Top-8 Tokyo Olympics finishers who have competed at Dempsey Indoor...

With the conclusion of the Tokyo Olympic track & field competition, it's time to revisit a piece written on this site after the Rio Olympics, where the top 8 finishers in an Olympic event were listed that competed in a meet at the Dempsey Indoor at the University of Washington.

This year's list is headlined by Olympic champions Andre DeGrasse (200m), Ryan Crouser (shot put), and 4 x 400 relay member Rai Benjamin (Paul Merca photo) on the men's side; and Sifan Hassan (5000/10000), Valarie Allman (discus), Katie Nageotte (pole vault), plus 4 x 400 relay champs Kendall Ellis and Dalilah Muhammad.

The point of this list is to demonstrate that the Dempsey is one of the best indoor track and field facilities in the United States and that it offers great competition for those who aspire to run, jump, and throw at the highest levels of the sport.

The 2022 Dempsey indoor season begins January 15, 2022.

Here's the list: 

MEN

10000: Grant Fisher (5th), Moh Ahmed (6th), Yomif Kejelcha (8th)

100: Andre DeGrasse (3rd)

HJ: Django Lovett (8th)

400 H: Rai Benjamin (2nd)

800: Nijel Amos (8th)

200: Andre DeGrasse (1st)

SP: Ryan Crouser (1st), Joe Kovacs (2nd)

TJ: Will Claye (4th)

5000: Paul Chelimo (3rd), Justyn Knight (7th)

110 H: Devon Allen (4th)

1500: Josh Kerr (3rd)

Marathon: Suguro Osako (6th), Galen Rupp (8th)

4 x 100 relay: Andre DeGrasse CAN (3rd)

4 x 400 relay: Rai Benjamin USA (1st) 

WOMEN

5000: Sifan Hassan <Paul Merca photo> (1st)

Discus: Valarie Allman (1st)

LJ: Brittney Reese (2nd)

Hammer: Camryn Rogers (5th)

800: Raevyn Rogers (3rd)

400 H: Dalilah Muhammad (2nd); Gianna Woodruff (7th)

3000 Steeple: Courtney Frerichs (2nd)

PV: Katie Nageotte (1st), Katerina Stefanidi (4th)

Heptathlon:  Annie Kunz (6th)

1500: Sifan Hassan (3rd), Gabriela Debues-Stafford (5th)

10000: Sifan Hassan (1st), Konstanze Klosterhalfen (8th)

4 x 100 relay: Jenna Prandini USA (2nd)

4 x 400 relay: Kendall Ellis, USA (1st),  Dalilah Muhammad, USA (1st), Sage Watson CAN (4th), Kyra Constantine CAN (4th)

Mixed 4 x 400: Kendall Ellis, USA (3rd)

Some other notes:

The majority of these athletes competed at the Dempsey while representing their universities, with USC having the most top eight finishers: Andre DeGrasse in the 100, 200, and 4 x 100; Rai Benjamin in the 400 hurdles and 4 x 400; Dalilah Muhammad in the 400 hurdles and 4 x 400; Kendall Ellis in both the women's and mixed 4 x 400; and Kyra Constantine in the women's 4 x 400.

Oregon is next, with Jenna Prandini in the 4 x 100 relay, Raevyn Rogers in the 800, Devon Allen in the 110 hurdles, and Galen Rupp in the marathon, followed by Stanford, represented by Grant Fisher in the 10000, Valarie Allman in the discus, and Katerina Stefanidi in the pole vault.

The Pacific Northwest's four major pro distance running teams are represented, with four from the disbanded Nike Oregon Project--Rupp, Yomif Kejelcha, Suguro Osako, and double Olympic gold medalist Sifan Hassan; the Nike Bowerman TC with Courtney Frerichs (note that current member Moh Ahmed ran at Dempsey representing the University of Wisconsin in 2013); the Nike Oregon TC Elite with Nijel Amos; and the Brooks Beasts with Josh Kerr.

Incidentally, both Rai Benjamin and Sifan Hassan hold Dempsey Indoor facility records, with Benjamin setting the 400m record of 45.94 at the 2018 MPSF Championships, and Hassan setting the 3000m record of 8:34.45 at the 2018 UW Invitational.

NOTE: The University of Washington sports information office, World Athletics, and TFRRS contributed to this report.

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