the 2020 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Team Trials at Hayward Field on June 21, 2021 in Eugene, Oregon. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
Jordan Mann falls into the water as he and Jordan Cross compete in the first round of Men’s 3000 Meters Steeplechase during day four of the 2020 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Team Trials at Hayward Field on June 21, 2021 in Eugene, Oregon. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
Elise Cranny and Karissa Schweizer compete in the Women’s 5,000 Meter Final during day four of the 2020 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Team Trials at Hayward Field on June 21, 2021 in Eugene, Oregon. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
Elise Cranny and Karissa Schweizer compete in the Women’s 5,000 Meter Final during day four of the 2020 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Team Trials at Hayward Field on June 21, 2021 in Eugene, Oregon. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
Elise Cranny celebrates after winning the finals of women’s 5000-meter run at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials Monday, June 21, 2021, in Eugene, Ore. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Elise Cranny and Karissa Schweizer hug after the Women’s 5,000 Meter Final during day four of the 2020 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Team Trials at Hayward Field on June 21, 2021 in Eugene, Oregon. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
Elise Cranny and Karissa Schweizer hug after the Women’s 5000 Meter Final during day four of the 2020 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Team Trials at Hayward Field on June 21, 2021 in Eugene, Oregon. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
Rachel Schneider reacts after placing third in the Women’s 5,000 Meter Final during day four of the 2020 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Team Trials at Hayward Field on June 21, 2021 in Eugene, Oregon. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
Sam Kendricks and Cory McGee celebrate during day four of the 2020 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Team Trials at Hayward Field on June 21, 2021 in Eugene, Oregon. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
Elle Purrier St. Pierre celebrates winning the Women’s 1500 Meters Final during day four of the 2020 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Team Trials at Hayward Field on June 21, 2021 in Eugene, Oregon. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
Elle Purrier St. Pierre and Heather MacLean celebrate after the Women’s 1500 Meters Final during day four of the 2020 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Team Trials at Hayward Field on June 21, 2021 in Eugene, Oregon. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
Sam Kendricks competes in the pole vault during day four of the 2020 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Team Trials at Hayward Field on June 21, 2021 in Eugene, Oregon. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
Sam Kendricks competes during the finals of the men’s pole vault at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials Monday, June 21, 2021, in Eugene, Ore. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Sam Kendricks clears the bar during the finals of the men’s pole vault at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials Monday, June 21, 2021, in Eugene, Ore. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Sam Kendricks celebrates during the finals of the men’s pole vault at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials Monday, June 21, 2021, in Eugene, Ore. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Matt Ludwig competes during the finals of the men’s pole vault at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials Monday, June 21, 2021, in Eugene, Ore. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Chris Nilsen celebrates during the finals of the men’s pole vault at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials Monday, June 21, 2021, in Eugene, Ore. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
KC Lightfoot competes during the finals of the men’s pole vault at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials Monday, June 21, 2021, in Eugene, Ore. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
KC Lightfoot celebrates during the finals of the men’s pole vault at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials Monday, June 21, 2021, in Eugene, Ore. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Chris Nilsen (C), first, Sam Kendricks (L), second, and KC Lightfoot, third, celebrate after the Men’s Pole Vault Final during day four of the 2020 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Team Trials at Hayward Field on June 21, 2021 in Eugene, Oregon. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
Elle Purrier St. Pierre celebrates after winning the women’s 1500-meter run at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials Monday, June 21, 2021, in Eugene, Ore. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
Will Claye competes during the finals of men’s triple jump at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials Monday, June 21, 2021, in Eugene, Ore. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Will Claye competes during the finals of men’s triple jump at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials Monday, June 21, 2021, in Eugene, Ore. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Will Claye competes during the finals of men’s triple jump at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials Monday, June 21, 2021, in Eugene, Ore. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Donald Scott competes during the finals of men’s triple jump at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials Monday, June 21, 2021, in Eugene, Ore. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Donald Scott competes during the finals of men’s triple jump at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials Monday, June 21, 2021, in Eugene, Ore. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
EUGENE, OREGON – JUNE 21: Curtis Thompson competes in the Men’s Javelin Throw Final during day four of the 2020 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Team Trials at Hayward Field on June 21, 2021 in Eugene, Oregon. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
Curtis Thompson competes during the finals of the javelin throw at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials Monday, June 21, 2021, in Eugene, Ore. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Curtis Thompson celebrates during the finals of the javelin throw at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials Monday, June 21, 2021, in Eugene, Ore. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Isaac Updike competes in the first round of Men’s 3000 Meters Steeplechase during day four of the 2020 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Team Trials at Hayward Field on June 21, 2021 in Eugene, Oregon. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
Isaac Updike celebrates after winning the first heat of the men’s 3000-meter steeplechase at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials Monday, June 21, 2021, in Eugene, Ore. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Chris Benard competes during the finals of men’s triple jump at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials Monday, June 21, 2021, in Eugene, Ore. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Clayton Murphy, left, USC’s Isaiah Jewett, right. and Bryce Hoppel, center, race to the finish line in the 800-meter final while reigning world champion Donavan Brazier, back right, trails at the U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials on Monday in Eugene, Ore. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
Elle Purrier St. Pierre celebrates after winning the women’s 1500-meter run at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials Monday, June 21, 2021, in Eugene, Ore. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Runners compete during first heat of the men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials Monday, June 21, 2021, in Eugene, Ore. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Runners compete during first heat of the men’s 3000-meter steeplechase at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials Monday, June 21, 2021, in Eugene, Ore. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Runners compete during first heat of the men’s 3000-meter steeplechase at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials Monday, June 21, 2021, in Eugene, Ore. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Elle Purrier St. Pierre (C), first, Cory McGee (L), second, and Heather MacLean, third, celebrate on the podium after the Women’s 1500 Meters Final during day four of the 2020 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Team Trials at Hayward Field on June 21, 2021 in Eugene, Oregon. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
EUGENE, Ore. —The U.S. Olympic Trials 800-meter final Monday had brought some of its competitors to their knees early Monday evening. Others were sprawled out on the scalding Hayward Field track, unable to bear their disappointment or effort any longer.
Amid the carnage, Nike’s Isaiah Harris put his arm around Donavan Brazier as they tried to make sense of the blur that had just happened.
As glorious as the Olympic Trials almost always are they also have a long and well-deserved reputation for cruelty. The Trials’ history is full of Olympic or world champions, world record holders, can’t-miss favorites who have had hearts broken, dreams smashed by the planet’s most unforgiving track meet.
As a scorching afternoon in the Willamette Valley sweated its way into evening, the Trials became neither cooler nor kinder.
Brazier, the reigning world champion and one of the biggest gold medal favorites for the Tokyo Olympics, was reminded once again of the Trials’ ugly side on Monday, fading to eighth and last in the final 200 meters, crossing the finish line in 1 minute, 47.88 seconds, more than five seconds off his American record.
“Really bad timing I guess, right?” Brazier said later.
“I’m sad, really sad.”
Brazier wasn’t the only one singing the Trials blues in Tracktown, USA.
Jenny Simpson has been part of every Olympic Games or World Championships since 2005, winning the 1,500 gold medal at the 2011 Worlds and earning an Olympic bronze in 2016.
But she was a distant 10th in the 1,500 final on Monday, ending her bid to compete in a third Olympic Games.
“It’s hard to believe,” she said. “I truly thought I was going to make the team today.”
But the Trials saved perhaps its harshest blow for Monday’s final event – the women’s 5,000 final.
One of the most memorable moments of the Rio de Janeiro Olympics came in the 5,000 heats when Abbey Cooper (then D’Agostino) of the U.S. and New Zealand’s Nikki Hamblin became entangled and crashed to the track. Cooper, despite severely damaging her right knee, helped Hamblin to her feet and encouraged her. Cooper somehow finished the race, limping across the line with a torn right ACL that would require surgery. She had to be taken off the track in a wheelchair.
Cooper’s act of sportsmanship and courage, Hamblin said, personified “the Olympic spirit.”
That courage was evident again in Friday’s 5,000 heats. Cooper entered the race without having met the Olympic Games qualifying standard (15:10). With the pace slow through three laps and warned by her coach that Monday’s temperature was expected to hit 97 degrees, Cooper took off on a bold solo run reminiscent of the man looming larger than life on the stadium’s tower – Steve Prefontaine.
Cooper finished in 15:07.81, under the Olympic standard and once again capturing the sport’s collective heart.
“I’m just going to keep the positive energy going into Monday,” she said.
And she did, running with the lead pack until the final 300 meters as Bowerman Track Club teammates Elise Cranny and Karissa Schweizer and Hoka One’s Rachel Schneider began to pull away. Cooper tried to cut the gap on the backstretch and again around the final turn. Coming into the final 100 meters she dug again but it wasn’t enough.
Cranny won in 15:27.81, followed by Schweizer (15:28.11) and Schneider (15:29.56). Cooper had to settle for fourth in 15:31.05.
“That was everything I had,” Cooper said.
There was also plenty of brilliance on Day 4 of what is shaping up to be one of the greatest Olympic Trials in history.
Simpson was one of the victims of a swift early pace laid down by Elle Purrier St. Pierre, who finished in a meet record 3:58.03, a time all the more remarkable when considering it was done at a time when the temperature in the stands was 94 degrees, considerably hotter on the track. She was followed by Cory McGee (4:00.67) and Heather MacLean (4:02.09).
“I just needed to be in 4-flat shape and that was proven today by the three amazing women today who made the team,” Simpson said.
Chris Nilsen was just out of high school when he competed in the 2016 Trials pole vault. He didn’t place.
“When I came to the Olympics Trials in 2016, my goal was to get a pic with Sam Kendricks, the American record holder,” Nilsen said.
Monday the former NCAA champion knocked off Kendricks, the two-time world champion, in winning the first meet in U.S. history to see three vaulters clear 5.85 meters (19 feet, 2¼ inches).
Nilsen topped 19-4¼ with Kendricks and K.C. Lightfoot tied for second at 19-2¼.
“This’ll go down in history as the hardest team ever to make,” Kendricks said.
Few know better than Brazier the pain caused when this meet puts the Trials in Olympic Trials.
He entered the 2016 meet as the favorite yet didn’t make it out of the first round. He came into this Olympic season not only the Tokyo favorite but mentioned as someone capable of doing what not so long ago was considered unthinkable – challenging David Rudisha of Kenya’s 9-year-old world record of 1:40.91.
But the race was thrown into chaos from the gun by USC’s Isaiah Jewett, the NCAA champion. Jewett took the lead on the first backstretch, then seemed to surge at the 200-meter mark, passing the bell at 400 in 50.60 and with a sizable gap on the rest of the field.
Brazier went through in 51.00 in second, with Bryce Hoppel, fourth at the 2019 Worlds, even further back at 51.23.
“When he pushed it, we had that gap,” Brazier said. “I didn’t like that gap. I tried covering it, but I couldn’t.
Brazier tried to strike on the final backstretch.
“I think I made a move a little too early and paid the price for it in the last 200,” he said.
Indeed when former Nike Oregon Project teammate Clayton Murphy passed him heading into the final turn, Brazier knew he was done.
“I think this was the first time since I’ve been coached by Pete Julian where I really couldn’t bring it,” Brazier said referring to his longtime coach.
Standing next to the pole vault runway, Kendrick watched the 800 final unfold without his friend.
“A gold medal brings golden handcuffs,” Kendricks said. “Wherever we go somewhere it’s a world champion and they expect a world champion’s effort. People follow in your wake when you’re ahead of the game. It’s a game of inches, it’s a game of effort, it’s a game of heart and I can’t believe there was any heart lacking in the last part of the 800.”
Murphy, the 2016 Olympic bronze medalist, rode a scorching 51.50 last lap to a world-leading 1:43.17 victory.Jewett held on for second in a personal best of 1:43.65. Hoppel secured third place in 1:44.14. Harris was fourth in 1:44.58.
“I blanked out,” Jewett said of the final 200. “I was in my own world. And I just kept pushing. Coach Watts just told me when the pain comes, that’s when you know greatness is about to occur,” Jewett said, referring to Trojans coach Quincy Watts, the 1992 Olympic 400 champion. “Push through it, whether you win or lose. And you’ll learn something.”
Brazier found no lessons in his latest Trials heartbreak.
“I can’t take away anything from this experience,” he said. “I ran pretty (expletive).”
The Trials’ ultimate lesson, the meet’s cold, hard truth, however, was not lost on Simpson.
“The sport goes on without you,” she said. “You don’t make the Games and the Games are fine and they go on without you.”