Nia Ali ran the 3rd-fastest hurdles time of her life but missed making her 2nd Olympic team by 6-100ths of a second Sunday night in Eugene.
Ali ran 12.37 and placed 4th at the U.S. Olympic Trials at Hayward Field, finishing just behind 3rd-place finisher Grace Stark, who ran 12.31.
Ali, the 2016 silver medalist and 2021 World Champion, ran 12.30 in Monaco last July, and 12.34 in Qatar in 2019 when she won the World Championships.
Masai Russell won the race in 12.25 – 4th-fastest in world history – and Alaysha Johnson was 2nd in 12.31 – 11th-fastest in world history.
Only 18 women in world history have run faster than Ali ran Sunday night. Until Sunday night, only two women had ever run faster at the U.S. Trials – Gail Devers with 12.33 in Sacramento in 2000 and Brianna Rollins in Eugene in 2008.
Her time would have won the Trials in every other year.
Ali’s 12.37 is 5th-fastest in the world this year.
It’s the fastest 4th-place time in any hurdles ever held anywhere. The previous fastest 4th-place time was 12.44 by Brittany Anderson of Jamaica at the Van Damme Invitational at Boudewijnstadion in Brussels, Belgium, on Sept. 2, 2022. The previous fastest 4th-place time in a U.S. national championship was a 12.46 by Johnson last year, also in Eugene.
The fastest previous 4th-place time at an Olympic Trials was Gabbi Cunningham’s 12.53 in 2021.
Ali skipped the 2021 Trials to have her 3rd baby. She’s 35 years old and will be 39 when the 2028 Trials roll around. But she’s still one of the best in the world and showing no sign of slowing down.
Ali’s 12.30 last summer in Monaca is the fastest time ever run by a woman 34 or older. Her 12.37 Sunday is fastest ever by a woman 35 or older. Gail Devers ran 12.40 at 35 in Lausanne, Switzerland, in 2002.
This was Ali’s 9th hurdles final at nationals and her 4th consecutive finish among the top four. She won her first U.S. title last year in 12.37 – the same time she ran Sunday. She placed 5th in 2011, 8th in 2012, 3rd in 2013, 8th in 2014, 3rd in the 2016 Trials, 2nd in 2017 and 2nd in 2019.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 