Women in runoff for spot in Olympic 100
BY PAT GRAHAM Associated Press
Monday, July 02, 2012
7/02/12 at 4:24 AM
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EUGENE, Ore. - Reluctantly, Jeneba Tarmoh will step into the blocks Monday to break a third-place tie she feels was already decided fair and square.
The young sprinter wants no part of a runoff with training partner Allyson Felix to settle the last spot for the London Games in the women's 100 meters.
The runoff - a winner-take-all race - will be held at 7 p.m. at Hayward Field.
"In my heart of hearts, I just feel like I earned the third spot. I almost feel like I was kind of robbed," Tarmoh said.
Tarmoh was originally declared the third-place finisher of the event June 23, even going on a celebratory lap around the track, being presented a medal and then showing up at a news conference.
Only after her drug test did she discover that race officials had declared a dead heat.
"I'm not that excited at all. This decision was really hard for me to make," said Tarmoh, who's eligible to run on the Olympic 400 relay team. "They said if you don't make a decision, you give your spot up. I work too hard to just give my spot up. I had to say it was a runoff."
She's trying to make the best of a botched situation.
USA Track and Field had no protocol in place to deal with a dead heat. USATF officials quickly scrambled to adopt a tiebreaking procedure.
The athletes had a choice between a runoff or a coin flip. They chose to settle matters on the track.
"They both feel they deserve a spot on the team and they're willing to do it in a competitive manner and a competitive fashion," USATF President Stephanie Hightower said. "The bottom line is that this is, in my opinion, the best way to be able to resolve this issue."
The resolution was delayed eight days because their coach, Bobby Kersee, wanted to wait to make a decision until after the 200 on Saturday. Felix turned in a personal-best time of 21.69 seconds, the fourth-fastest by an American.
After two races and six rounds, both will be running with fatigued legs. So much so that Felix said she won't take any chances. If she steps into the blocks and doesn't feel right, that's it, she's pulling out of the competition. She won't risk her health with London so close.
"We're both not feeling our greatest," Felix said.
Original Print Headline: Women in runoff for Olympic spot
Borman wins women's javelin, trip to London
University of Oklahoma senior Brittany Borman won the javelin at the U.S. track trials with a throw of 201 feet, 9 inches, putting her on the Olympic team.
The back-to-back NCAA champion held third place heading into the final round and bested her personal record by nearly seven feet with the gold-medal winning toss.
"I didn't really know what happened differently. I prayed before it and I am still in shock about how far I threw."
Kara Patterson was second at 196-2, and Kimberly Hamilton finished third with a throw of 190-5 at Hayward Field.
Hamilton does not have the Olympic "A" standard of 200-1 this season to make the U.S. team for the London Games, so the third spot on the team went to fourth-place finisher, Rachel Yurkovich.
Former Sooner Latoya Greaves, who graduated from OU in 2011, also qualified for the Olympics for her native Jamaica.
Greaves placed second in the women's 100-meter hurdles in a personal best 12.77 seconds. Brigitte Foster-Hylton won in 12.68.
- FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
