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On 11 February 2022, it was proposed that this article be moved from United States Olympic Trials (track and field) to United States Olympic trials (track and field). The result of the discussion was moved.

In the intro. Sagittarian Milky Way ( talk) 20:09, 31 March 2012 (UTC) reply

I wrote that line (and most of the article), I'll explain. Over the decades in many events, primarily the sprints, hurdles and jumping events where the United States has excelled, the competition in this meet is at a higher level, it has more top ranked competitors than the actual Olympics these competitors are trying to qualify for. This is not my WP:OR, but I will try to use these examples as an explanation why this is a widespread opinion. Look at the World rankings for the Men's 100 metres, an event the USA excels in: just in Olympic years 1948; 5 of the top 10, 1952; 6 of the top 10 (6/10 for shorthand), 1956; 6/7, 1960; 5/10, 1964; 4/10, 1968; 4/8, 1972; 4/8, 1976; 4/10, 1980 7/10, 1984; 6/7, 1988; 4/8, 1992; 4/8, 1996; 4/10, 2000; 5/10, 2004; 5/10 and 2008; 3/10. Even stronger, the Men's 110 hurdles: 1948; 7/10 including the entire top 5, 1952; 7/10 including the entire top 5, 1956; 9/10 including the entire top 7, 1960; 6/9, 1964; 5/7, 1968; 7/8, 1972; 5/10, 1976; 4/10, 1980; 6/10, 1984; 6/10, 1988; 5/10, 1992; 5/10, 1996; 6/10, 2000; 4/6, 2004; 3/7, 2008; 4/7 For the overwhelming majority of years, the results of the US Olympic Trials eliminates Top 10 competitors from the Olympic final a month before the race begins. Trackinfo ( talk) 02:04, 1 April 2012 (UTC) reply

In some events, due to American strength in depth, I agree that this is true. In others, it is clearly not. Consider that the US has won only two medals in the Olympic men's 1500m in the post-war era (neither of them gold) and there has never been an American female 1500m Olympic medalist. Similarly, there have been no Olympic medalists in the men's long distance events in over 40 years. Only one female shot put medal (a bronze) in the history of the Olympics. Only two javelin winners ever (none in over sixty years) and Larry Young's two bronzes comprise America's entire walking medals since 1924.

I don't doubt the US's strengths where they have them (sprints, relays, hurdles, some field events), it's just that they are highly concentrated in certain events. While many Americans might consider these events the "prestige" events, this is a bit of a cultural lens – just as the the middle distance events are more considered the "prestige events" in West/Northern Europe, the field events in Eatern Europe, and the long-distance events in Africa and Asia. SFB 16:48, 1 April 2012 (UTC) reply

Admittedly we americans are a jingoistic lot who live in a bubble. Only the events where americans excel are important . . . But again, this is not my OR. See it here by America's leading track journalism entity, obviously promoting their own tour; or here by Nike promoting the meet, or here by our top newspaper more than a decade before I created this article. I attributed it "this has been considered by many to be the best track meet in the world" and I believe these and many other sources can back that statement. Trackinfo ( talk) 21:27, 1 April 2012 (UTC) reply

So, at least in the more prestigious events (as viewed by Americans), and especially if the definition of track meet excludes field events (I don't know), the average stregth of competition at the event as a whole can be stronger at the USOTs than at the Olympics, making it the best meet. But isn't a very high number like #1 or #2 often not an American?, He would try as hard as possible because it's the Olympics and he could win (I don't know if track world records are broken at national events, if so it can't be many). Right now Usain Bolt is so fast for example, I don't know if anyone even has a chance of beating him. What about other events, like the World Championships or those other international meets they always have? Maybe the allowed number of entrants per country for those meets is still not high enough for this statement to be untrue? Sagittarian Milky Way ( talk) 21:47, 4 April 2012 (UTC) reply

USATF likes to promote the US team as the #1 track team in the world. At least they do it internally, I'm on a lot of committees. I would guess over the course of history, scoring points or medal count, you'd find the American team wins a majority of competitions, certainly more than any other team across the board. The Soviets, East Germans even the British might have had their share of eras, the Kenyans, Ethiopian and currently Jamaican teams having periods of dominance in certain ranges of events. I will concede in recent history it is a rare, almost fluke, occurrence when an American wins any medal in a race longer than 400 meters. But the point of the line in the article is, slanted view or not, many American aficionados (and maybe others) do consider this meet better than the Olympics. Trackinfo ( talk) 00:40, 5 April 2012 (UTC) reply