Top Seven Throw Beyond 65 Meters In Fierce Battle For Olympic Team Berths; Evans Returns To Team He Made In 2016, Sam Mattis Makes Second Straight Olympic Team, Joseph Brown Gets Third Spot By Two Inches On Final Throw

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

Tim Healy photos

EUGENE - It's been nearly half a century since the U.S. won an Olympic gold medal in the men's discus. 

And what Mac Wilkins did in Montreal in 1976, which is throw 68.28m (224 feet), would still do very well today. 

The U.S. doesn't have a Mac Wilkins-level thrower, but it does have depth and that was never more fully displayed than in Saturday's Olympic Team Trials final at Hayward Field. 

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Seven men threw beyond 65 meters (that would earned any of them a silver in Montreal) and the top three, Andrew Evans, Sam Mattis and Joseph Brown earned the right to go to Paris. 

"This competition was insane," Mattis said. "Apparently U.S. discus has arrived. Sixty-five (meters) in seventh at a national meet is absurd. I don't know if that's ever happened before."

Six of the seven were in a top-three spot at some point in the competition, creating a tightly wound competition where men who for the most part train and pursue their dreams unsponsored all gave it their best shot. 

Andrew Evans made his second Olympic team, and first since 2016, when he got a big third throw of 66.61 meters (218-6) that held up as the winner. 

Evans has a job working at his friend's business in Kalamazoo, Mich., Wax Wings Brewery. 

Sam Mattis, the highest ranked American coming into the competition at No. 13 in the world, was the only finalist with a shoe-brand sponsor. He throws for Nike. 

The former Ivy Leaguer from Penn made his second Olympic team with 66.07m (216-9). 

Joseph Brown got the third spot by a mere two inches (65.79m/215-10) over Reggie Jagers (65.75m/215-8) and was in eighth place until the final throw. 

"It was nerve-wracking," Brown said. "I felt like I was going to have an anxiety attack out there."

Brown, from Arlington, Texas, never qualified for the state meet in high school. He won the NCAA D2 discus title on his final college throw at Texas A&M-Commerce in 2019. 

He made a deal with his wife. She'd pay the bills with her job and allow him to train for four years full-time. 

Saturday's sixth attempt means he gets to repay some of that effort by taking her to Paris. 

The men's discus field was comprised of similar stories: blue collar types who live to workout and compete, sometimes on a shoe-string budget. 

The United States has six men ranked in the 26 in the world, double the number of any other country. 

But the lack of a medal contender gives the impression that it's not a successful event in the U.S.

"Everyone showed up today it was a good comp," Evans said. "Realistically, we've got a ways to go to catch up to the top of the pack."

Competitions like Saturday's have to be a good sign. 

Seven men, separated by five feet, or a meter and a half. 

Reggie Jagers threw 215-8 (65.75m) for fourth. Turner Washington, a year out of Arizona State, was fifth with 65.66m/215-5. Marcus Gustaveson was sixth with 65.39m/214-6. And Brian Williams threw 65.03m/213-4. 

All of them threw far enough to win the Olympic Trials three years ago. And all of them threw far enough to win the 2016 Trials, as well. 

"These guys, we've all pushed each other to get better and better," Brown said. "Andrew has been dominating everyone and Sam is getting better and better every year. And the younger guys have been watching this and are clawing our way up from the bottom."