Paul Merca’s in the House, Olympic Trials Day 10: An amazing final day in Eugene with the “Hour of Power”!

What a way to end the 2024 US Olympic Track and Field Trials at Hayward Field with eleven finals packed in a 2 1/2 hour time window, and out of the eleven, there were seven meet records, with all but one coming on the track.

We can all argue whether or not the time schedule was drawn up this way or not by the television executives at NBC. Still, there’s no arguing that the “Hour of Power” packed a lot of punch for both the viewers and the crowd at Hayward Field on the campus of the University of Oregon.

NBC went on the air at 4:30 p.m. Pacific time, just in time for the start of the men’s 5000, with Grant Fisher and Abdihamid Nur waging war over the final half of the race.

Fisher, the former Stanford All-American who won the 10000 on the first night of the meet, needed to run 2:58.85 over the last 1200 to shake off Nur and win in a meet record 13:08.85 to Nur’s 13:09.01.

Twenty minutes later, Brandon Miller of the Seattle-based Brooks Beasts, who had set a personal best of 1:43.73 in Friday’s semis, doggedly pursued Bryce Hoppel in the men’s 800-meter final before letting go with less than 100 meters to go.

Hobbs Kessler, already on the Olympic team in the 1500, made a late charge, overtaking Miller, but not enough to catch Hoppel. Hoppel set a meet record and personal best, running 1:42.77.

Kessler, who was the top qualifier out of Friday’s semis at 1:43.71, set yet another personal best, running 1:43.64, while Miller hung on to get himself over the line in third in 1:43.97, his second sub-1:44 performance of the Trials.

With only 30 minutes remaining in the Trials, the nine women lined up for the start of the 100-meter hurdles final. All nine in the field had the Olympic standard of 12.77 in their pockets, so there was no doubt that three were going to Paris.

Masai Russell won

in yet another meet record, running a world-leading 12.25. Alaysha Johnson was second in a personal best of 12.31, and Grace Stark was third in the same time.

“It was just confirmation that I’m exactly where I need to be,” Russell said. “I told myself that I deserve to win, I deserve to be here, I deserve to be an Olympian… I’m an Olympic Trials champion and ready…