Women’s sprints end in close calls

Published 5:00 am Sunday, June 24, 2012

EUGENE — A run-off for the final spot? Maybe a game of rock, paper, scissors?

With no protocol in place, there’s no guessing how they’ll break the tie for the third and final spot in the 100 meters.

Allyson Felix and Jeneba Tarmoh finished in a dead heat for the last U.S. spot in the London Games at the Olympic trials, each finishing in 11.068 seconds Saturday.

USA Track and Field officials were meeting late into the night to sort out how to break this sort of tie and who will join Carmelita Jeter, the winner in 10.92 seconds, and second-place Tianna Madison. Spokeswoman Jill Geer said she didn’t know when a decision would be reached.

Originally, Tarmoh was declared the third-place finisher and the official scoring said she had edged training partner Felix by 0.0001 seconds. But the results were reviewed, and after a lengthy delay, the dead heat was announced.

In swimming, ties are settled with swim-offs between the two deadlocked opponents. Track has tiebreaking procedures for many of its events, as well, but this is a special case for which there is no written solution — a tie for the last spot on the Olympic team.

Elsewhere on Saturday, Lolo Jones’ leaned at the finish line to earn the third and final Olympic spot in the 100 hurdles by 0.04 seconds. Dawn Harper won in 12.73. Tyson Gay made it through his first 100 heat cleanly, while LaShawn Merritt, Jeremy Wariner and Sanya Richards-Ross all advanced in the 400.

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