The meeting also served as the 1920 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, unlike future editions which were held separately. It was the first U.S. track and field trials that consisted of only one final per event to make the team, except for the marathon trials which took place over four races.[1][2][3]
A maximum of four athletes could be named to the team per event, unlike the three-athlete-limit of future Olympics. Also unlike future Olympic trials, the 1920 trials results were not completely determinative of the team; in several cases athletes who finished outside of the top 4 were selected based on consistency of previous results.[1][4]
The marathon team was said to have been chosen based on results from marathons in Brooklyn, Detroit, Boston, and New York, although in practice only athletes that ran the Detroit, Boston, or New York marathons were selected. The top Americans at each of these races (Charles Mellor, 2:30:04 for 1st in Detroit; Arthur Roth, 2:30:21 for 2nd in Boston; Joseph Organ, 2:51:06.2 for 2nd in New York) were named to the team, along with Carl Linder who was the 2nd American finisher in Boston (2:23:32 for 3rd overall).[4]
Results
Indicates athlete was selected to event's Olympic team (or metric analogue for imperial distances)
^Allen Woodring, who finished 5th in 22.2 estimated, was selected for the 200 m team over Massengale.
^George Schiller, who finished 5th in 50.1 estimated, was selected for the 400 m team over Bretnall.
^Charles Hunter was selected for the 5000 m team instead of Simmons. Hunter started the trials 5000 m but didn't place in the top 6 known finishers.
^Amisoli Patasoni, who won the Midwestern qualifiers but did not make the 10,000 m trials final, was selected for the 10,000 m team instead of Bohland.
^ abcdAlthough there was a four-way tie for 4th place, Whalen won a jump-off for the final Olympic spot over Krogness, Erickson, and Corey.
^Carl Johnson, who finished 6th with 6.79 m, was selected for the long jump team instead of Landers because Landers chose to focus on the triple jump instead.
^ abOnly three athletes were selected for the U.S. discus team, and Kenneth L. Wilson, who finished 3rd in the javelin but didn't compete in the trials discus throw, was selected for the discus team over Evans and Husted.
^ abInstead of Wilson (who competed in the Olympic discus competition instead) and Hanner, Arthur Tuck and Jack Mahan were selected for the U.S. javelin team. Tuck finished 5th at the trials with a 52.39 m throw, while there is no record of Mahan competing at the trials.
^ abInstead of Bradley and LeGendre, Eugene Vidal and Everett Ellis were selected for the U.S. decathlon team. Vidal finished 5th with 6430.9710 points, while Ellis finished 6th with 6217.9685 points.
