Stung from feeling like her indoor world title had been discounted by her hurdling peers, Lolo Jones knew her validation would come during the outdoor season.
It came Sunday. Fast.
With a wind of nearly double the allowable limit behind her, Jones’s 100m hurdles win in 12.29 seconds tied Gail Devers for the fastest time under any conditions in U.S. history.
“I’ll show everybody outdoors,” Jones said, remembering her feelings. “Did I earn you guys’ respect now?”
Damu Cherry, the American leader in the hurdles before today, finished second in 12.58. Third place went to Dawn Harper over Nichole Denby by seven thousandths of a second.
Considering the type of abuse the United States’ top hurdlers took in the morning’s semifinals, Jones’ dash was even more remarkable.
Two-time defending world champion Michelle Perry failed to advance to the afternoon’s final after finishing sixth in the semifinal. 2004 Olympic gold medalist Joanna Hayes did advance from her semifinal, but not before she limped to the athlete’s tent for treatment. She finished seventh in 12.96.
Mental toughness was Cherry’s key to making her first Olympic team.
“There were some days in practice I felt really, really bad but I kept saying ‘You’ll feel like this in the final,’ and I sure did,” Cherry, 30, said. “No matter what, I’m going to keep fighting.”
Running with pain was nothing new to Harper, who punched her ticket to Beijing only four months after having surgery on her right knee to clean out a bone chip. The surgery left her unable to train for a month.
“I only had time for positive thoughts,” Harper said.
In the first semifinal heat, Cherry ran what was the world’s second fastest time of 12.48, followed by Kellie Wells in 12.58.
Five minutes later, Jones quickly usurped Cherry’s short reign as the fastest in the world this season with her personal best of 12.45 in the second semi.
Perry, meanwhile, couldn’t regain her form from last season.
“There’s not really words for what just happened to me,” an upset Perry said. “I fought, that’s all I can say.”
Jones said she knew she had a good start when she left the blocks, and kept running “like a freight train.” Crossing the finish line, she ripped off her white sunglasses with glee, taking another 50 meters to stop running her celebration.
Jones missed the Olympic Trials final in 2004.
“It was like one, two or three, don’t care about the time,” she said. “Did I make this team? That’s what I wanted.”
Her impressive time didn’t concern her as much as the win.
“I was, but I take it with a grain of salt because was it wind-aided,” she said. “The bigger picture is six weeks later I gotta do it again.”
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