2026 USATF OUTDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS PREVIEW

Chris Chavez and Kyle Merber drop the full preview of the 2026 USATF Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Icahn Stadium in New York City, held Thursday through Sunday.

CITIUS MAG will have daily end-of-day recap podcasts, a daily newsletter, and interviews on YouTube throughout the weekend.

Watch on USATF.tv, Peacock, and NBC (Saturday and Sunday TV windows). Free tickets are available courtesy of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s 500-ticket giveaway for Thursday and Friday. If you live within a couple hours of Icahn Stadium, no excuses.

Some of the events discussed in this episode:

– Women’s 10K (Thursday): Thin field after Karissa Schweizer scratched. Top eight from last year’s USAs are not competing. Kyle’s read: the scratch actually makes for a better race — more wide open.

– Men’s 10K (Thursday): 13 men entered. Grant Fisher versus Woody Kincaid as the headline matchup — Grant riding the momentum of his first Diamond League victory and doubling in the 5K.

– Women’s 100m (Friday): No MJW vs. Sha’Carri head-to-head.

– Men’s 100m (Friday): Noah Lyles vs. Kenny Bednarek. Noah has been everywhere at Fanatics Fest and FIFA World Cup events so the question is how much that toll has taken. Kenny knows this is a great opportunity to get one up on him.

– Women’s 3000m steeplechase (Saturday): One of the deepest American steeple fields of the season — seven athletes entered at 9:20 or faster. The fastest American time of the year comes out of this race.

– Men’s 3000m steeplechase (Saturday): Matt Wilkinson at 8:09 is the ninth-fastest man in the world and a clear favorite — remarkable given he was on crutches after last year’s USAs and came back with a straight-up PR.

– Men’s 1500m (Saturday): Top five from last year not competing so the race opens up.

– Women’s 1500m (Saturday): The rest of the field will be watching Nikki rather than racing their own race, so it’s becoming a Faith Kipyegon dynamic where others defer rather than attack.

– Women’s 800m (Sunday): Roisin Willis is the top seed and story of the year in the women’s 800 — US indoor record holder, strong outdoor season, coming off a brilliant performance in Stockholm. Addy Wiley has a Diamond League victory.

– Men’s 800m (Sunday): Brandon Miller scratched after London. Cooper Lukhenhaus vs. Donavan Brazier as the top billing — two of three members of last year’s World Championship team.

– Women’s 5K (Sunday): Parker Valby vs. Shelby Houlihan. These two have never raced. Parker has run 14:39 this season (going by herself, no one could hang). Shelby was fourth at Worlds, has been running 800s, 1500s, 2 miles, 10Ks — she’s fit and she’s an 8:15 person with the ultimate kick.

– Men’s 5K (Sunday): Grant Fisher the heavy favorite.

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