Harrison and Knighton Pursue History
Hurdles and sprints and throws, oh my!
More qualifying and semifinal rounds underway as Day 6 rolls on at the U.S. Olympic trials.
NFL wide receiver and former Olympian, Marquise Goodwin failed to make the long jump final, along with triple jump champion, Will Claye. Neither appeared competitive or prepared in the way we typically expect.
The current, and former American record holders in the women’s javelin pass into the final with flying colors. Both Maggie Malone and Kara Winger sailed their first-round throws over 192 feet to take a qualifying spot in tomorrow’s final.
The high school standout, Erriyon Knighton, locked down a semifinal berth with another world junior record in the men’s 200m dash. Flirting with the sub-20 second barrier, one can’t help but wonder how fast this kid can go.
With the U.S. team being so stacked in the 200m, he’s going to have to continue to throw down in the rounds to make it into the final, but he doesn’t appear to be slowing down.
Jaylen Slade (21.02), the other equally talented high school phenom, unfortunately, did not make it to the next round after suffering a big fall in the preliminary round of the 100m dash earlier in the week.
Speaking of high schoolers, Hobbs Kessler did not make it into the men’s 1500m final after running a slower 3:45 semi. He has the speed to compete with anyone as we saw the other night, but it’s likely the rounds took a bit of a toll on his legs.
We will be seeing a lot from this young man, as he continues to smash records.
Perpetual rivals Grant Holloway and Daniel Roberts join NCAA top seed Trey Cunningham, and Devon Allen on route to what will be one of the best 110m hurdle lineups in U.S. history.
Holloway has been on a tear the last two years, setting the world indoor record in the 60m hurdles and going unbeaten coming into the Trials. With his current conditioning and cleaner races, I think there’s a real chance the world outdoor record could be well within reach.
LSU superstar, JuVaughn Harrison, qualified for the next rounds in both the men’s long jump and men’s high jump. If all things happen to go smoothly, Harrison could become the first man to qualify for both events and solidify his place in history as perhaps the most freak jumper ever.
Our three top-seeded men’s discus throwers took to the finals ring tonight to heave the 2kg “frisbee” 200+ feet, and that’s exactly what they did.
All three men (Mason Finley, Reggie Jagers, and Sam Mattis) say “See ya, America“ and “Konnichiwa, Japan!“
In the last final of the night, Hillary Bor, Benard Keter, and Mason Ferlic powered through the men’s steeplechase with times all around 8:21.
