The 2026 USA Track and Field Outdoor and Para National Championships are back in New York City, with the four-day meet opening Thursday at Icahn Stadium on Randall’s Island and running through Sunday. It is the first time the championships have been staged in the city since 1991.
That return is the reason the meet is drawing attention now. Fans can watch live on NBC Sports, Peacock and USATF.TV, and the schedule is stacked with finals that matter immediately, from Friday’s 100m races to Sunday’s closing 200m showdowns. In a year when championship meets often blur together, this one has a clear setting, a clear window and a clear sense of occasion.
The field is loaded with names that already carry Olympic and world credentials. Noah Lyles is entered in the 100m and 200m, Sha’Carri Richardson is in the 100m, Melissa Jefferson-Wooden is in the 200m and Quincy Hall is in the 400m. Tara Davis-Woodhall is entered in the 100m hurdles and long jump, while Valarie Sion is in the discus. Cooper Lutkenhaus, who won the 800m at the World Indoor Championships in March and became the youngest individual world champion in track and field history, is also part of the conversation around the meet.
The men’s 100m is the sharpest early test. Lyles and Kenny Bednarek are slated to meet again there, and the memory of last year’s nationals still hangs over it: Lyles edged Bednarek in the 200m by four hundredths, then Bednarek shoved him after Lyles looked at him at the finish. Bednarek is not entered in the 200m this week, which removes one possible rematch but does nothing to dull the edge in the sprint final scheduled for Friday at 7:53 p.m. ET.
There is also a broader championships story underneath the rivalry. The meet combines the outdoor and para national championships, bringing athletes such as Jaydin Blackwell, Noah Malone, Hunter Woodhall, Daniel Romanchuk, Roderick Townsend and Noelle Malkamaki into the same championship setting. Hunter Woodhall is entered in the 100m and 400m, Romanchuk is in the 400m, 800m, 1500m and 5000m, Townsend is in the high jump and Malkamaki is in the shot put.
That makes the weekend more than a one-event sprint watch. Richardson can become the second woman to win three U.S. 100m crowns since 2000 after Carmelita Jeter, Jefferson-Wooden is trying to repeat as U.S. 200m champion, and Lyles is eyeing a record-breaking sixth national title in the 200m. The women’s 100m final is set for Friday at 7:45 on Peacock and NBCSN, the men’s 200m final for Sunday at 5:39 and the women’s 200m final for Sunday at 5:47 on NBC and Peacock.
The meet’s draw is simple: major champions, a rare New York City return and a schedule that puts the biggest races in front of the biggest audience. By Sunday night, the titles will tell whether the setting elevated the moment or merely framed it.
