Felix And Bromell Set To Make Another Olympic Team
A day full of finals is a day packed with excitement.
A total of eight finals were contested on this third day of track and field at the new Hayward Field in Oregon, which means twenty-four athletes booked their flight overseas for the Olympics in one month’s time.
Let’s quickly address some standout performances from this evening, beginning with the decathlon.
Nike’s Garrett Scantling set a new personal best of 8647 points to cap off a tremendous decathlon. Followed by some stellar performances in the pole vault (18’2-1/2”) and 1500m (4:22.21) by Zach Ziemek and Steven Bastien respectively. Each will be joining Scantling in Tokyo.
In the men’s hammer throw final, Rudy Winkler set a new American Record of 271’4” taking down Lance Deal’s record (270’9”) from 1996.
Vashti Cunningham, the 23-year-old high jump phenom and daughter of former NFL quarterback Randall Cunningham, leaped over 6’5” to take the victory and continue her pursuit of gold. Vashti was the bronze medalist at the 2019 World Championships in Doha, and will be a part of a very dominant group of international young women.
In the women’s triple jump, not surprisingly, American record holder Keturah Orji asserted her dominance over the field, stringing together nearly five jumps over 47’. Her furthest jump of 47’7-3/4” set a meet record. Not to be outdone, Tori Franklin snatched a second-place finish with a jump of 47’1-1/2”.
Perhaps one of the most highly anticipated races of the night came from the women’s 400m, where titular track queen Allyson Felix laced up to try and make an astounding fifth Olympic Games.
In a nail-biting finish, Felix ran down the homestretch narrowly crossing the finish line in position, and clinching another spot on the team. On either side of her was Wadeline Jonathas and Quanera Hayes, who celebrated at the finish line with Felix and her daughter and Haye’s son in a cute moment between children.
The men’s 400m was also a race everyone was very much anticipating. Led by superstar Michael Norman, finally healthy and looking for that golden ticket.
Norman looked rather shaky and a bit off his usual dominance, but appeared much more poised and ready this time around. Running down the backstretch, he began to pull away in typical fashion and finished in a season’s best 44.07 seconds.
Behind him, running a new personal best (44.35) was Michael Cherry, and clinching spot number three was the NCAA champion from North Carolina A&T, Randolph Ross.
The women’s 100m hurdles were up the penultimate final and set to be a close one. We all knew just how close it was going to be, but perhaps not quite as close as it ended.
Odds on favorite, Keni Harrison took the win, followed so closely by the next three competitors that fourth place (Gabbi Cunningham) missed the podium by four one-thousandths of a second. A heartbreaking moment, but one that could still see her on Team USA next month, pending an ongoing investigation into second place finisher Brianna McNeal’s case.
Finally, the moment most track and field fans salivate over, the men’s 100m dash final. It did not disappoint.
Crowd favorite and comeback story, Trayvon Bromell, shot out of the blocks to an early lead and didn’t let go. He ran through the line with a fantastic time of 9.80 seconds, demonstrating he is likely still the one to beat. Right with him was Ronnie Baker in 9.85, and surprisingly Fred Kerley.
For those that might recognize the name, Kerley was the bronze medalist in the last World Championships in the open 400m. He’s decided to work on the shorter speed aspects of his racing and it’s paying off.
Both Noah Lyles, who will also be running in his signature 200m race, and fan-favorite Justin Gatlin, did not make the team for the 100m. Gatlin unfortunately pulled up in the final with a hamstring problem.
Three days in the bag, five days to go! It only heats up from here.
