For the first time since 1995, the U.S. will have three men in the 800m World Championship final as Donavan Brazier, Clayton Murphy, and Bryce Hoppel all advanced from Sunday’s semifinals. It was quite the turn in an event in which the U.S. didn't have a single finalist two years ago in London.

With so much USA representation in an event in which the American men have never won more than one medal at a single world championship, history will be on the line in Doha in two days. The youngest of the ascendent trio, Hoppel, is ready to create that history in style. He called for a sweep after the race on the broadcast.

“I think Clayton and Donavan got it covered, those two guys are amazing runners,” said Hoppel. “I’m glad I’ve got to experience this time with them. As long as I do my part I think the U.S. has a good shot.”

With Brazier operating at a level above the rest of his competition right now, and Murphy and Hoppel joining him to make up 37 percent of the eight-man field, the U.S. should be well-represented on the podium. Going 1-2-3 is an unprecedented feat, but things could not have gone much more in the United States' favor so far through two rounds in Doha.

Clayton Murphy’s 1:44.4 in the 1st semi will qualify him on time...making it three Americans in the 800m final ? #WorldAthleticsChamps pic.twitter.com/Tbzp7kMYT1

— FloTrack (@FloTrack) September 29, 2019

They can thank several mishaps from potential contenders for that, as Saturday brought more departures for men who figured to vie for hardware. 1:42.05 man Emmanuel Korir bungled the semis for the second straight championships as he finished just third in section two. With a fast first semi seizing all the time qualifiers, Korir went home disappointed again.

More trouble came for 2017 finalist Brandon McBride, who had run 1:43 on four occasions this season. The Canadian took fourth in a tactical slugfest in semifinal three, while 19-year-old Kenyan champion Ngeno Kipngetich was sixth in that race. Defending world champion Pierre-Ambroise Bosse was never a factor in seventh.

This all followed the biggest early exit of them all: 2019 world leader Nijel Amos’ withdrawal prior to the championships. Amos had to pull out with an injury, and he took his 1:41.89 season-best with him.

Brazier was already the odds-on-favorite coming off his 1:42.70 win in the Diamond League final, but that status has been amplified significantly with both Amos and Korir out of his way— they were the only two men to beat him this season in an 800m final. The U.S. champ said anything short of a medal would be a disappointment, but I would say anything short of gold would fall in that category.

His tactics have improved mightily this season as he seems to have learned from the mistakes that kept him from qualifying in previous championship experiences.

"I finally got the monkey off my back," Brazier said. "I missed two world finals, 2017 outdoors and 2018 indoors. Happy to finally get there."

Murphy is much less of a sure thing than his Oregon Project teammate, although he is the only one of the three with a medal. The 2016 Olympic bronze medalist wasn’t happy with his positioning in the semis and was forced to sweat out a time-qualifier after placing third in the first section.

 “Tactically kind of fell asleep again, so just got to go back to the drawing board again tonight and get some rest,” said Murphy.

The elder statesmen of the American trio at just 24, Murphy hasn’t gotten a lot of the attention in the shadow of Brazier’s breakout this season. But he’s been remarkably consistent — Sunday was his fifth sub-1:45 of 2019 — and he’s one of just two global medalists in the final. If he doesn’t box himself in, Murphy should pick off plenty of men in the final 100m Tuesday.

Hoppel has already exceeded expectations by making it this far. A medal would put a cap on a season that saw him go undefeated collegiately and finish third at USAs. He’s been competing since January and will run his 25th 800m of 2019 in two days — a season not unlike the one that took Murphy to Rio Olympic bronze three years ago. Fittingly, the pair are roommates in Doha for these championships.

“It’s kind of cool to have a lot of that mentorship from him,” said Hoppel of Murphy. “He’s not much older, but he’s had a lot of advice for me. It’s special to be spending time with those guys [Murphy and Brazier], because I’ve been watching them on TV and now I’m actually kind of running alongside them.”

With so much trending in the right direction for the young trio, Hoppel is very confident in one thing: one of the three is winning on Tuesday.

“I think one of the U.S. guys is going to get the world championship, it’s just a matter of who.”