USA
2023

The 2023 season in short

The 2023 season had one centre of gravity for American athletics: nine days in Budapest in late August. The United States left the National Athletics Centre with 29 medals — 12 gold, 8 silver, 9 bronze — and finished top of the table by a distance.

What made the haul unusual was its shape. The medals came from four corners of the programme: the sprints, the throws, the hurdles and the relays. Together those four accounted for 23 of the 29. Outside them, the American team won exactly one medal on the track beyond 400m — Athing Mu's bronze in the 800m. In the 1500m, the 5000m, the 10,000m, the steeplechase and the marathon, the United States did not reach a single podium. Yared Nuguse came closest, fifth in the 1500m in 3:30.25.

Budapest: the nine days that made the year

Three nights defined the American championships.

Noah Lyles won the 100m in 9.83, a personal best and the fastest time run in the world that year. Five days later he took a third straight world 200m title in 19.52, then anchored the 4×100m relay home in 37.38. Three golds at one championships in the 100m, 200m and relay — the last man to do it was Usain Bolt in 2015. World Athletics named Lyles its male Athlete of the Year.

Sha'Carri Richardson arrived without a global outdoor title, having missed Tokyo 2020 and failed to qualify for the 2022 championships. She ran 10.65 in the 100m final — a championship record, 0.02 faster than Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce's old mark. Richardson had trailed both Fraser-Pryce and Shericka Jackson early before closing to win; Jackson took silver in 10.72 and Fraser-Pryce bronze in 10.77.

The mixed 4×400m relay gave the Americans a world record and the Netherlands a heartbreak. Femke Bol lost her footing in the final metres with the Dutch team in front; the US quartet crossed in 3:08.80. That time was a world record at the time, and it lasted just under a year — a different American quartet ran 3:07.41 in the heats at the Paris Olympics in August 2024, which is the mark that stands today.

In the field, Ryan Crouser threw 23.51m for a championship record in the shot put, Chase Ealey won the women's shot at 20.43m, Katie Moon cleared 4.90m in the pole vault and Laulauga Tausaga-Collins won the discus with 69.49m. Crouser is still throwing: he took a third consecutive world title in Tokyo in 2025 and has said he plans to finish after the 2028 Olympics.

One podium the Americans did not reach was the women's 4×400m. The Netherlands won it in a national record 3:20.72 with Bol on the anchor, ahead of Jamaica and Great Britain.

Every American medal in Budapest

Twelve gold medals, from seven athletes and four relay squads:

• GoldRyan Crouser — Shot put23.51m · CR
• GoldNoah Lyles — 100m9.83
• GoldNoah Lyles — 200m19.52
• GoldSha'Carri Richardson — 100m10.65 · CR
• GoldGrant Holloway — 110m hurdles12.96
• GoldKatie Moon — Pole vault4.90m
• GoldChase Ealey — Shot put20.43m
• GoldLaulauga Tausaga-Collins — Discus69.49m
• GoldColeman, Kerley, Carnes, Lyles — 4×100m relay37.38
• GoldDavis, Terry, Thomas, Richardson — 4×100m relay41.03 · CR
• GoldRobinson, Hall, Norwood, Benjamin — 4×400m relay2:57.31
• GoldRobinson, Effiong, Boling, Holmes — 4×400m mixed relay3:08.80 · WR then

And the 17 that completed the set:

• SilverAnna Hall — Heptathlon
• SilverTara Davis-Woodhall — Long jump
• SilverValarie Allman — Discus
• SilverJuVaughn Harrison — High jump
• SilverJanee' Kassanavoid — Hammer
• SilverShamier Little — 400m hurdles
• SilverGabby Thomas — 200m
• SilverErriyon Knighton — 200m
• BronzeJoe Kovacs — Shot put
• BronzeDaniel Roberts — 110m hurdles
• BronzeRai Benjamin — 400m hurdles
• BronzeDeAnna Price — Hammer
• BronzeKeni Harrison — 100m hurdles
• BronzeQuincy Hall — 400m
• BronzeSha'Carri Richardson — 200m
• BronzeChris Nilsen — Pole vault
• BronzeAthing Mu — 800m

The kit: Nike USA Pro Elite 2023

Everything the American team raced in through 2023 came from the Nike USA Pro Elite 2023 cycle — the federation kit made for the athletes on the team, not for the shop floor. It is the deepest single cycle in our archive.

The 2023 cycle is unusually complete because it covered every discipline group at once. There are sprint crop tops and competition briefs, distance and relay singlets, half tights and marathon tights, the Kyma and Storm outerwear families, podium and lightweight pants, half-zip jerseys, polos, caps, and the relay arm sleeves and calf warmers the sprinters wore in Budapest.