EUGENE, Ore. — When Lolo Jones finished last in the fourth heat of the women’s 100-meter hurdles at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials on Friday night at Hayward Field, she didn’t hop in a time machine and go back to 2008.
Despite finishing last, Jones advanced to Saturday’s semifinals. She was joined by reigning Olympic silver medalist Keni Harrison, who topped the qualifying round with a season-best time of 12.49 seconds. Due to multiple withdrawals in the women’s 100-meter hurdles, all qualifiers advanced.
“If I wake up tomorrow and I don’t need my cane, I’m going to go!” said Jones, who competed at the Olympic Track and Field Trials in 2012 and the Drake Relays in April.
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At age 41, Jones is old enough to compete in the Masters Championships in athletics. He once held the world record in the 100m hurdles and was the favorite to win gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, but stumbled at the penultimate hurdle and finished seventh. His desire to win an Olympic medal led him to take up bobsledding, and he competed in the two-man bobsleigh at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.
Jones had not been able to jump over hurdles for six or seven straight weeks until Friday because of a lingering hamstring injury, and although he jumped over one hurdle on Thursday morning, “the pain brought me to tears.”
Of all the competitors in the women’s 100-meter hurdles, it was Jones who received the loudest cheers from the Hayward Field crowd.
“I’m so grateful,” Jones said. “I hadn’t seen them in so long I thought they’d forgotten about me.”
When asked how he got over 10 hurdles on Friday, Jones didn’t hesitate for a moment to say it was sheer willpower or adrenaline.
“Toradol,” she deadpans, then laughs. “My official sponsor at 40!”
Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs will be key for the rest of the weekend.
Jones said she was “taken out” of bobsledding because of her age. She wouldn’t say whether it was her coach or the federation that made the decision, saying it was “a mixed bag.” But she knew her sprint records meant she could still compete in the hurdles. Her goal this season was to become the first woman in her 40s to qualify for the 100m hurdles. Her goal this morning was to finish the race for fear of “injuring her hamstring.”
“If you don’t make the Olympic team, your life can end in your 20s,” she said. “I want to show people that you can be good in your 40s and hopefully someone else will follow in my footsteps and be good in their 40s. Sports science is improving. I want young people to look at me and know that they can live a long life.”
Harrison recorded the fourth-fastest time in the heats. Masai Russell recorded the best time of the day (12.35), followed by Aleisha Johnson (12.37), Tonea Marshall (12.41) and Harrison.
“The competition is tougher than it’s ever been, but I believe I have what it takes and I can still come out on top,” Harrison said. “At my first trials (in 2012), I was crying in the back because I was scared. Coming here, prepared and confident, it shows I’ve matured.”
Nia Ali, the 2016 Olympic silver medalist and 2019 world champion, finished last in the third heat and told NBC she made a last-minute decision not to push herself because everyone automatically advanced.
“The warm-up didn’t go as planned,” said Ali, who had the sixth-fastest time in the world going into the qualifying rounds. “I knew everyone was going to get through. … I just did what I had to do.”
The final is scheduled for Sunday at 8pm (5pm local time).
Jones knows 14 seconds doesn’t mean a whole lot in track and field, but she believes in her heart that she can shock the world this weekend and make the U.S. national team.
“When you have lanes, anything can happen,” Jones said.
Email Lindsay Schnell at lschnell@usatoday.com and follow her on social media. Lindsay Schnell
