They're not called trials for nothing
EUGENE, Ore. — Some say the pressure of making the Olympics is sometimes harder to handle than the Olympics themselves.
Pole vaulter Jenn Stuczynski and sprinters Wallace Spearmon and Marshevet Hooker would be the last ones to argue.
The day after Tyson Gay's untimely fall reminded everyone there are no sure things in track, that threesome reinforced the thought, working harder than anyone might have imagined to make it to Beijing on Sunday, the last day of the U.S. Olympic track and field trials.
Allyson Felix was among those who had an easy day, cruising to a victory in the 200 to grab a spot that she hadn't secured thanks to her less-than-satisfying finish in the 100 the first weekend.
For drama — well, you could look almost anywhere else and find some on a day in which 33 spots were up for grabs.
"That was just heart," Spearmon said of the late burst that helped him grab the final spot in the men's 200 even though he was expected to make it easily. "I've been telling everyone — I'm not staying home. I'm not staying home."
Stuczynski isn't either, not after setting the American record in the pole vault at 16 feet, 1C\v inches. But that mark came only after she missed on her first two jumps at the lowest height and needed an emotion-draining third and final attempt to avoid posting a no-height.
"The first one didn't scare me. The second one made me a little nervous," she said. "When I got to the third, I didn't feel good either, but I got over."
And Hooker, who ran the fifth-fastest time ever in the 100 (it was wind aided) to start the meet last weekend, crashed across the line to win the final spot in the 200 by .01 seconds. She needed that because she didn't earn a spot in the 100, despite her fast times in qualifying.
"I felt relief, I felt blessed, I felt joy, I felt everything at once," said Hooker, who paid the price with scrapes on her elbow, hip, hand and leg. "And I felt the sting."
In the final event of the trials, three-time 1,500 national champion Alan Webb finished fifth and missed the Olympics in one of the more competitive fields at the trials. The qualifiers were Bernard Lagat (a native of Kenya), Lopez Lomong (Sudan) and Leo Manzano (Mexico) — three men born in different lands who made it to America and will now wear red, white and blue at the Olympics.
"That means America is a melting pot," Lagat said. "America is where they welcome everybody regardless of their place of birth."
Lagat, also the champion in the 5,000, was the only person over the two-week meet to win two events.
Felix won the 200 easily, finishing in 21.82 seconds to secure the trip she didn't wrap up last week in the 100, when she finished out of the top three.
It made for a long wait, but she rolled with it.
"I'm a laid-back person. I was just relaxing, waiting for this, thinking about it, waiting to get started," she said. "I'm relieved, but it's not done yet hardly. Now it's time to go back to work."
Spearmon figured to coast to victory but he finished third, just ahead of Rodney Martin to get the final spot in the 200, the one freed up when Gay fell Saturday in the quarterfinals.
"I got third, and the question is now, if he was here would I have made the team?" Spearmon said. "I can't answer that question. I'm here. That's all I can tell you."
Gay's MRI showed a strain in a muscle in the back of his left leg. He's restricted to light workouts for the next two weeks, but said he'd be ready for the Olympics.
