A familiar face made it into the U.S. Olympic Trials at the last minute.
English Gardner, a graduate of Eastern high School and a 2016 Olympic gold medalist in the 400-meter relay, ran her fastest 100-meter dash in three years over the weekend in Maryland, earning a lane in the Olympic Trials one day before the qualifying window closed.
Gardner ran 11.13 at the 2nd Annual High Performance Domestic Opportunity meet Saturday at Our Lady of Good Counsel High School in Olney, Md.
It was her fastest legal time since 2018, when she ran 11.02 at Rovereto Palio Città della Quercia in Rovereto, Italy.
The qualifying standard for the 100 at the Trials, which start Friday at Gardner’s college track – Hayward Field at the University of Oregon in Eugene – is 11.15.
Gardner ranks No. 8 in world history and No. 5 all-time U.S. with her winning 10.74 at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials at Hayward Field in Eugene in July of 2016. She placed 7th in the 100 final at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro with a 10.94.
Gardner ran an 11.10 in Jacksonville, Fla., on May 31, but it was assisted by a 2.5 meters-per-second wind and not eligible to qualify her for the Trials.
She ran 11.23 in the trials in Olney on Saturday before getting 2-100ths of a second under the standard in the final – with a legal 0.6 wind – in her last chance to qualify for the Trials.,
This will be Gardner’s third Olympic Trials. In 2012, she placed seventh in Eugene.
The first round of the 100 is scheduled for 6:37 p.m. Friday. The semifinals are at 6:03 p.m. on Saturday and the final at 7:51 p.m. Saturday.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 