Five reigning Olympic gold medallists and five current world champions feature on the US team for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
Of the 127 athletes on the team, 84 will be making their Olympic debut. 46 athletes already own medals from global championships, while 19 are American record-holders and three are individual world record-holders.
“The team that selected itself at the 2016 Olympic Trials combines stars who are established as the best in the world with a new generation of exciting talent,” said USATF CEO Max Siegel. “We are extremely excited about the possibilities in Rio.”
Decathlete Ashton Eaton, long jumper Brittney Reese, pole vaulter Jenn Suhr and triple jumper Christian Taylor will all defend their Olympic titles from 2012, while Olympic 200m champion Allyson Felix moves up in distance to the 400m, the event in which she won the world title last year.
Along with Eaton, Felix and Taylor, the other world champions on the team are long jumper Tianna Bartoletta and shot putter Joe Kovacs.
Bernard Lagat is the veteran of the team, in terms of both age and experience. The 41-year-old will be making his fifth trip to the Olympics after winning the 5000m at the US Olympic Trials.
Lagat has the distinction of being the oldest on the team, while the youngest is 400m hurdler Sydney McLaughlin, who will turn 17 five days before the athletics begins in Rio.
Eaton, one of the 19 American record-holders on the team, has two world records to his credit: the decathlon and indoor heptathlon. The other individual world record-holders are Suhr, who holds the world indoor pole vault record, and 400m hurdler Kerron Clement, who holds the world indoor 400m record.
The athletics programme at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games runs from 12-21 August. (IAAF website)
