UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Every four years the world stops and collectively watches as the best athletes compete in the summer Olympics in a variety of sports. Eight athletes with Penn State ties will take the first steps in making the U.S. Olympic team over the next 10 days as they compete in the U.S. Track & Field Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon, July 1-10 at Historic Hayward Field.Four current Nittany Lions and four former Nittany Lion greats are set to compete for the chance to represent the U.S. in the men’s 800-meters (Casimir Loxsom, Brannon Kidder, Isaiah Harris), shot put (Joe Kovacs, Darrell Hill, Rachel Fatherly), triple jump (Brian Leap), and steeplechase (Bridget Franek).Kovacs enters the U.S. trials with a world leading mark of 22.13m (72’-7.25”) set at the Eugene Diamond League meet on May 27.Hill and Fatherly who will also compete in the shot put enter the meet with marks of 21.16m (69'-5.25") and 17.27m (56'-8"), respectively.In the 800-meters it will be Loxsom, Kidder, and Harris on the track with marks of 1:44.92, 1:45.58, and 1:45.76, respectively.Brian Leap punched his ticket to the trials posting a mark of 16.27 (53'-4.5"), while Franek earned her opportunity to compete to make a return to the Olympics with a qualifying mark of 9:36.88 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.No Nittany Lion, current or former, is ranked lower than 24th entering these Olympic trials and three of the aforementioned athletes seeded inside the top 10 and one athlete holding a world No. 1 mark.The top three finishers in each event at the Olympic trials will advance to the Games of the XXXI Olympiad to be held in take place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from Aug. 5-21, 2016.
NBC will air its most hours of Olympic trials coverage ever — 76 in total, including more than 60 hours primetime — continuing this week in advance of the Rio Olympic Games in August.