American Record: Florence Griffith Joyner, 21.34
2007 U.S. Champion: Allyson Felix, 22.34
2004 Olympic Trials Champion: Allyson Felix, 22.28
Top 5 Seed Times
1.) Allyson Felix, 21.81
2.) Porscha Lucas, 22.29
3.) Muna Lee, 22.30
4.) Ebonie Floyd, 22.32
5.) Bianca Knight, 22.40
NBC has tailored its promotions for the Olympic Trials around Allyson Felix for a reason: Her entry mark of 21.81 seconds is almost half a second faster than Lucas, and is the fastest time by a woman this century. She has been on fire since she took silver in Athens. Besides posting her personal best en route to the 2007 200-meter world championship, Felix won two other gold medals at the same meet, the second time in history a woman has done such a feat. She also collected the 2005 world championship, has won the U.S. title at the distance three times and is the World Juniors record holder.
Porscha Lucas has the second-fastest time of the meet, and comes right from Texas A&M University, where she ran her 22.29 mark at the Big 12 Conference Outdoor Championships and was the 2008 Big 12 Conference Performer of the Year. As a freshman at A&M, she ran a world-leading 2007 for juniors with her time of 22.79.
Muna Lee is a LSU graduate who was on the gold medal-winning 4×100 meter-winning team for the U.S. at the 2005 World Championships. She’s been here before, taking second at the 2004 Olympic Trials and finishing seventh in Athens. She also has the third-fastest time in the world this season, following Felix and Lucas. Look for Lee to find herself on a second Olympic team.