diff --git a/sdk/trace/evictedqueue.go b/sdk/trace/evictedqueue.go
index 3c62c3299c2..67fe53bede0 100644
--- a/sdk/trace/evictedqueue.go
+++ b/sdk/trace/evictedqueue.go
@@ -29,6 +29,22 @@ func newEvictedQueue[T any](capacity int) evictedQueue[T] {
 	}
 }
 
+func newEvictedQueueEvent(capacity int) evictedQueue[Event] {
+	// Do not pre-allocate queue, do this lazily.
+	return evictedQueue[Event]{
+		capacity:   capacity,
+		logDropped: sync.OnceFunc(func() { global.Warn("limit reached: dropping trace trace.Event") }),
+	}
+}
+
+func newEvictedQueueLink(capacity int) evictedQueue[Link] {
+	// Do not pre-allocate queue, do this lazily.
+	return evictedQueue[Link]{
+		capacity:   capacity,
+		logDropped: sync.OnceFunc(func() { global.Warn("limit reached: dropping trace trace.Link") }),
+	}
+}
+
 // add adds value to the evictedQueue eq. If eq is at capacity, the oldest
 // queued value will be discarded and the drop count incremented.
 func (eq *evictedQueue[T]) add(value T) {
diff --git a/sdk/trace/evictedqueue_test.go b/sdk/trace/evictedqueue_test.go
index 2a58ab345e2..7b88d63d077 100644
--- a/sdk/trace/evictedqueue_test.go
+++ b/sdk/trace/evictedqueue_test.go
@@ -14,47 +14,47 @@ func init() {
 }
 
 func TestAdd(t *testing.T) {
-	q := newEvictedQueue[string](3)
-	q.add("value1")
-	q.add("value2")
+	q := newEvictedQueueLink(3)
+	q.add(Link{})
+	q.add(Link{})
 	if wantLen, gotLen := 2, len(q.queue); wantLen != gotLen {
 		t.Errorf("got queue length %d want %d", gotLen, wantLen)
 	}
 }
 
 func TestCopy(t *testing.T) {
-	q := newEvictedQueue[string](3)
-	q.add("value1")
+	q := newEvictedQueueEvent(3)
+	q.add(Event{Name: "value1"})
 	cp := q.copy()
 
-	q.add("value2")
-	assert.Equal(t, []string{"value1"}, cp, "queue update modified copy")
+	q.add(Event{Name: "value2"})
+	assert.Equal(t, []Event{{Name: "value1"}}, cp, "queue update modified copy")
 
-	cp[0] = "value0"
-	assert.Equal(t, "value1", q.queue[0], "copy update modified queue")
+	cp[0] = Event{Name: "value0"}
+	assert.Equal(t, Event{Name: "value1"}, q.queue[0], "copy update modified queue")
 }
 
 func TestDropCount(t *testing.T) {
-	q := newEvictedQueue[string](3)
+	q := newEvictedQueueEvent(3)
 	var called bool
 	q.logDropped = func() { called = true }
 
-	q.add("value1")
+	q.add(Event{Name: "value1"})
 	assert.False(t, called, `"value1" logged as dropped`)
-	q.add("value2")
+	q.add(Event{Name: "value2"})
 	assert.False(t, called, `"value2" logged as dropped`)
-	q.add("value3")
+	q.add(Event{Name: "value3"})
 	assert.False(t, called, `"value3" logged as dropped`)
-	q.add("value1")
+	q.add(Event{Name: "value1"})
 	assert.True(t, called, `"value2" not logged as dropped`)
-	q.add("value4")
+	q.add(Event{Name: "value4"})
 	if wantLen, gotLen := 3, len(q.queue); wantLen != gotLen {
 		t.Errorf("got queue length %d want %d", gotLen, wantLen)
 	}
 	if wantDropCount, gotDropCount := 2, q.droppedCount; wantDropCount != gotDropCount {
 		t.Errorf("got drop count %d want %d", gotDropCount, wantDropCount)
 	}
-	wantArr := []string{"value3", "value1", "value4"}
+	wantArr := []Event{{Name: "value3"}, {Name: "value1"}, {Name: "value4"}}
 	gotArr := q.copy()
 
 	if wantLen, gotLen := len(wantArr), len(gotArr); gotLen != wantLen {
diff --git a/sdk/trace/trace_test.go b/sdk/trace/trace_test.go
index 435c88849f6..bca58219a5e 100644
--- a/sdk/trace/trace_test.go
+++ b/sdk/trace/trace_test.go
@@ -2107,3 +2107,16 @@ func TestAddLinkToNonRecordingSpan(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Errorf("AddLinkToNonRecordingSpan: -got +want %s", diff)
 	}
 }
+
+func BenchmarkTraceStart(b *testing.B) {
+	tracer := NewTracerProvider().Tracer("")
+	ctx := trace.ContextWithSpanContext(context.Background(), trace.SpanContext{})
+
+	b.ReportAllocs()
+	b.ResetTimer()
+
+	for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
+		_, span := tracer.Start(ctx, "")
+		span.End()
+	}
+}
diff --git a/sdk/trace/tracer.go b/sdk/trace/tracer.go
index 8c4142d6f29..43419d3b541 100644
--- a/sdk/trace/tracer.go
+++ b/sdk/trace/tracer.go
@@ -132,8 +132,8 @@ func (tr *tracer) newRecordingSpan(psc, sc trace.SpanContext, name string, sr Sa
 		spanKind:    trace.ValidateSpanKind(config.SpanKind()),
 		name:        name,
 		startTime:   startTime,
-		events:      newEvictedQueue[Event](tr.provider.spanLimits.EventCountLimit),
-		links:       newEvictedQueue[Link](tr.provider.spanLimits.LinkCountLimit),
+		events:      newEvictedQueueEvent(tr.provider.spanLimits.EventCountLimit),
+		links:       newEvictedQueueLink(tr.provider.spanLimits.LinkCountLimit),
 		tracer:      tr,
 	}