QUICK 800M SEMI-FINALS AT TOYOTA USATF CHAMPIONSHIPS
By David Monti, @d9monti
(c) 2025 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved – Used with permission.
EUGENE (01-Aug) — The brutal nature of the American trials system was on full display on day-two of the Toyota USATF Championships at Hayward Field at the University of Oregon today. Of the six athletes who represented the American team at last summer’s Paris Olympics in the 800m, only three will run in the finals here. Moreover, 2021 Olympic champion Athing Mu-Nikolayev was unable to advance to the final meaning that she will miss her second major championships in two years.
BRAZIER BACK IN THE MIX
Donavan Brazier, the 2019 world champion, ran a well-executed heat today finishing second in heat-one behind Brandon Miller, 1:44.25 to 1:44.39. The 28 year-old, who spent three years away from elite competition due to injury, was only in sixth position at the bell, but steadily worked his way up on the back stretch and emerged out of the final bend in third place. He was able to pass Isaiah Harris in the homestretch to take second (Harris also advanced on time, running a season’s best 1:44.53).
“It feels good,” said Brazier, who got a warm reception from the crowd when he was introduced. “I think I didn’t get in good position so I had to work a little harder the last two (hundred). I didn’t panic, felt pretty comfortable the last part. I knew Brandon and Isaiah can close pretty good.”
While Brazier looked relaxed, he said he wasn’t sure if he had another gear for Sunday’s final.
“It’s hard to tell until you’re tested and really need it,” he told reporters. He added: “I felt like I just wanted to get in those top two positions and guarantee my spot in the final.”
Bryce Hoppel, the 2024 world indoor champion, controlled the second heat from the front and won in 1:45.31. But the most impressive run from that section came from high schooler Cooper Lutkenhaus from Justin, Texas. The 16 year-old –who nearly fell just past the 400m mark after touching feet with another competitor– moved from fourth to second place in the homestretch, clocking 1:45.57 to advance to the final. One of the two men he passed, Isaiah Jewett, was a Tokyo 2020 Olympian, who did not advance.
“That was a special race,” said Lutkenhaus, who will now be the youngest-ever man to make a USATF Championships 800m final. “I didn’t really expect myself to make the finals. Getting that opportunity in the next two days, I’m not…
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