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EUGENE, Oregon -- The first day of the Olympic Trials wholly consumed several legends, created some new ones, and granted reprieve to a few more. It was a glorious meat-grinder of a first day, with a brutal process leading to a delicious product.

Six Olympians were minted. Galen Rupp and U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program runners Shadrack Kipchirchir and Leonard Korir are headed to Rio in the 10K. Ryan Crouser, Joe Kovacs, and Darrell Hill made it in the shot put. Donavan Brazier and Duane Solomon made stunning early exits in the men's 800m, and Sanya Richards-Ross may have run her last race. Richards-Ross, the defending Olympic gold medalist in the women's 400m, dropped out of her heat just before halfway through the race. She previously said she planned on retiring after the Olympic Games.

It's a HOME RUN for Galen Rupp!

The #London2012 silver medalist is headed back to the Olympics!#TrackTown16 pic.twitter.com/WEqwueT40N

— NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) July 2, 2016

The 10K was a seemingly unbearable sauna. More than a quarter of the field--seven out of 27 men--dropped out in the 81-degree conditions that had meet management handing out water on the track. Galen Rupp was dominant the entire race, and toyed with the field early and late. That's not to say it was an easy race for Rupp--he was clearly labored for much of the race, and Kipchirchir got the jump on him at the bell. But it was Rupp's race from start to finish.

The eight-time U.S. 10K champion and three-time Olympian accelerated the tempo from 68-second laps to 65s at 2K into the race, but the field caught him quickly. He made his next big move right before hitting 5K in 14:20. Kipchirchir and 41-year-old Bernard Lagat covered that move quickly.

Courtesy of NBCOlympics (http://liveextra.nbcsports.com) and USOC

2016 U.S. 5K leader Hassan Mead and 1500m leader Ben True finished second and third at the USATF 10K behind Rupp last year. Along with Leonard Korir and U.S. 10K leader Eric Jenkins, they were the chase pack 15 meters behind Rupp, Kipchirchir, and Lagat. 

18 minutes into the race, Jenkins and True fell off that pack. At that moment, Mead started to close the gap to the three leaders. Rupp and Kipchirchir dropped Lagat a lap after that, and then all hell broke loose.

Mead caught Lagat at the 21-minute mark (i.e., with six and a half laps to go), and Lagat dropped out almost immediately. Lagat has a long and legendary career that ranges from a 2004 Olympic silver medal in the 1500m for Kenya to an American record in the 5,000m in 2011, to a masters world record in the 10,000m in 2016.

600 meters later, Leonard Korir caught Mead, and Mead dropped out right after that. Rupp's Oregon Project teammate Eric Jenkins dropped out at almost the exact same time.

To recap: the lead pack was Rupp, Kipchirchir, and Lagat, with Mead, Korir, True, Jenkins chasing. Then Mead caught Lagat, and Lagat dropped out. Then Korir caught Mead, and Mead and Jenkins dropped out.

From that point, Rupp and Kipchirchir had a massive lead on Korir, and Korir had a massive lead on the field. So there were only two questions to be answered. Would Rupp, Kipchirchir, or Korir succumb to the heat like so many of their competitors? And who would win?

1. No.
2. Rupp. Duh.

Kipchirchir jumped ahead of Rupp at the bell, but Rupp never let the lead grow larger than a meter or two, and toasted Kipchirchir in the last 200 meters. He won his eighth U.S. championship by closing in 60.74 seconds for the last lap and clocking 27:55.04 for 25 laps. Kipchirchir was second in 28:01, and Korir made his first American team in 28:16.

You know who Galen Rupp is. Kipchirchir and Korir are Kenyan-born Americans who gained their citizenship in just about the hardest way possible: by serving in the U.S. Army. The 27-year-old Kipchirchir ran for Oklahoma State, made his first U.S. team in the 10K last year and finished 16th at the world championships. Korir, 29, was a two-time NCAA champion at Iona. This was his first U.S. championships as an American. Both are coached by Daniel Browne in the Army WCAP program. In a neat bit of symmetry, when Browne was competing, he was among the first athletes to compete for Alberto Salazar's Nike Oregon Project. Also, Browne was the last American man to qualify for the Olympic 10K and marathon in 2004 and completed the double in Athens. 

Behind the three Olympians, Scott Fauble and Chris Derrick finished fourth and fifth. Fauble was an unlikely name to be one spot off the Rio squad--his best finish at an NCAA meet was 11th at the outdoor 10K in 2012. And Derrick had to get a little special dispensation just to get in the field. He more than justified it. 

The smallest men on the track will be joined in Rio by the biggest men in the field. Crouser, Kovacs, and Hill are the first American shot put team this century that doesn't have at least one of Reese Hoffa, Christian Cantwell, or Adam Nelson on it. The 37-year-old Hoffa was fifth, and the 41-year-old Nelson was seventh. Before the final, Nelson was presented with his 2004 Olympic gold medal, which was recently upgraded due to doping violators who finished ahead of him.

Courtesy of NBCOlympics (http://liveextra.nbcsports.com) and USOC

Crouser's winning throw of 22.11 (72-6.5) is just two centimeters off Kovacs' world lead. Crouser is also the youngest thrower on the team, as he just finished his Texas eligibility this past indoor season.

Another Army WCAP athlete qualified for Rio at these Trials: racewalker John Nunn. In an interview today, he said he was donating part of his Trials prize money to high jumper Jamie Nieto's recovery fund, and challenged his fellow event winners to do the same. Nunn's prize for winning the 50K and 20K race walk was at least $50,000, while the reward for winning a track event is $10,000. Nieto severely injured his neck and back in a freak accident earlier this year.

The carnage was most prominent in the men's 10K and 800m, but it was universal. 800m runner Laura Roesler joined Brazier, Solomon, and Richards-Ross in ending her Trials prematurely. The former Oregon Duck was fourth overall at world indoors; she was fourth in a blanket finish in her heat today. The 800m is capricious.

In the men's 400m, most of the favorites advanced, though 2015 NCAA champion Vernon Norwood pulled up lame. Last year's college champ was outlasted by the 2004 NCAA winner. 32-year-old Jeremy Wariner ran cannily, sitting near last for the first half of his heat and then exploding in the last 100 meters to advance on time in 45.88 seconds.

There are three women's finals tomorrow morning: the discus at 10:45 a.m. local time, the 10K at 11:04 a.m., and the long jump at 11:45 a.m.

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