Star NFL wide receiver DK Metcalf tries his hand at the 100m dash, Noah Lyles runs his first 200m event of the outdoor season, and Allyson Felix renews her rivalry with Shaunae Miller-Uibo. Here's what's happening this weekend (May 7-9) on the Road to Tokyo.

Track & Field: USATF Golden Games on NBC (May 9)

It's no surprise this year's Mt. SAC Relays are loaded with talent — after all, it is an Olympic year, and their Walnut, California, college host is looking to show off its new, World Athletics standards-compliant renovations of Hilmer Lodge Stadium.

But six days out from Sunday's meet, a surprising announcement gave the event even more star power: NFL wide receiver DK Metcalf, entering his third season with the Seattle Seahawks, tweeted "…" with an eight-second video of sprint spikes being dropped on a track and "MAY 9TH" overlaid, teasing a possible appearance. Hours later, USATF confirmed Metcalf would indeed be competing at its Golden Games.



Metcalf is racing in the 100m. Two heats are scheduled to take place at 3:32 and 3:40 p.m. ET, followed by the final at 5:03 p.m. ET. Despite what he's proven on the football field, he'll face stiff competition. Among those with experience are Ronnie Baker and Mike Rodgers, who respectively ran 9.87 and 9.89 in 2018. They're the fifth- and seventh-fastest 100m runners in the world since the 2016 Rio Olympics.

The Olympic qualifying standard is 10.05. Prior to Sunday's meet, eight had already met that standard, thus automatically qualifying them for June's U.S. Olympic Team Trials and leaving 24 spots open in the 32-man field, which would go to the next fastest runners. For Rio the field bottomed out at 10.16, up from 10.28 for London. Consensus among experts is Metcalf needs better than 10.20 to qualify for Trials.

In high school, which is the last time the 23-year-old competed in a track and field meet, Metcalf ran hurdles, was on the 4x100m relay team and also did triple jump.

Several football players have found track success at 100m — 1964 Olympic champion Bob Hayes, 1968 Olympic champion Jim Hines and 1984 Olympic silver medalist Sam Graddy, to name a few — but most did so before entering the NFL.

Also included in Sunday's action:

  • Racing in her first outdoor 200m since July 2017, Allyson Felix, the 2012 Olympic champion and three-time world title-winner in the event, takes on Bahamian Shaunae Miller-Uibo who dove at the line to beat Felix in the 400m in Rio
  • Noah Lyles runs his first 200m of the 2021 outdoor season alongside brother Josephus and 17-year-old Erriyon Knighton, who dropped a 9.99 100m last week
  • Two of the best 400m runners of all time – Mike Norman, tied for No. 4 at 43.45, and 2008 Olympic champion LaShawn Merritt, No. 9 at 43.65 – go head-to-head
  • Sha’Carri Richardson competes in the 100m, about a month since running a blistering 10.72 and becoming the sixth-fastest in history

How to Watch

Sunday, May 9

Schedule

Start lists

Wrestling: Olympic Qualification Tournament (May 6-9)

Men's freestyle wrestler Jordan Oliver failed to qualify for the Olympics by falling to Poland's Magomedmurad Gadzhiev at the World Olympic Qualifier on Thursday, but Greco-Roman competitors Jesse Porter (77 kg) and Adam Coon (130 kg) still have a chance to punch their ticket to Tokyo. Porter and Coon are both set to wrestle on Saturday. They are the only remaining American wrestlers with a chance to earn an Olympic quota spot for the United States.

Fencing: North American Cup (May 6-9)

The final opportunity for fencers to qualify for the U.S. Olympic team will be this weekend's May North American Cup in Richmond, Virginia. The U.S. men's sabre team still has one slot available, and Khalil Thompson, currently placed at No. 4 in the U.S. rankings, is in position to earn a trip to Tokyo. However, Grant Williams and Jonah Shainberg, who are both ranked right behind Thompson, will be giving him a run for his money as they'll also be competing in Richmond. The final member of the men’s epee squad will also emerge this weekend as Soren Thompson, Dwight Smith and Alan Hadzic, among others, will be competing for an Olympic berth.

Shooting: ISSF World Cup (May 7-17)

All eight qualified USA Shooting shotgun Olympians -- Derrick Mein, Brian Burrows, Kayle Browning, Maddy Bernau, Vincent Hancock, Phillip Jungman, Amber English and Austen Smith -- are competing at the ISSF World Cup Lonato, which runs from May 7-17 . The event is the final chance for an international competition before the Tokyo Olympics, and for many attendees, it's their first international match in over a year due to COVID-19 restrictions.

For the U.S., teams are as follows:

  • Mixed Team Trap Teams: Mein/Browning and Burrows/Bernau
  • Mixed Team Skeet Teams: Hancock/English and Smith/Jungman
  • Men’s Skeet Team: Hancock/Jungman/Stewart
  • Women’s Skeet Team: English/Smith/Simonton
  • Men’s Trap Team: Mein/Burrows/Inman
  • Women’s Trap Team: Browning/Bernau/Tozier

BMX Racing: UCI World Cup (May 8-9)

The BMX Supercross World Cup season gets underway this weekend in Verona, Italy, and will include some of the sport's biggest stars. Rounds 1 and 2, on Saturday and Sunday, will serve as the first half of the four opening rounds of the World Cup season. Rounds 3 and 4 will take place May 29-30 in Bogota, Colombia. Collectively, they're the last chance to get ranking points before the end of the Olympic qualification period on May 30. Headlining the competitors is two-time reigning Olympic champion Mariana Pajon of Colombia.

Schedule

Saturday (Rnd. 1): 6 a.m. start, 11 a.m. finals

Sunday (Rnd. 2): 6 a.m. start, 11 a.m. finals

Mountain Biking: UCI World Cup (May 8-9)

The UCI Mountain Bike World Cup's season opener takes places this weekend in Albstadt, Germany. The event, in addition to serving as a chance to improve rankings, is a prelude to next week's World Cup in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic, an automatic Games qualification opportunity for Team USA. Among those entered to compete in Albstadt: Swiss Nino Schurter, the defending Olympic champion and eight-time individual elite world title-winner, and American Kate Courtney, who won gold at the 2018 World Championships in Lenzerheide, Switzerland.

Sunday Schedule

5:20 a.m. ET: Women

8:35 a.m. ET: Men

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