| 1997 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships | |
|---|---|
| Dates | June 12–15 |
| Host city | Indianapolis, Indiana |
| Venue | IU Michael A. Carroll Track & Soccer Stadium |
| Level | Senior |
| Type | Outdoor |
| Events | 40 (men: 20; women: 20) |
The1997 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships was organised byUSA Track & Field and held from June 20 to 24 at theIU Michael A. Carroll Track & Soccer Stadium inIndianapolis, Indiana. The four-day competition served as thenational championships intrack and field for the United States and also the trials for the1997 World Championships in Athletics inAthens, Greece.
It was the third time that the stadium in Indianapolis had held the combined gender national track and field event. The USA Junior Championships were held in conjunction with the event.
Athletes that finished in the top three of their event and held the IAAFqualifying standard were eligible to represent theUnited States at the 1997 World Championships. The United States was able to send three athletes per event to the competition, provided they all met the A qualification standard. In addition, this was the first year to also allow the reigning world champions an automatic qualification separate from the national selection. That new rule was essentially created to allowMichael Johnson to qualify even though at the time of these championships he was unable to compete (and thus qualify) due to the injury he received in theBailey–Johnson 150-metre race just two weeks earlier. Johnson did recover in time for the World Championships and did successfullydefend his world championship. The World Championships national selection for themarathon and50 kilometres walk were incorporated into the discrete national championship meets for those events. Selection for therelay races were made by committee.
Five Americans went on to win an individual gold medal at the 1997 World Championships; Johnson,Maurice Greene,Allen Johnson,John Godina andMarion Jones. In addition USA won theWomen's 4 × 100 metres relay, and took silver in the4 × 400 metres relay. TheMen's 4 × 400 metres relay crossed the finish line in first, but was disqualified in 2009 following the admission of long termdoping byAntonio Pettigrew.
Key:≠ Not selected for World Championships in Athletics due to failure to reach IAAFqualifying standard within the specified time limit.
| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 meters Wind +0.2 | Maurice Greene | 9.90CR | Tim Montgomery | 9.92 | Michael Marsh | 10.03 |
| 200 meters Wind +1.0 | Jon Drummond | 20.23 | Kevin Little | 20.27 | Gentry Bradley | 20.49 |
| 400 meters | Antonio Pettigrew | 44.65 | Tyree Washington | 44.79 | Jerome Young | 44.83 |
| 800 meters | Mark Everett | 1.44.37 | Brandon Rock | 1.44.79 | Rich Kenah | 1.44.87 |
| 1500 meters | Seneca Lassiter | 3.45.85 | Karl Paranya | 3.46.78 | Jason Pyrah | 3.46.94 |
| 5000 meters | Bob Kennedy | 13.30.86 | Alan Culpepper | 13.48.90 | Brian Baker | 13.59.36 |
| 10,000 meters | Mike Mykytok | 28.34.92 | Reuben Reina | 28.34.93 | Pete Julian | 28.35.65 |
| 110 m hurdles Wind +0.6 | Allen Johnson | 13.25 | Reggie Torian | 13.28 | Terry Reese | 13.32 |
| 400 m hurdles | Bryan Bronson | 47.79 | Derrick Adkins | 48.00 | Joey Woody | 48.18 |
| 3000 m s'chase | Mark Croghan | 8.20.86 | Tom Nohilly | 8.23.66 | Pascal Dobert | 8.24.23 |
| 20 km walk[1] | Curt Clausen | 1:27:12 | Andrew Hermann | 1:28:23 | Tim Seaman | 1:30:00 |
| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High jump | Charles Austin | 2.31 m (7 ft6+3⁄4 in) | Randy Jenkins | 2.28 m (7 ft5+3⁄4 in) | Brian Brown | 2.28 m (7 ft5+3⁄4 in) |
| Pole vault | Lawrence Johnson | 5.90 m (19 ft4+1⁄4 in) | Dean Starkey | 5.85 m (19 ft2+1⁄4 in) | Pat Manson | 5.80 m (19 ft1⁄4 in) |
| Long jump | Joe Greene | 8.42 m (27 ft7+1⁄4 in) | Erick Walder | 8.38 m (27 ft5+3⁄4 in) | Kevin Dilworth | 8.29 m (27 ft2+1⁄4 in) |
| Triple jump | Kenny Harrison | 16.97 m (55 ft 8 in) | LaMark Carter≠ | 16.76 m (54 ft11+3⁄4 in) | Robert Howard | 16.62 m (54 ft6+1⁄4 in) |
| Shot put | Randy Barnes | 21.37 m (70 ft1+1⁄4 in) | John Godina | 21.19 m (69 ft6+1⁄4 in) | C. J. Hunter | 21.07 m (69 ft1+1⁄2 in) |
| Discus throw | John Godina | 67.38 m (221 ft 0 in) | Andy Bloom | 65.30 m (214 ft 2 in) | Adam Setliff | 63.35 m (207 ft 10 in) |
| Hammer throw | Kevin McMahon | 77.42 m (254 ft 0 in) | Jud Logan | 75.39 m (247 ft 4 in) | David Popejoy | 73.33 m (240 ft 7 in) |
| Javelin throw | Tom Pukstys | 83.97 m (275 ft 5 in)CR | Ed Kaminski | 79.91 m (262 ft 2 in) | Breaux Greer | 78.10 m (256 ft 2 in) |
| Decathlon | Steve Fritz | 8604 | Chris Huffins | 8458 | Shawn Wilbourn | 8268 |
| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 meters Wind -1.1 | Marion Jones | 10.97 | Chryste Gaines | 11.19 | Inger Miller | 11.21 |
| 200 meters Wind -0.1 | Inger Miller | 22.62 | Cheryl Taplin | 22.90 | Zundra Feagin-Alexander | 23.06 |
| 400 meters | Jearl Miles Clark | 49.40CR | Kim Graham | 50.65 | Maicel Malone | 50.74 |
| 800 meters | Kathy Rounds | 2:00.45 | Joetta Clark Diggs | 2:00.64 | Jill McMullen | 2:00.81 |
| 1500 meters | Regina Jacobs | 4:03.42 | Suzy Favor Hamilton | 4:04.36 | Sarah Thorsett | 4:07.34 |
| 5000 meters | Libbie Hickman | 15:37.73 | Amy Rudolph | 15:45.21 | Melody Fairchild | 15:45.54 |
| 10,000 meters | Lynn Jennings | 32:26.41 | Annette Peters | 32:28.55 | Deena Kastor | 32:53.18 |
| 100 m hurdles Wind +0.0 | Melissa Morrison | 12.61 | Anjanette Kirkland | 12.74 | Dawn Bowles | 12.74 |
| 400 m hurdles | Kim Batten | 52.97CR | Tonja Buford-Bailey | 54.05 | Ryan Tolbert | 54.21 |
| 3000 m s'chase[2] | Melissa Teemant | 10:30.90 | Elizabeth Jackson | 10:38.72 | Gracie Padilla | 10:44.12 |
| 10 km walk | Debbi Lawrence | 46:45.36 | Sara Standley | 46:53.07 | Victoria Herazo | 47:18.05 |
| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High jump | Amy Acuff | 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) | Angela Spangler | 1.93 m (6 ft3+3⁄4 in) | Erin Aldrich | 1.93 m (6 ft3+3⁄4 in) |
| Pole vault | Stacy Dragila | 4.30 m (14 ft1+1⁄4 in) | Melissa Price | 4.00 m (13 ft1+1⁄4 in) | Melissa Mueller | 3.95 m (12 ft11+1⁄2 in) |
| Long jump | Marion Jones | 6.93 m (22 ft8+3⁄4 in) | Jackie Joyner-Kersee | 6.91 m (22 ft 8 in)w | Sharon Jewell | 6.77 m (22 ft2+1⁄2 in) |
| Triple jump | Niambi Dennis | 13.63 m (44 ft8+1⁄2 in) | Shonda Swift | 13.61 m (44 ft7+3⁄4 in) | Cynthea Rhodes | 13.54 m (44 ft 5 in) |
| Shot put | Connie Price-Smith | 19.06 m (62 ft6+1⁄4 in) | Valeyta Althouse | 18.60 m (61 ft1⁄4 in) | Tressa Thompson | 17.73 m (58 ft 2 in) |
| Discus throw | Lacy Barnes-Mileham | 61.16 m (200 ft7+3⁄4 in) | Suzy Powell | 60.46 m (198 ft4+1⁄4 in) | Edie Boyer | 60.08 m (197 ft1+1⁄4 in) |
| Hammer throw | Dawn Ellerbe | 62.96 m (206 ft6+1⁄2 in)CR | Renetta Sailer | 60.94 m (199 ft 11 in) | Kiyomi Parish | 59.90 m (196 ft6+1⁄4 in) |
| Javelin throw | Lynda Blutreich | 58.52 m (191 ft11+3⁄4 in) | Erica Wheeler | 57.22 m (187 ft8+3⁄4 in) | Nicole Carroll | 56.46 m (185 ft2+3⁄4 in) |
| Heptathlon | Kelly Blair LaBounty | 6465 | DeDee Nathan | 6317 | Kym Carter | 6289 |
A total of eight American athletes received automatic byes into the1997 World Championships in Athletics as a result of their being the defending champions from the1995 World Championships in Athletics.[3]Michael Johnson qualified in two events and his injury situation largely created the bye rule in the first place. Johnson chose not to defend the 200 metres title, but was able to successfully defend his 400 metres title, a feat equalled byAllen Johnson andJohn Godina in their respective events.Dan O'Brien also did not defend his title.
Karl Paranya did not participate in the 1500m.Pascal Dobert did not participate in the steeplechase.Dan Middleman and 7th placeBrad Barquist were the American representatives in the 10,000. SinceAllen Johnson andBryan Bronson received a bye, 4th placeMark Crear andOctavius Terry were allowed to compete in their respective hurdle races.LaMark Carter and no other American achieved the A standard in the triple jump.Breaux Greer didn't achieve the A standard. 4th place, naturalized British OlympianRoald Bradstock did and took the third position at the World Championships.
Results