With the 2020 Tokyo Olympics only one year away, this week's USA Track and Field outdoor championships will showcase some of the top contenders for spots on next year's U.S. Olympic team. Several runners and throwers with Minnesota ties are in the hunt for national championships and berths at the upcoming world championships.

usa track and field championships | Thursday through Sunday | Drake Stadium, Des Moines

What's at stake: In addition to crowning national champions, the meet will determine the U.S. team for the IAAF world championships Sept. 27-Oct. 6 in Doha, Qatar. The top three Americans in each event will make the roster, provided they have met the qualifying standard. The teams for two other international events in September, the Thorpe Cup and USA vs. Europe, also will be decided.

TV: Friday, NBCSN (6-8 p.m.); Saturday, NBC (3-5 p.m.); Sunday, NBCSN (6-7 p.m.), NBC (7-8 p.m.)

Minnesota connections: Several athletes who are Minnesota natives, train in the state or competed at Minnesota schools are entered in the meet. Maggie Ewen (St. Francis), a multiple NCAA throws champion at Arizona State, plans to compete in the women's hammer throw and shot put. Payton Otterdahl (Rosemount) won the NCAA indoor shot put title last winter at North Dakota State and has the third-best qualifying mark in the men's shot put field. Mason Ferlic (Mounds Park Academy) and Obsa Ali (Richfield/Gophers) are top contenders in the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase, and Garrett Heath (Winona) has the fourth-fastest qualifying time among the entrants for the men's 10,000.

Other athletes with Minnesota ties: Ben Blankenship (Stillwater/Gophers), men's 1,500; Hassan Mead (Minneapolis/Gophers), men's 5,000; Heather Kampf (Inver Grove Heights/Gophers/Team USA Minnesota), women's 1,500; Harun Abda (Fridley/Gophers), men's 800; Maddie Van Beek (Perham), women's 10,000; Kevin Lewis (Team USA Minnesota), men's 10,000; Joel Reichow (White Bear Lake/Team USA Minnesota), men's 10,000; Breanna Sieracki (Minnesota Duluth/Team USA Minnesota), women's 5,000; Myles Hunter (Minnesota State Mankato), men's 110 hurdles; Kiley Sabin (Gophers), women's shot put; Sean Donnelly (Gophers), men's hammer throw.

Competitors to watch: Two of the top sprinters in the world, Christian Coleman and Noah Lyles, will race head-to-head in the men's 200. Lyles has the fastest time in the world this season (19.50 seconds), while Coleman is the world leader in the 100 (9.81) and will also race in that event. Allyson Felix, who has nine Olympic medals, is entered in the women's 400; it will be her first race since giving birth by emergency C-section in November.

RACHEL BLOUNT