Men’s triple jump final
This year’s world leader, Christian Taylor, showed America why he will be a solid representative for the U.S. in London by posting a distance of 17.63 meters in the men’s triple jump Saturday at Hayward Field. The former Florida star won consecutive indoor and outdoor NCAA titles in the men’s triple jump during his time in Gainesville. William Claye will be the second and final athlete to represent the U.S. in the event, placing second with a personal record of 17.55 meters. Walter Davis finished third but did not qualify for London because he failed to make the Olympic “A” Standard, meaning only Taylor and Clay will be competing at the Games.
Women’s high jump final
Chaunte Lowe, Brigetta Barrett, and 36-year-old Amy Acuff will represent the U.S. in the women’s high jump in London. Lowe and Barrett both finished at the 2.01-meter mark, while Acuff was able to clear 1.95 meters. Lowe currently holds the American record in both the indoor and outdoor high jump. This will be a remarkable fifth Olympics for Acuff, a high-jump specialist from Port Arthur, Texas. Her best finish came in the 2004 Games, when she earned fourth place in the final by clearing a mark of 1.99 meters.
Men’s 110-meter hurdles final
With his first-place time of 12.93 seconds in yesterday’s final, Reebok’s Aries Merritt was just .05 seconds from breaking the American record set by David Oliver last summer. Merritt, the reigning U.S. indoor champion in the 60-meter hurdles, will be joined in London by Jason Richardson and Jeffrey Porter. Richardson and Porter punched their tickets to this year’s Games with times of 12.98 and 13.08, respectively.
