EUGENE, Oregon: Allyson Felix won the 200-meter sprint in a personal-best 21.69 seconds on Saturday, amid some eye-catching performances at the US Olympic trials.
Felix finished well ahead of Carmelita Jeter in 22.11 and Sanya Richards-Ross in 22.22.
In the 110 hurdles, Aries Merritt won in 12.93 seconds, edging reiging world champion Jason Richardson, second in 12.98, and Jeffrey Porter third in 13.08 to round out the US team.
The seventh day of the Olympic trials at Hayward Field started with Trevor Barron’s American record of 1 hour, 23 minutes in the 20-kilometer race walk.
But still hanging over the whole event was last weekend’s third-place tie in the women’s 100 meters, and it put all the attention on the 200.
Felix and training partner Jeneba Tarmoh finished in a dead heat that caught US track officials off-guard with no policy in place to resolve it.
USA track and field announced a tiebreaking procedure the next day, but Bobby Kersee, coach of both women, said he wanted to wait until after Saturday’s 200 to decide how to break the tie, either by a runoff, coin flip, or if one athlete concedes.
A decision was expected Sunday morning, the final day of the trials.
Because the top three finishers in each event make the Olympic team, USATF wanted the issue resolved by Sunday. But the US Olympic Committee has a Tuesday deadline for naming the team.
Tarmoh finished fifth in the 200, the day’s final competition.
In the high jump, Chaunte Lowe earned her fifth national outdoor title, finishing ahead of Brigetta Barrett and veteran Amy Acuff, with all three going to London. It will be Acuff’s fifth Olympics.
Hyleas Fountain won her fifth national title in the heptathlon, finishing with 6,419 points. Sharon Day was second with 6,343 points and Chante McMillan finished third with 6,188.
Fountain won the silver medal in Beijing, becoming the only the second American woman to earn an Olympic medal in the event after Jackie Joyner-Kersee.
Reigning world champion Christian Taylor won the triple jump. Will Claye, who finished third at the world championships last year, also earned a spot on the team as the runner-up.
Third-place finisher Walter Davis did not have the Olympic “A” standard to make the team.
Jason Richardson set the tone in the 110-meter hurdles by running his semifinal in 12.98 seconds, just off of the world-best time this year of 12.97 that China’s Liu Xiang ran in May.
Blake, Bolt set
to clash again in 200
In Kingston, Jamaica, Yohan Blake and Usain Bolt will square off in Sunday’s 200 meter final just two days after Blake upset Bolt in the 100 meters at the Jamaican Olympic Athletic Trials.
Blake won his semi-final in 19.93 seconds Saturday to set up another duel with Bolt who took his semi-final race in 20.26. Bolt was the fourth fastest qualifier.
Blake was pushed in his race by Warren Weir who ran a personal best 19.99.
The first semi-final was won by Nickel Ashmeade, who clocked 20.15 on the National Stadium track.
Blake produced one of the biggest track upsets of the year by beating Bolt in Friday’s 100m final, becoming the fourth fastest man ever in the event.
In the women’s 200m, the three favorites — Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (22.55), Kerron Stewart (22.96) and Veronica Campbell-Brown (22.79) — all won their semi-finals. The women’s 200m final is also Sunday.
Felix, Merritt make noise at US track trials
