Ariana Washington competes in the first round of the women's 200-meter at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Track and Field at Hayward Field on July 8, 2016 in Eugene, Ore.
Eight more athletes were added to the roster of the 2016 U.S. Olympic Track and Field Team, bringing the total contingent to 126 bound for Brazil next month.
The additions complete the pool of runners available to compete in the relays and fill a vacancy left in the women’s 5,000-meter when Molly Huddle withdrew from that event to focus her efforts on the 10,000-meter. Abbey D’Agostino, who placed fifth at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Track and Field on Sunday with a time of 15:14.04, has been added to the team to complete the entries in the 5,000-meter. The most decorated Ivy League runner, she won a total of seven NCAA championships for Dartmouth College, including the first NCAA cross-country crown in Ivy League history.
The men’s relay pools grew by four names, all of whom have gathered international hardware in relay events. They are led by 2008 Olympian Tyson Gay, 33, who also was a member of the 4x100 team that won silver at the London 2012 Olympic Games but later was disqualified when Gay tested positive for a banned substance. Joining him are Christian Coleman, Kyle Clemons and Tony McQuay. Coleman and Gay were added to the pool for the 4x100, while Clemons and McQuay are in contention for the 4x400.
A University of Tennessee sprinter who ran a personal best of 9.95 in the 100-meter to place sixth at Olympic Trials, Coleman ran a 10.03 at the 2016 NCAA outdoor championships, breaking a school record set in 2002 by Justin Gatlin. Clemons is ranked No. 25 in the world at 400 meters and has won gold in the 4x400 at the 2015 world championships and again at the 2016 indoor worlds. He placed sixth in the 400-meter at Olympic Trials with a time of 45.39 seconds. Currently ranked No. 20 in the world for the 400-meter, McQuay, 26, helped the United States to the silver medal in the 4x400 at the London 2012 Olympic Games. He has since been part of the U.S. 4x400 relay teams that have won the last two world championships, 2013 in Moscow and 2015 in Beijing.
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Three sprinters join the team to complete the women’s relay pool: Ariana Washington, Francena McCorory and Courtney Okolo. The NCAA 100- and 200-meter outdoor champion as a sophomore at the University of Oregon, Washington finished sixth in the 100 (11.01) and fifth at 200 meters (22.65) at the Olympic Trials. After sitting out 2015 due to a foot injury, she became the first woman since 1998 to take the NCAA 100/200 double.
McCorory has a string of four consecutive 4x400 medals won at either the Olympic Games or outdoor world championships, starting with golds at the 2011 worlds and the London 2012 Olympic Games, then silvers at the 2013 and 2015 world championships. She placed fifth in the 400-meter at the Olympic Trials with a time of 50.37.
Okolo was sixth in the 400-meter at Olympic Trials, only 0.02 seconds behind McCorory. Running for the University of Texas, she set an NCAA record of 50.05 seconds at the 2014 Big 12 Outdoor Championships and went on to win the individual 400-meter and 4x400 relay at the 2015 NCAA outdoor championships. She was part of the gold-medal 4x400 team at the 2016 indoor world championships.
Of the 126 athletes who will compete in Rio, 84 will appear in their first Olympic Games. Included are 46 athletes (23 men and 23 women) who already have won individual or relay medals from major international meets. Three hold individual world records, while 19 have set American standards.
