Greatest-Ever Trials? How Did ’24 Stack Up?

WHEN CONFRONTED WITH a series of great competitions capped by a World Record to complete an Olympic Trials there is an immediate temptation, swept up in the emotion of the moment, to call it the greatest OT of all.

Comparing Trials before 1976 with the current era can be invidious — From 1928 to 1972 the Women’s Trials was a separate meet, and comparisons since then can also be problematic. The pole vault and hammer for women only appeared as “guest” events in 1996, finally included in 2000, while the 3000m steeplechase didn’t get past guest status until the 2008 Trials.

Determining the greatest Trials depends on your viewpoint. If the principal criterion is the number of World Records, then it’s difficult to beat 1956 — The WR for the 100 was equaled by 3 men, and the 100 winner Bob Morrow also equaled the 200 record. Lou Jones beat his altitude 45.4 with 45.2 in the Coliseum, and 2 significant barriers were broken — Glenn Davis under 50 with his 400H WR of 49.5, and Charles Dumas with the first ever 7ft high jump. If you were looking through a wide-angle lens there were clear weaknesses that year— particularly in distance events. (Continued below)