At USA Track & Field’s Wednesday press conference, officials announced a postponement on deciding the tiebreaker for the women’s 100-meter dash. Speaking afterwards, gold medalist Bernard Lagat spoke about running the 5,000 meters for possibly the last time competitively.
It was announced that the tiebreaker for the women’s 100-meter dash between Allyson Felix and Jeneba Tarmoh will be finalized in a meeting with the athletes and coach after Saturday’s final for the women’s 200 meters. The final tiebreaker will be announced Saturday evening or Sunday morning, USATF said.
After official announcements, the conference broke out into individual interviews of athletes competing in the remainder of the Olympic Trials.
Competitors present included Will Claye, Christian Taylor, Chaunte Lowe, Aries Merritt, Jason Richardson, David Oliver, Jillian Camarena-Williams and Bernard Lagat.
Lagat, 37, will be entering the men’s 5,000-meter run but not the 1,500 meters. He expressed during the press conference that he doesn’t feel he can compete at the pace of a 1,500 anymore, and that this Olympic year will be his last shot at the 5,000. He also spoke to reporters about his history at the University of Oregon.
“The track I’ve run the most, I think, is Hayward Field,” Lagat said. The five-time gold medalist has been running the Prefontaine Classic every year at Hayward since 2001 — only missing the race once in 2004. He also had some words of advice for younger athletes.
“Be patient, work hard and set practical, realistic goals,” he said.