Heat, starting gun biggest obstacles
Six Olympic spots awarded in steamy temps
EUGENE, Ore. — Hurdler Sydney Mclaughlin’s knee was bloody. Lined up three lanes outside of her, Nnenya Hailey was so hot, she looked to the stands and begged for water.
That was before the race started.
Thanks in part to some hair-trigger sensors on the starting blocks, hurdlers felt the heat as acutely as anyone Friday on a 92-degree day at U.S. Olympic track and field trials.
It took five tries to get a heat of the men’s 110 meters off and running. It took another four to get Mclaughlin and Co., off the blocks for their
400 qualifier.
“I’ve never had that many restarts ever in my life,” said Mclaughlin, whose upcoming showdown with world-record holder Dalilah Muhammad could be one of the best races of the Olympic season. “My knee started bleeding a little bit just from the hot track, getting down that many times.”
Mclaughlin won her heat. Hailey finished second.
But with the temperatures heading to triple digits this weekend, this hardly felt like a no-fuss day of preliminaries for runners with bigger races in store.
Only 20 minutes earlier, the men endured a similar struggle.
Four times they lined up. Four times the starting gun went off. Each time, the alarm sounded and the gun went off again to signal the illegal start. The crowd hooted and whistled. Ato Bolden and the NBC commentators went nuts, wondering aloud why the sensors weren’t being disabled. Only one runner, Samuel Brixey, was disqualified, but he lodged a protest and was moved on to the next round.
Only six Olympic spot were awarded Friday — three in steeplechase went to Hillary Bor, Benard Keter and Mason Ferlic; three in men’s discus went to Mason Finley, Reggie Jagers and Sam Mattis.
The rest of the day was about qualifying. And gearing up for what’s expected to be a sizzler of a weekend. Among those moving through without much trouble were Allyson Felix and Noah Lyles, both in the 200.