Colgate Field, West Orange, NJ, USA | September 5–7, 1924
The main events of the 1924 United States Men’s Track and Field Championships (AAU) began in September 1924, two months after the Paris Olympics.
It was the last time the men’s championships were decided in September, though in 1930 they were held in late August.
The meet took place at Colgate Field in West Orange, New Jersey. Despite being hosted in the hometown of Thomas Alva Edison, the performances failed to truly electrify. Many of the Paris Olympic champions, such as Harold Osborn and Bud Houser just skipped the championships.
The world's fastest man, Charley Paddock, demonstrated he had recovered from his slight setbacks in Paris. He equaled world records in the sprint events on the fast track at Colgate Field: covering 100 yards in 9.6 seconds (equivalent to 10.5 seconds for 100 meters) and 220 yards on a straight track in 20.8 seconds (equivalent to 21.2 seconds for a full curve 200-meter)
Newark's Loren Murchison, who finished second in both the 100 and 220 yards, got a blistering start in the shorter distance, but Paddock's fierce closing speed was too much for him.
Having pulled himself together after his Olympic disappointments a few months prior, Thomas Lieb claimed the discus title with a championship record of 46.12 (151-3). His form remained rock-solid; just a week later, the man from Minnesota was ready to hurl the Greek platter to new world-record lengths.
Similar to the Finnish Championships, the American meet didn't quite match the standard set at the Paris Olympics. For instance, Olympic Champion DeHart Hubbard "only" managed a distance of 7.32 (24-¼). F. Morgan Taylor's winning time of 54.5 seconds in the 440-yard hurdles fell far short of the mark set in Paris.
Ivan Riley snatched his first U.S. title in the high hurdles, but the winning time of 15.4 was the slowest since 1914, when Harry Goelitz had plodded through the 'forest of hurdles' in 16.2.
Robert Juday won the high jump with a height of 1.93 (6-4), which placed him in a respectable third position in the 1924 world rankings. He defeated double U.S. Champion (1922 & 1923) and Paris silver medalist Leroy Brown.
Finnish-rooted Ilmari Prim claimed victory in the five-mile race.
The team competition was won by the Illinois Athletic Club.