As women's athletics was not added to the Olympic programme until 1928, only a men's trials was held.

The meeting was separate from the 1924 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, which were held later in September in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

[1][2][3] A maximum of four athletes could be named to the team per event, unlike the three-athlete-limit of future Olympics.

Also unlike future Olympic trials, the 1924 trials results were not completely determinative of the team; in several cases athletes who finished outside of the top 4 were selected based on consistency of previous results.

The final runner, Frank Zuna, was selected based on his results from a marathon in Baltimore instead.