By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

The track and field schedule at Olympic stadium in Tokyo runs from July 30 to August 7, with competition culminating August 8 in Sapporo with the men's marathon. The following are 10 American men's competitors who could grab the spotlight with their performances:

Rai Benjamin

The Americans have won 19 of the 26 all-time gold medals in the Olympic men’s 400-meter hurdles, but the path to title No. 20 might be the most difficult of all for Benjamin, who will have to knock off the fastest competitor in history and two-time World champion Karsten Warholm of Norway. Benjamin and Warholm boast two of the top three times in history and are the only athletes to have run under 47 seconds on multiple occasions. Despite competing with a foot injury in 2019 in Doha, Benjamin still placed second to Warholm and has been anticipating a rematch in Tokyo. The biggest advantage for Benjamin is his speed, boasting a personal-best 44.31 in the open 400 in comparison to Warholm’s 44.87. But technique and consistency matter, especially in global championships, aspects of the race Benjamin will need to demonstrate not only to earn his first Olympic medal, but follow the victory by Kerron Clement in 2016 and earn another championship for the United States. Benjamin could also factor into the 4x400 relay plans for the Americans, just like he did contributing to a gold medal in Doha.

Trayvon Bromell

With the dominance of Jamaica’s three-time Olympic 100-meter champion Usain Bolt, the United States hasn’t stood on top of the podium since Justin Gatlin in 2004. Bromell, who placed eighth in the 2016 Olympic final, has returned to elite global status again this year, and boasts the top two wind-legal performances in the world at 9.77 and 9.80 entering competition in Tokyo. His biggest competition is expected to come from fellow American Ronnie Baker, who has produced a pair of wind-legal efforts under 9.90 this season. The United States hasn’t taken the top two spots in the Olympic 100 final since Carl Lewis and Sam Graddy in 1984, but despite the challenges being presented by South Africa’s Akani Simbine, Canada’s Andre DeGrasse, Jamaica’s Yohan Blake and Italy’s Lamont Marcell Jacobs, it would not be a surprise to see Baker and Bromell leading the way. The Americans have swept the Olympic 100 podium twice, in 1904 and 1912, with Fred Kerley also a potential medal sleeper.

Matthew Centrowitz

The Americans had to wait more than 100 years in between Olympic men’s 1,500-meter victories from Mel Sheppard and Centrowitz, but despite his second-place finish June 27 to Oregon’s Cole Hocker at the Olympic Trials, the reigning champion is looking to join an elite list of only eight competitors who have earned multiple medals in event history, and possibly match the feat of current World Athletics President Sebastian Coe, the only male athlete to repeat in the 1,500 in Olympic history in 1980 and 1984 for Great Britain. The biggest advantages for Centrowitz are his experience at global championships, having also finished fourth at the 2012 Olympics, as well as earning bronze and silver, respectively, at the 2011 and 2013 World Championships, and his understanding of how to run rounds. Only once in his five World Championship appearances and two previous Olympic competitions has Centrowitz not reached the final, being eliminated in the first round in 2017 in London. His season-best 3:35.26 has him ranked 32nd among the 1,500 entries, but following a 3:49.26 mile Saturday in his final tuneup race at Jesuit High in Portland, it appears Centrowitz is rounding into form at the right time for a run at a third Olympic final.

Will Claye

One of the most consistent athletes in the history of the triple jump, including a pair of Olympic silver medals, the only thing missing from Claye’s career resume is a global outdoor title. He has captured a pair of World Indoor gold medals in 2012 and 2018, but has continued to be overshadowed by fellow American Christian Taylor when it comes to the Olympics and World Outdoor Championships. But with Taylor unable to pursue an Olympic three-peat as a result of an Achilles’ injury, it has given Claye an opportunity to help the United States become only the third country in event history, joining Japan and the Soviet Union, to win three consecutive Olympic titles. Claye is also attempting to become the first male athlete since Viktor Saneyev of the Soviet Union to medal in the men’s triple jump at three consecutive Olympics. Saneyev won three straight titles in 1968, 1972 and 1976, before adding a silver in 1980. Claye’s biggest challenges are expected to come from the top two competitors in the world this year, Portugal’s Pedro Pablo Pichardo and Hugues Fabrice Zango of Burkina Faso. Zango earned bronze in 2019 in Doha and Pichardo was fourth, again behind Taylor and Claye. 

Ryan Crouser

No American athlete in any track and field event has been as dominant in the past two years as Crouser, which is saying a great deal considering he is the reigning men’s shot put champion and Olympic record holder at 73-10.75 (22.52m). But Crouser has set himself apart from every competitor in the event, especially impressive considering fellow American Joe Kovacs won the World title in 2019. But since being edged by Kovacs by one centimeter in the final round in Doha, Crouser has won 19 consecutive competitions and set world indoor and outdoor records, the biggest highlight coming June 18 with his 76-8.25 (23.37m) performance at the Olympic Trials that eclipsed the 1990 mark of 75-10.25 (23.12m) held by fellow American Randy Barnes. This year alone, Crouser has 30 marks beyond the 22-meter barrier, with Kovacs second in the world at eight. All signs are pointing toward another memorable showdown involving the two U.S. stars after they swept the top two spots in Rio de Janeiro, with Crouser looking to follow Poland’s Tomasz Majewski in winning back-to-back titles, in addition to joining fellow Americans Ralph Rose and Parry O’Brien in becoming a two-time Olympic champion. 

JuVaughn Harrison

Ellery Clark won Olympic gold medals in the men’s long jump and high jump in 1896, with fellow American Ray Ewry capturing titles in the standing long jump and standing high jump in 1900, 1904 and 1908. But it has been more than a century since the United States has showcased an athlete capable of placing on the podium in both events, with the LSU standout Harrison looking to soar to even greater heights in Tokyo after capturing not only NCAA Division 1 indoor and outdoor titles in both events, but also winning the Olympic Trials in each competition. Should Harrison reach both finals, he would be jumping four consecutive days, but never on the same day, which was commonplace for him throughout the collegiate season. Harrison is looking to follow the long jump championship achieved by Jeff Henderson in 2016, which would give the Americans back-to-back Olympic titles for the first time since Carl Lewis won four in a row from 1984 to 1996. Greece’s Miltiadis Tentoglou is the world leader and the only competitor to jump better than Harrison this season, but they will both have to contend with reigning World outdoor champion Tajay Gayle of Jamaica and Cuba’s Juan Miguel Echevarria, the bronze medalist in Doha. Charles Austin is the last American to capture Olympic high jump gold in 1996, with Harrison squaring off against Ilya Ivanyuk, an authorized neutral athlete from Russia, along with Maksim Nedasekau of Belarus and reigning World champion Mutaz Essa Barshim of Qatar.

Grant Holloway

The United States had a streak of eight consecutive Olympics placing on the men’s 110-meter hurdles podium snapped in 2016, with Devon Allen the top American finisher in fifth. Allen returns to compete again in Tokyo for the Americans, but it is the reigning World champion Holloway, who looks to secure the first gold medal for his country since Aries Merritt in 2012 in his Olympic debut. Holloway’s chances to become the 20th all-time winner for the U.S. in the 110 hurdles only increased when reigning Olympic champion Omar McLeod failed to qualify for the team after suffering a leg cramp in the finals of the Jamaican Trials. Holloway has achieved the only two wind-legal performances under 13 seconds in the world this year, including a 12.81 performance June 26 in the semifinals at the Olympic Trials that missed equaling Merritt’s 2012 world record by one-hundredth of a second. Sergey Shubenkov, an authorized neutral athlete from Russia, placed second to Holloway in Doha in 2019, and could challenge the American star again. Japan’s Shunsuke Izumiya could also be a darkhorse contender for the host country following his national record 13.06 performance June 27 that makes him the No. 2 overall entry behind Holloway.

Noah Lyles

The United States hasn’t medaled in the 200 meters at the Olympics since 2008 and hasn’t secured a title since Shawn Crawford in 2004, which are significant gaps for a country that has won 17 of the 27 all-time titles in event history. Lyles is looking to help restore the pride the Americans had upon winning four in a row from 1984 to 1996, along with sweeping the Olympic podium in 2004. Although Canada’s Andre DeGrasse, the 2016 Olympic silver medalist behind three-time champion Usain Bolt, along with 2017 World champion Ramil Guliyev of Turkey, Divine Oduduru of Nigeria and Liberia’s Joseph Fahnbulleh – the NCAA Division 1 outdoor champion representing Florida – are also entered, the American trio of Lyles, Kenny Bednarek and 17-year-old Erriyon Knighton have the potential to produce a podium sweep if they can all reach the final. Lyles, Bednarek and Knighton have combined for six of the top 10 wind-legal performances in the world this year, with DeGrasse and Oduduru achieving one each. Lyles is looking to return to the 19.50 form he demonstrated in 2019, making him the fourth-fastest athlete in history, in order to leave a lasting impression in his Olympic debut.

Michael Norman

Perhaps no American competitor is dealing with the lofty expectations of competing in Tokyo more than Norman, whose mother Nobue was born in Japan. He is also looking to lift the Americans back to the top of the Olympic podium after they won seven consecutive gold medals from 1984 to 2008, only to be left off the podium in 2012 and earn just a bronze in 2016. The United States, which has won 19 of the 28 all-time gold medals in the event, has never gone three consecutive Olympics without capturing a men’s 400 championship, another challenge Norman is facing after Grenada’s Kirani James triumphed in 2012 and South Africa’s Wayde van Niekerk ran the world record 43.03 in the 2016 final. Both competitors return, but the biggest obstacles for Norman could be reigning World champion Steven Gardiner from the Bahamas, along with American teammates Michael Cherry and Randolph Ross, the only athlete in the world this year to produce a sub-44 performance with his 43.85 victory June 11 at the NCAA Division 1 Championships.

Rudy Winkler

It has been 25 years since an American stood on the Olympic men’s hammer throw podium and 65 years since Hal Connolly captured the last gold medal in the event for the United States, but Winkler has the potential to challenge for the title following a remarkable past two seasons that includes an American record 271-4 (82.71m) and 11 accepted throws beyond the 80-meter mark, along with four others that were considered to be achieved on downhill slopes. Although Poland hasn’t won Olympic gold since 2000, the biggest challengers Winkler is expected to face in his quest for the crown are Pawel Fajdek and Wojciech Nowicki, the 2016 bronze medalist. Fajdek finished 17th in Rio de Janeiro, one spot in front of Winkler, but both competitors have ascended to greater levels of performance and consistency in the past five years, along with 20-year-old rising star Mykhaylo Kokhan of Ukraine. The Americans still hold the Olympic record with seven golds in the men’s hammer throw, as well as the mark for the most medals in the event with 19, but they also have strong aspirations of placing two athletes on the podium for the first time since 1924 with Daniel Haugh and Alexander Young also competing in Tokyo.