Tarmoh Gives Up Olympic Spot to Felix
Sprinter withdraws from runoff against training partner
EUGENE, Ore. — It will be remembered as the most anticipated race never run. The runoff that turned into a walk away to conclude the U.S. track trials.
Jeneba Tarmoh conceded the final Olympic spot in the 100 meters rather than meet training partner Allyson Felix at the starting line to break a third-place tie. She notified USA Track and Field early in the day of her intention to withdraw from the Monday night race, not specifying why she was stepping aside.
In an email sent through her agent to USATF, Tarmoh said: “I understand that with this decision I am no longer running the 100m dash in the Olympic Games and will be an alternate for the event.”
The unique race was scheduled to be shown in prime time on NBC in conjunction with the network’s coverage of the swimming trials. It would’ve been a boon for track. Now, it’s another blow for a sport that’s taken its fair share of late.
“This could’ve been something exciting for the sport, something new, something different,” said Olympic gold medalist Jackie Joyner-Kersee, whose husband, Bobby, coaches both sprinters. “It would bring people in that don’t ordinarily watch. Reality at its best. This is reality. You’ve got everything — emotion, drama. “But you don’t have a cast.” And without a cast, track’s moment in the spotlight fizzled.
“It is very frustrating for me, for someone who would like more people watching our
sport on a regular basis,” NBC sprints analyst Ato Boldon said. “That anytime you hear a track and field story, it’s going to have a clumsy, awkward, or cringe-worthy ending.”
Tarmoh, who felt all along she had won the race on June 23, did not give any reasons why she was surrendering a chance to possibly run the 100 in London. USATF President Stephanie Hightower said the organization was “disappointed” Tarmoh had a change of heart.
The controversy in the 100 overshadowed the entire trials because USATF had no protocol in place to deal with a dead heat. And while top officials scrambled to draft a tiebreaking procedure, the athletes didn’t want to talk about it until after the conclusion of the 200 — nearly a week later.
The tiebreak also didn’t exactly address this particular situation — an athlete commits to racing and decides not to at the last minute. The matter, however, was resolved once Tarmoh stepped aside.
“Maybe Jeneba Tarmoh went to sleep last night, or woke up this morning, and said, ‘You know what? I know that after six rounds in the cold and rain of Eugene, and the emotional highs and lows, and the meetings and the pressure to make a decision and hiding from the media, I don’t have it in my legs tonight to go out and give a good account of myself,’” Boldon said. “Olympic athletes have to be very selfish. If Jeneba felt like she was going out (Monday) to get blown away on national TV or get injured because she’s still feeling the rounds in legs, she’s doing the right thing.”
Felix will now race in both the 100 and 200 in London. .
Tarmoh is eligible to run in the Olympic 400-meter relay.