Olympic heartbreak for world champion Brazier

EUGENE (Oregon) • World champion Donavan Brazier's Olympic dreams were shattered on Monday as the overwhelming favourite in the men's 800m suffered a shock defeat in Eugene, Oregon in make-or-break US trials that pushed the sport's top athletes to the brink.

The 24-year-old American record holder seemed all but assured of a spot on Team USA heading into the week-long trials, which end on Sunday.

But he ran out of gas with 200m to go, finishing last in one minute 47.88 seconds as he was forced to relive the disappointment of the 2016 trials, where he also came up short.

"I may have made a move a little too early. I paid the price the last 200," Brazier, who has now failed to qualify for both the Rio and Tokyo Games, adding that he was "obviously not the best prepared".

"I'm having some things bugging me, but they're things that someone of championship calibre should be able to push through and nothing that I can make excuses for this race. I just ran pretty s****y. But I'll come back from this. I've been down worse before."

Clayton Murphy, 26, who picked up bronze in Rio, won in a blistering, world-leading 1:43.17, while Isaiah Jewett, 24, also qualified after finishing second with a personal best 1:43.85.

Earlier in the day, athletes arrived on the track wearing ice vests to combat the ferociously hot conditions, with temperatures hovering around 34 deg C as the action kicked off inside Hayward Field.

After having to settle for second place at the Rio and 2012 London Games, Will Claye earned a shot at upgrading his Olympic silver to gold, winning the triple jump in 17.21m to cap a remarkable recovery for the 30-year-old after he ruptured his Achilles tendon last year.

"It has been a really difficult year for me," said Claye, who also picked up silver at the 2017 and 2019 world championships.

"I've been getting to know the new Will Claye. Just to pull out this big jump."

Olympic champion and compatriot Christian Taylor will not be in Tokyo after rupturing his Achilles tendon last month.

Pole vaulter Sam Kendricks, 28, who won at the world championships in Doha in 2019 and claimed Olympic bronze five years ago, booked his ticket to Tokyo but had to settle for a two-way tie for second with 21-year-old K. C. Lightfoot behind 23-year-old Chris Nilsen, who cleared 5.90m.

In the day's other action, rising star Elle Purrier St Pierre, 26, clinched the 1,500m in 3:58.03, while 2016 bronze medallist Jenny Simpson, 34, came up short in her bid for a fourth trip to the Olympics, finishing 10th.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS