What will U.S. track & field look like at LA 2028?
Two years from the 2028 Olympics, the track and field crew preview what L.A. might look like, with Noah Lyles and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone looking to stay on top, and athletes like Cooper Lutkenhaus hoping to emerge.
Video Transcript
It's taken everybody grit and determination to get to this point.
Here we go.
There's an Olympic gold medal waiting for somebody.
Who wants it the most?
This is close.
It's gold for the USA.
This is what you wanna see.
Wow.
How about that?
The next stop is LA.
Really excited to say that July 14 marks two years exactly until we will all be enjoying LA 2028.
Hi, folks.
Leigh Diffey, along with NBC Sports Olympic/Paralympic team of track and field stars Trey Hardee, Kara Goucher, Sanya Richards-Ross, and Ato Boldon.
Ato, you first up.
We still are kind of, just loving what happened in Paris.
Yeah.
Unbelievable effort from USA track and field, Team USA.
Best Games since, coincidentally, LA '84- Yeah with just that monstrous medal haul.
So before we get to LA 2028, just still thinking about Paris, who do you see continuing the mojo and carrying that forward?
I think for me, it's Noah Lyles.
Now, the two people that have won back-to-back 100 meter Olympic golds on the men's side, you know their names.
Carl Lewis, who did it twice, and Usain Bolt, who did it three times.
Yeah.
I'm thinking of the pressure, that gun's in the air- Noah's trying to repeat.
He's an American on American soil.
The Jamaicans are there.
The Europeans are there.
The other Caribbean islands are there.
Noah has that target on his back from Paris, and he's gonna have to defend it on home soil.
San?
Yeah, that's exciting.
Can't wait for that.
The woman I'm looking forward to seeing, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone.
I mean, one of the biggest stars in our sport.
Already has two Olympic gold medals in the 400 meter hurdles.
Won a world title, broke the American record in the 400, and now she's starting a family, so I'm excited to see that comeback trail, if she'll be able to defend the title, and what event she'll run.
If she'll do the 400 or the 400 meter hurdles.
Can't wait to see it.
Kara?
I'm excited to see Cole Hocker.
We saw him shock the world and win that gold medal in the 1500 at the Paris Olym- Olympic Games.
Last summer, he won the world championship in the 5,000 meters.
He has incredible range.
He's young.
He's gonna be a threat in both of those events in LA '28.
And on, on the field side, guys, it's the star of the show.
It's the woman that everyone holds their breath watching, that always brings the drama, Tara Davis-Woodhall.
And she is in top form since then, but that night in Paris, it was this storming onto this stage, that she took, commanded, and it, like, just established herself as the next great American long jumper.
And as you've heard us say many times and for many years, Team USA at the Summer Games is the hardest team to make.
The track team is the hardest team to make.
Trey, you keep the ball.
We are spoiled with youngsters coming through from NCAA competition.
They, there's, they just keep coming.
So who do you see in LA '28 having a breakout performance or, or one of the future stars?
I mean, this is an impossible task just because of the sh- the talent and development that come through that NCAA system, but I kinda cheated a little bit.
I'm going with the Mull sisters.
Hannah and Amanda Mull, that have just been trading NCAA championships and NCAA records, and are now, all of a sudden, some of the top jumpers in the world this year, number two and number four i- this season already.
And I think they're going to be a show to watch in '28.
Kara, for you?
I'm excited to watch Parker Wolfe.
He was third at the Olympic trials in 2024 for Paris in the 5,000, but didn't get to go to the games.
He didn't have the standard.
He didn't have the ranking, and he had to stay home and watch someone else take his spot.
Since then, he's really started to build a very solid career.
He's running very, very fast, and I think he's gonna be a factor come LA '28.
I'm excited about Cooper Lutkenhouse.
He is redefining what it means to be a prodigy in our sport.
At just 17 years old, he is the third fastest American of all time at 800 meters.
He's dominating the pro circuit, and he's a junior in high school going into his senior season.
There's no bigger star to watch for the Olympic Games in LA than Cooper.
And he's still gonna be a teenager- by the time we get to LA '28.
Ato, for you?
Jacoby Thorpe.
If you were watching the NCAA championships, he set the first world record at the NCAAs in 50 years.
And when I talk to him, his e- his athletic maturity, guys, just seems to be off the charts, and he confessed to me he's still learning the event.
First man in history under 12.8 seconds.
Let's go, everyone.
He says he's still learning the event.
Jacoby Thorpe is gonna be one to watch in two years.
Names everywhere.
Yes, it is two years out, but those two years are gonna go by like that.
We couldn't be more excited.
Bring on LA 2028.
