Gator great Grant Holloway was a part of history in the 110-meter hurdles finals. During the sixth day of the USA Track and Field Olympic Trials held in Eugene, Oregon, three runners ran the hurdles in less than 13 seconds for the first time in history.
Holloway’s first-place time of 12.86 seconds fell just short of the 12.80-second world record time. In 2022 and 2023, Holloway earned gold in the 110-meter hurdles after earning silver at the Tokyo Olympics.
He is one of five current and former Gators to book a ticket to Paris during the trials. Out of the 11 current Gators who qualified for the trials, graduate student Grace Stark and junior Malcolm Clemons guaranteed their spots in the Olympics.
Junior Parker Valby’s third-place win in the women’s 10,000-meters is likely to advance to Paris, but she has yet to secure a spot. Valby failed to meet the standard time in the women’s 10k, but if she ranks well in the world rankings pool, she could deliver her next run in Paris.
Stark ran a personal best and Olympic standard time of 12.31 seconds in the women’s 100-meter hurdles finals. She placed third overall and earned a spot in Paris.
However, graduate student Vanessa Watson did advance beyond the first round in the women’s 400-meter hurdles. Watson finished seventh in her heat with a time of 1:00.22.
None of the men’s current track athletes qualified for Paris. Senior Jenoah McKiver and freshman Rios Prude Jr. did not qualify for the men’s 400. Despite advancing to the men’s semifinals with a season-best time of 45.12, McKiver finished fifth in his heat and failed to qualify for the finals.
Senior Robert Gregory Jr. finished seventh in the finals with his 20.56 run in the men’s 200-meters.
In the field events, junior Malcolm Clemons was the only Gator field athlete to book a ticket to the Olympics. He placed second in the men’s long jump with a top distance of 26-10 feet.
Senior Caleb Foster, who also competed in the long jump, did not advance past the first round. Senior Sean Dixon-Bodie did not qualify in the men’s triple jump, but he did reach a new personal best distance of 55-1 1/2 feet.
In the javelin throw finals, graduate student Abraham Sargent finished eleventh in the trials with a top distance of 221-2 feet. Senior Claire Bryant ended her season with a tenth-place finish in the women’s long jump with a top distance of 21-1 1/4 feet.
Former Gator Jasmine Moore placed first and second in the triple jump and long jump, respectively. 2022 Gator Anna Hall earned gold in the heptathlon.
While the trials concluded, the final roster of athletes will not be announced until July 7. This time period gives USA Track and Field time to ensure that every spot on the time is filled by athletes who meet the Olympic standard times.
For the athletes who advanced to Paris, the Olympic Games will be held between August 1 and 11.
Contact Liana Handler at lhandler@alligator.org. Follow her on Twitter @handlerliana.
