High-school student Sydney McLaughlin hurdled her way onto the US Olympic team on Sunday, becoming the youngest track and field athlete to qualify for the Games in 36 years.
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But she maintained her composure brilliantly in Sunday’s final at Hayward Field, holding her own to clinch third place with a time of 54.15 seconds, a junior world record.
McLaughlin’s time of 54.14 was a junior world record.
The last 16-year-old to compete in the Olympics for the USA was 100m hurdler Rhonda Brady in the Montreal Games in 1976.
After the race, McLaughlin told reporters she nearly pulled out of the meet on the first day because of a “nervous breakdown”.
Previous year at the world championships in Beijing, Huddle celebrated too early in the 10,000-meter race, costing her the bronze medal.
“Sometimes, I just forget that I’m 16”, McLaughlin told the Associated Press. “There’s not as much expectation”. “It was the big stage, ‘I don’t know if I can do this, I don’t know if I belong here’. I am just here for fun”.
QUALIFICATION ALERT: Jenn Suhr will get to defend her Olympic gold medal in the pole vault after winning the event at the U.S. Track and Field Trials. But one of her opponents at the trials, fourth-place finisher Kori Carter, said it was obvious that McLaughlin, had the right stuff.
“She’s a beast”, Carter said.
She said she planned to celebrate by eating a cheeseburger and sweet potato fries. “She’s the truth. I was in every single heat with her and she carries herself like a pro”. She will join her brother, Taylor McLaughlin, who also qualified for the U.S. Olympic team.
“I don’t know what happened”, said Prandini, who finished in 22.53 seconds.
Erik Kynard, who won the silver medal in the high jump at the London Games, won the event at the U.S. Track and Field Trials to earn a spot in the Rio Games next month.
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“She’s super-consistent as a racer”, McCabe said. She leaned, and then barreled over the finish line of the 1,500-meter final to take the third and final spot.
