Catching Up With Last Year's Stars - Professional

By Adam Kopet, DyeStat Editor

As the outdoor season begins, let’s take a look back at some of the professional stars of 2016 and see how they are faring so far in 2017. 

Tianna Bartoletta: 

Bartoletta won two gold medals last year in Rio. She won long jump gold with a personal best jump of 23-6.25 (7.17m). She also ran on the opening leg of Team USA's gold medal 4x100 relay that ran 41.01. 

In 2017, Bartoletta has run one race, the 60 meters at the NYRR Millrose Games. She finished sixth in 7.30.

Michelle Carter:

Carter was a big winner in 2016. She set the American indoor shot put record in her IAAF World Indoor Championships win with a mark of 66-3.75 (20.21m). Competing outdoors, she won the Olympic Trials shot put with a mark of 64-3.25 (19.59m). In Rio, Carter won the Olympic shot put in a new American record 67-8.25 (20.63m), upsetting the two-time Olympic champion Valerie Adams from New Zealand.

Carter has kept a low profile during 2017 so far, only competing in a single meet. However, that meet happened to be the USATF Indoor Championships, a competition in which she won. Her winning mark in Albuquerque, N.M. was 62-4.75 (19.03m).

Matthew Centrowitz:

Centrowitz had a dominating 2016. Always a savvy tactician, he won gold medals at the IAAF World Indoor Championships and the Olympic Games, both in the 1,500 meters. He became the first American to win the 1,500 at the IAAF World Indoor Championships. His winning time was 3:44.22. Centrowitz also became the first American to win the Olympic 1,500 since Mel Sheppard at the 1908 London Games.

Centrowitz did not have the same indoor season as he did a year ago, when he went undefeated in the lead-up to the World Indoor Championships. However, Centrowitz still acquitted himself well while not preparing for an indoor championship. He ran 3:55.78 for the mile and 7:49.89 for 3,000 meters. His one bad race came in the 2-mile at the NYRR Millrose Games, where he finished seventh.

Paul Chelimo:

To many, Chelimo came out of nowhere in 2016. He qualified for the IAAF World Indoor Championships in the 3,000 meters, where he finished sixth. His indoor best came a week earlier at the USATF Indoor Championships with a time of 7:39.00. Chelimo went on to be a part of an exciting Olympic Trials 5,000 final. He made a big move on the back stretch of the final lap, only to be caught by Bernard Lagat and Hassan Mead in the closing meters, just holding on for third. In Rio, Chelimo kept himself in the race until the closing stages where he was able to kick home to earn the silver medal.

Chelimo came into 2017 with the desire to go undefeated. On the track, that has held true. He won the 3,000 at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix and the Camel City Invitational, the former in a season best 7:42.49. Chelimo won the 2-mile at the USATF Indoor Championships, running away from the field inside the first 600 meters and finishing in 8:28.53. He has also competed in the USATF 15 km Championships, where he finished fifth in 43:46 and as the anchor on the Team USA 4x2,000 co-ed relay at the IAAF Cross Country Championships on Sunday. The team finished sixth, but Chelimo had the fastest official split time in the race.

Kerron Clement: 

Clement returned to the top of the 400-meter hurdles in 2016, winning the gold medal in Rio. He ran a season’s best 47.73 in his gold medal race. 

Clement spent his winter in Australia, competing in the Nitro Athletics Series on the Bolt All-Star team. He ran on mixed 2x300, 4x400 and 2,000-meter sprint medley relays.

Emma Coburn:

Coburn had been prepared for a breakthrough in a global championship for two years. She finally arrived in Rio, earning the bronze medal in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Her time of 9:07.63 broke her own American record.

Coburn entered 2017 with a new coach. She has never made running indoors a big focus, instead looking at the bigger prize outdoors. Coburn has run a single race this winter, the opening leg of a distance medley relay team at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix. The quartet of Coburn, high schooler Sydney McLaughlin, Brenda Martinez and Jenny Simpson set a new world record of 10:40.31.

Ryan Crouser:

Crouser finished his collegiate eligibility with a win for Texas in the shot put at the 2016 NCAA Indoor Championships. (He is included among the pros, because he began competing as a professional athlete before the NCAA outdoor season was complete). Crouser won the Olympic Trials shot put with a mark of 72-6.5 (22.11m). He went on to win gold in Rio with an Olympic record 73-10.5 (22.52m). Crouser also won the shot put and finished second in the discus at the DecaNation competition.

Rather than compete on the indoor circuit in 2017, Crouser traveled to New Zealand to compete against Olympic bronze medalist Tom Walsh in two shot put competitions. He won both events, finishing with a best of 72-8 (22.15m) at the Auckland Track Challenge. This points toward good things to come later this year.

Keni Harrison:

Harrison broke the American record in the 100-meter hurdles at the 2016 Prefontaine Classic in 12.24. However, she only managed to finish sixth at the Olympic Trials, running 12.62. Harrison made up for that disappointment with a world record at the London Muller Anniversary Games in 12.20. She also won the Diamond League trophy.

Harrison started 2017 where she left off last season. She now owns four of the top nine times on the American all-time list in the 60 hurdles, including a best of 7.74 set in the prelims of the USATF Indoor Championships. She went on to win her first national title with a narrow win in the final. Harrison has expressed an interest in also breaking the 400 hurdles world record and attempting to win both 100-and 400-meter hurdle events in a global championship.

Jeff Henderson:

Henderson won his second national title when he won the Olympic Trials long jump with a wind assisted leap of 28-2.25 (8.59m), finally overcoming the inconsistency that had seen him lead long jump qualifying at the 2015 IAAF World Championships in Beijing and then only manage ninth in the final. In Rio, he won Olympic gold with a jump of 27-6 (8.38m).

This winter, Henderson competed in three indoor meets, primarily focusing on the 60 meters. He ran a season’s best 6.72 twice, at the Millrose Games and the Muller Indoor Grand Prix. He also jumped 25-4 (7.72m) at the Muller Indoor Grand Prix. Henderson’s early outdoor meets will give a better indication of how he will jump this year.

Evan Jager:

Jager may not have yet broken eight-minutes in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, but his 2016 season saw him win his fifth straight national championship, winning at the Olympic Trials in 8:22.48. At the Olympic Games in Rio, he earned the silver medal, running 8:04.28, his first global medal. Jager also ran a late-season 5,000 that saw him leading by large margins until the final lap when he was out kicked by two other athletes. He finished in 13:16.86.

Jager has raced twice in 2017, both indoor miles. He ran 3:56.55 for the mile at the Husky Classic. He also finished fourth in the mile at the USATF Indoor Championships, running 4:00.38 in a tactical race. It is hard to take much away from Jager’s indoor performances this season. Unless injured, he should perform well outdoors. This could be the year he finally breaks eight minutes. Jager just needs the right race at the right time to make it happen.

Sandi Morris:

Morris had a huge performance to win the USATF Indoor Championships last year, clearing 16-3 (4.95m) to beat Jenn Suhr. A week later, she finished second to Suhr to take the silver medal at the IAAF World Indoor Championships with a clearance of 15-11 (4.85m). Competing outdoors, all seemed to be well, including picking up the win at the Doha IAAF Diamond League meeting. However, then disaster struck with a vaulting accident that left Morris with a broken wrist. She did not compete again until the Olympic Trials, where she finished second with a 15-7 (4.75m) clearance. In Rio, Morris earned the silver medal with a vault of 15-11. Three weeks later, she broke the outdoor American record, jumping 16-4.75 (5.00m) at the Memorial Van Damme meeting in Brussels.

In 2017, Morris has competed six times indoors, including three times overseas. She has won five times and was also second to Greek Olympic champion Katerina Stedanidis at the NYRR Millrose Games. Morris finished the season with a best of 15-5.75 (4.72m) at the Dusseldorf PSD-Bank Meeting. She did repeat as USATF Indoor champion in the pole vault. Morris will need to make some adjustments before she opens up her outdoor season if she wants to again contend for a championship medal.

Dalilah Muhammad:

Muhammad only lost three 400-meter hurdle races in 2016. All of the losses came prior to the Olympic Trials. Muhammad won the Trials in 52.88, making her the No. 4 all-time U.S.   performer. She went on to win gold in Rio, running 53.13. She was the first American woman to win the 400 hurdles at the Olympics. Muhammad also added two wins at Diamond League meetings.

Muhammad only raced once indoors this year. She placed third in the NYRR Millrose Games 500, running 1:07.66. She originally had plans to compete overseas, but those plans were canceled. Muhammad did not compete indoors last year, so there is no reason to read anything into her abbreviated indoor season.

Galen Rupp:

Rupp found a new event in 2016. Competing in a marathon for the first time, he won the Olympic Trials Marathon in 2:11:13 at Los Angeles. A month later, he attempted to qualify for the IAAF World Indoor Championships in the 3,000 meters, but his effort fell short. Outdoors, Rupp took on the 5,000 and 10,000 meters at the Olympic Trials. He won the 10,000 meters in 27:55.04, but finished ninth in the 5,000 meters. In Rio, Rupp finished fifth in the 10,000 with a time of 27:08.92. He then took Olympic bronze in the marathon, running a personal best 2:10:05.

Rupp has not raced so far in 2017. His plan is to run the Boston Marathon in April and then turn his attention to the track for one last attempt at medaling at the IAAF World Championships. However, first up is Saturday’s Prague Half Marathon where Rupp will test his fitness in the lead-up to Boston.

Jenny Simpson:

Simpson won her third straight national title in the 1,500 at the Olympic Trials. Her time of 4:04.74 was the fastest of her three wins. In Rio, Simpson got Olympic bronze behind Faith Kipyegon of Kenya and Genzebe Dibaba of Ethiopia in 4:10.53. She finished the year with a season best of 3:58.19 from the Paris Diamond League Meeting. Simpson returned home to the US to win the Fifth Avenue Mile in New York with a time of 4:18.3.

The Florida native has never been a big indoor runner. She competed in two meets this year. She ran anchor on the world record setting distance medley relay team that also included Emma Coburn, Sydney McLaughlin and Brenda Martinez. They finished with a time of 10:40.31. Simpson also competed in a mile at the Colorado Open, where she ran 4:58.65 at altitude.

Christian Taylor: 

Taylor successfully defended his Olympic title in the triple jump in Rio last year. He jumped 58-7.25 (17.86m), two inches better than his 2012 Olympic win. 

Taylor has yet to compete this year, but he is making his season debut running the 4x100 and 4x200 relays at the Florida Relays this week. He is also scheduled to compete in the triple jump at the Prefontaine Classic. 

2017 Surprises:

Leonard Korir:

Korir has been on fire in 2017. He won the Great Edinburgh XCountry International Challenge. A week later he won the Aramco Houston Half Marathon in 1:01:14. Returning to the cross country course, Korir won the USATF Cross Country Championships, qualifying him for worlds. Earlier this month he won the USATF 15 km Championships in 43:22. On Sunday, Korir ran at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships, finishing 20th. It was his first loss of the year.

Charlene Lipsey:

Lipsey has had a big 2017. She now owns the No. 2 U.S. all-time 800 meters time after she clocked 1:58.64 at the NYRR Millrose Games. She also lowered her personal best in the indoor mile to 4:30.13 at the Armory Track Invitational. At the USATF Indoor Championships, Lipsey won the 1,000 in 2:37.97 to win her first national title. Her emergence as a middle distance threat, alongside training partner Ajee Wilson, adds another dimension when it comes to qualifying for the IAAF World Championships this summer.