Local pair narrowly denied in Olympic Trials
So close to history.
Slivers of a second separated Jacksonville sprinters Christian Miller and Kendal Williams from Paris, both finishing less than a fifth of a second outside the qualifying berths in Sunday night’s men’s 100-meter dash at the U.S. Olympic Trials for track and field in Eugene, Ore.
Miller, the record-smashing 18year-old who won three state championships at Creekside High School and broke the 10-second barrier before his graduation, crossed the line in a fifthplace 9.98. Former Stanton College Preparatory School sprinter Williams, winner of the World Junior Championships at the same Hayward Field site a decade ago, placed eighth in 10.04 in his third career Olympic Trials.
Both recorded times in Oregon to rank among the planet’s fastest in 2024 — but not enough to snatch one of the three spots in Paris allocated for American men.
Those went to Noah Lyles, Kenny Bednarek and Fred Kerley, crossing the line in 9.83, 9.87 and 9.88, respectively. Former world champion Christian Coleman was among those left behind.
The First Coast’s wait goes on for the first Olympic berths in the men’s 100 since Bob Hayes won Olympic gold in Tokyo in 1964.
Still, by reaching the final at the Olympic Trials, Miller and Williams came closer than any other male Jacksonville sprinter for a half-century. In April, Miller temporarily moved into No. 1 in the world for 2024 while still age 17 by running 9.93 in Clermont, a time that Williams matched a month later.
Miller and Williams had both survived the semifinal cut to nine runners based on their times earlier Sunday evening. Miller ran 9.94 to place third in his semifinal, and Williams advanced fourth in his semi in 9.97, edging out Kyree King by four thousandths of a second for the final berth.
For the 28-year-old Williams, the result marks his deepest-ever run in the 100 at Olympic Trials. He missed out in the semifinals for the 2016 Games and got eliminated from the opening round of qualifiers for the Tokyo Olympics.
Elimination in the 100 doesn’t necessarily slam the door on dreams of Paris.
The meet continues on for Miller, who is scheduled to race the opening round of the 200 on Thursday night. The semifinals, if he qualifies, would take place Friday, followed by the 200 final on Saturday.
Also, still to be determined is the United States’ lineup for the men’s 4x100 relay. Unlike swimming, in which relay qualification links directly to finishing order at the Olympic Trials, USA Track & Field uses a set of discretionary criteria to select the two relay athletes to compete in Paris along with automatic qualifiers Lyles, Bednarek and Kerley.
Prior relay experience in major events is among USA Track & Field’s criteria, which could potentially work in favor of Williams, a relay gold medalist at the Pan American Games in 2015.