By Hannah Bonnie
Oregon’s Devon Allen dominated the 110-meter hurdles Saturday at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials, beating the rest of the field by .2 seconds, the biggest margin in trials history, with a time of 13.03, a personal record.
When Allen’s name was announced before the race, the crowd began cheering and screaming, showing him their obvious support. He reciprocated by throwing up the Oregon “O.” Then, he exploded off the starting line and kept the momentum going. After the race, he jumped into the stands and ran into the crowd to hug his mom and dad.
“I was just really excited,” he said.
Because he won both his semifinal heat and the final, Allen remained undefeated in the event at Hayward Field. He won his heat with a time of 13.40, the second fastest time overall.
“The fans are amazing; everything about this place is amazing,” said Allen.
Though he ran a personal best, he still was not satisfied with his time, saying, “I was hoping for a 12 — that was my goal today, but 13 flat is good, too.”
In January 2015, Allen injured his ACL while playing for Oregon’s football team in the Rose Bowl. Because of this, he was forced to miss most of the track season last year.
Behind Allen, finishing in 13.205, was Ronnie Ash and .001 seconds behind Ash was Jeff Porter. This was smallest distance between two finishers in trials history.
It was obviously a very close race, one that eliminated the world record holder, Aries Merritt, who finished behind Porter in 13.22. The three of them finished so close together that Merritt was positive that he had placed in the top three. He said that he only saw Allen finish in front of him.
“I still feel like I was second or third,” he said. “So, when it came up I was fourth, I was kind of shocked.”
Because of this, Merritt said that he will probably protest the results. This is a double edged sword for Porter because he is the vice chair on the USATF Athletes Advisory Committee and also the third-place finisher. Should Merritt succeed in his protest, Porter would not be going to Rio. Yet, as a chair member, he wants to support Merritt’s right to his protest.
“I play two roles now right,” said Porter. “I’m an athlete advocate, and I’m also a competitor.”
Merritt ran well despite having a kidney transplant in September and a groin tear mid-race at the Prefontaine Classic in May.
“For me to be where I am is a miracle,” he said. “At world championships last year in Beijing, I had no kidney function, roughly under 15 percent, and I was still able to do amazing things.”
The race could have been even closer had David Oliver been able to compete. The 2008 Olympic bronze medalist qualified for the final, but after the race, he limped off the track holding his hamstring. He scratched for the finals.
On Twitter, he said, “Devastated I couldn’t run the final, hurt left hammy in the semi, but that’s part of the game. Hats off to the great guys we’re sending!”
Porter has another reason to be excited for going to Rio on his second Olympic team. His wife, Tiffany, and sister-in-law, Cindy Ofili, are also competing in the short hurdles in the Olympics, but they will be competing for Great Britain.
“The Brits won’t let us stay together, and neither will Team USA, so that’ll be a nice battle to fight,” he said. “But we’re excited and we’re going to plan accordingly so we’ll both go out and get medals.”
On whether the three of them will go 1, 2, 3 at the Olympics, Ash said, “I don’t think we can be beat at the end of the day. The 110 hurdles in the U.S. — without a doubt we show up.”
