Team USA Once Again the World’s Top Track and Field Squad

By Scott Bush

The United States track and field team came alive at the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Portland over the past few days. With a crowd of 7,000 fans for the primary sessions, Team USA had roars of approval every time they qualified for a final or challenged for a medal.

The energy inside the Oregon Convention Center was contagious and at the end of the day, the Americans dominated the world of track and field once again.

While the vast majority of Team USA athletes performed exceptionally well, a few shined brighter than the rest. We count down the top ten performances of the IAAF World Indoor Championships. Sit back and relive the magic.

12. Last week at the USATF Indoor Championships, 29 year old Barbara Pierre put the world on notice, as she won the women’s 60m in 7.00, tying world leader Daphne Schippers in the process. While Schippers continued to grab much of the pre-race attention, it was Pierre who got off to a quick start Saturday and never relented, winning his first world title in 7.02, the third fastest time in the world this season.

11. After his performance in Portland at the USATF Indoor Championships, it wasn’t a surprise Sam Kendricks finished second overall in the men’s pole vault. However, the men’s pole vault was arguably one of the deepest events coming into the week and the fact that Kendricks was able to beat everyone but the great Renaud Lavillenie was impressive. Even better, Kendricks spent time engaging with the 100+ high school vaulters sitting on the track watching the event. Kendricks took selfies with them, chatted them up between vaults and sat with them while Lavillenie went after the world record. That’s how athletes should be interacting with fans!

10. Ryan Hill’s 3,000m silver not only shocked the crowd, but caused the most piercing of noises Sunday. While Matthew Centrowitz, Vashti Cunningham and a host of other winners had the crowd roaring loudly, it was Hill’s final lap that caused the highest decibel count. Hill won silver, challenged for the win and showed he’s be one to watch in the 5,000m this outdoor season.

9. It wasn’t a matter of which one won, it was more of a matter that the United States was going to go 1-2 on the first day of competition. The women’s pole vault was dominated by red, white and blue, as Jenn Suhr and Sandi Morris took gold and silver, putting the world on notice that Team USA was ready to compete in Portland. Suhr broke the indoor championship record, while performing perfectly on the day, going four for four on her attempts. For Morris, it was the first of what should be many world championship medals in her future.

8. With a performance just off her US#6 all-time, Nia Ali defended her 60m hurdle world title Saturday with a 7.81 victory. Leading up to the USATF Indoor Championships, Ali hinted that she may test her talent in the multi-events this year, but one must wonder if she’ll instead put all her focus in this Olympic year into the 100m hurdles after her winning performance in Portland. Even better for Team USA, Brianna Rollins ran a terrific race to finish second, placing just behind Ali in 7.82. The American women 100m hurdlers struggled in Beijing last summer, so their showing at World Indoors goes to show that last year’s performance was more of a blip on the radar.

7. Ashton Eaton wins again. Not only was Eaton’s victory one of the highlights for Team USA throughout the weekend, but Eaton was by far the most cheered athlete during his events. The Eugene-based, Oregon-born star scored 6470, a world leader, proving that despite not breaking his world indoor heptathlon record, he’s the heavy favorite this Olympic year to bring home gold in the decathlon. Eaton was the face of the IAAF World Indoor Championships in many ways, celebrating his wife’s fellow gold medal, getting the crowd involved along the way and offering a great local story.

6. When was the last time an American male won the 1,500m indoors? Answer: Never…until now. All that changed with Matthew Centrowitz fighting from the gun, holding off a stellar field to take the crown in 3:44.22. The Portland-heavy crowd cheered on the Portland-based Centrowitz in wild fashion, slowly but surely ramping up the volume with each lap until Centrowitz took over with a half lap to go, when it seemed as though the stadium was going to cave under the noise.

5. He wasn’t the fastest in the rounds, but you don’t need to be as long as you qualify for the final. Trayvon Bromell put his stamp on the world stage, as the young pro edged out veteran Asafa Powell to win the men’s 60m in the third fastest time in the world this season with a 6.47 effort. Even better, listening to the applause from fans, watching Bromell’s interaction with fans and the youthful energy he showed, it seems as though the world of track and field has found their 100m replacement for Bolt…or at least a viable replacement when the Jamaican star decides to step away from the sport.

4. Vashti Cunningham had a great Sunday of competition. The 18 year old won the women’s high jump title, followed by the announcement that she’s turning pro. Cunningham easily cleared her first four jumps, working her way up to 1.96, where she was the only athlete to clear the height without a miss. While she failed to match her 1.99m personal best from the USATF Indoor Championships, so did everyone else and the Nevada-based athlete took home gold. A teenager, winning gold. Simply incredible.

3. Brittney Reese put on a show in the women’s long jump, not only winning on her final jump, soaring to a rousing win over rival Ivana Spanovic (SRB), but jumping the eleventh best indoor mark in world history with a 7.22m world-leader. Reese nearly broke her American indoor record of 7.23m in the process, as well as her personal best of 7.25m outdoors. Reese peaked perfectly this indoor campaign. She put up a season best at the USATF Indoor Championships with a 6.89m launch, only to come back and show the world the 2012 Olympic champion is ready to rock the world once again.

2. While big performances were taking place on the track, Michelle Carter was keeping the stadium’s attention on the shot put. While Valerie Adams of New Zealand held the lead in the event going into the last round, it was Carter who tossed a world-leading mark of 20.21 to win in front of 7,000+ spectators, resetting her indoor American record in the process. Carter, who didn’t compete indoors until the USATF Indoor Championships a week prior, is showing exceptional form to start her Olympic year and kicking off the 2016 season with a gold medal is a great start as Rio starts to come into sight. Oh, and beating Adams is kind of a big deal.

1. Team USA, plain and simple, was the star of the show. Coming into Portland, Team USA's record for most indoor medals was 19. Well, this version of Team USA crushed that mark, racking up 23 medals, including 13 golds. Best of all, the squad got performances from across the board, showing well in nearly every discipline. Not enough can be said about how well this team came together, put on a show for the home-country crowd and proved once again that the United States of America has the world's best track and field team, by far.

The key to success in this Olympic year is for Team USA to continue this momentum as the Olympic Team Trials approach in Eugene this July, and then of course furthering the success from the 2012 London Games this time around in Rio.

Obviously indoor track and field isn’t the top focus for most athletes this year, but American fans, athletes, agents, coaches and media should be excited as the season moves along and the pinnacle of the sport, the Olympic Games, starts to come into sight.

Here we go!