“
USA is back!
American athletics is on track to reign supreme on the track at the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo from July 23 to August 8, after another series of impressive performances during the Olympic selections on Saturday in Eugene, Oregon.
Who of Gabby Thomas, Rai Benjamin or Grant Holloway struck the spirits the most during the penultimate day of the “
trials
”?
Difficult to say as their times have each failed to make them enter the history of the discipline.
“I'm still in shock.
I can't believe I made this time ”
Gabby thomas
Starting with the prodigy Gabby Thomas who only became at the age of 24 the second fastest sprinter in history over 200m in 21''61. Only Florence Griffith-Joyner ran faster than she on the half-lap, twice, at the Seoul Olympics in 1988 (21.56 in the semi-final, then 21.34 in the final). But this world record is tarnished by strong suspicions of doping. “
I'm still in shock. I can not believe that I made this time
, reacted Gabby Thomas, in remarks reported by the American Olympic committee. Asked about her race, the Harvard graduate explained that she did not remember anything. “
I couldn't feel my legs anymore, I couldn't think anymore, I was losing my mind,
” she said.As for being able to beat the record of "
Flojo
”?
“
I don't want to say no,
” she replied.
“
I don’t know.
I don't want to put limits on myself, so I'm not going to say it's unattainable.
"
For his part, Rai Benjamin, silver medalist in the 400m hurdles at the 2019 World Championships, signed with a time of 46''83 the second best performance of all time.
Only his compatriot Kevin Young was faster (46''78) at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992, 29 years ago.
"
Five hundredths of a second (compared to the world record, editor's note), that's nothing
," reacted Benjamin, visibly disappointed.
"
It hurts a bit to think that I was almost there, but that I couldn't catch it, but it's just more motivation
"For the Tokyo Olympics, he commented.
Like Gabby Thomas, Benjamin, who slowed down in the home stretch, will participate at 23 in his first Olympic Games in Tokyo, where he could win gold and bring down one of the oldest world records in the Athletics.
Stratospheric Holloway
On hurdles, Grant Holloway is becoming the undisputed new world benchmark. This winter, in March, he improved the old world record of Briton Colin Jackson over 60m hurdles which dated from 1994 (7''29, against 7''30). The 2019 world champion has this time shaken the world record in the 110m hurdles of his compatriot Aries Merritt dating from 2012. In the semi-final on Saturday, he failed with his 12''81 to one hundredth of Merritt's reference time. (12''80), before getting his visa for Tokyo without difficulty by winning the final with a time of 12''96.
World hammer throw champion DeAnna Price became the second woman in history to cross the 80-meter mark in this discipline, with a throw of 80.31m on her fifth attempt in the final. Only the Polish Anita Wlodarczyk, Olympic champion in 2012 and 2016 and four-time world champion, did better with her world record of 82.98m. In Tokyo, “
Team USA
” will also be able to count on other athletes who caused a sensation during these “
trials
”. Ryan Crouser, with his 23.37m in the shot put, erased from the shelves the world record held since 1990 by his compatriot Randy Barnes (23.12m), while Trayvon Bromell in the men and Sha'Carri Richardson (women ) are shaping up to be very strong in the 100m.
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