USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships



The USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships is an annual track and field competition organized by USA Track & Field, which serves as the American national championships for the sport. Since 1992, in years which feature a Summer Olympics, World Athletics Championships or an IAAF Continental Cup, the championships serve as a way of selecting the best athletes for those competitions.

History

The history of the competition starts in 1876, when the New York Athletic Club decided to organize a national championships. Having previously held the NYAC Spring and Fall Games, the seventh edition of the Fall Games became the country's first national track and field championships. The National Association of Amateur Athletes of America, began sponsoring the meeting in 1879, and organised the championships up to 1887. At this point, the Amateur Athletic Union, a more powerful athletic organisation, began to hold their own version of the national championships. Two national championships were held in 1888, but the NAAAA disbanded after this. The AAU was the sole organizer of the event for the next ninety years. In 1923, the AAU also sponsored the first American Track & Field championships for women.
As a result of the Amateur Sports Act of 1978, the AAU no longer had power over Olympic sports in the United States. A spin-off group, The Athletics Congress, held its first national track and field championships in 1980. The Athletics Congress was renamed USA Track & Field in 1993, and they have organized the annual championships ever since.

Events

The following athletics events are currently featured on the national championships' program:
In earlier editions before 1974, running distances were often measured in yards. All races were in yards until 1928. From then on, races were measured in meters for Olympic years and yards for other years, except 1933 to 1951 inclusive and 1959.

Editions

Split gender editions

Note that the track surface changed over these years. Synthetic tracks were used in the men's editions in 1963, 1965, 1969, 1971, 1972 and from 1974 on. The tracks in the other years were cinders, sometimes with a mix of brick.

Men only editions

Records

Most successful athletes

By event