in the usa olympic trials, 26-year-old felix had run 21.69, the fourth fastest performance in history, to become the favorite in london. She finished fifth in the 100 meters on Saturday, an event she used to help prepare her for the speed and endurance required in the 200.
It paid off on Wednesday, when Felix crossed the finish line with a relieved smile on his face after settling for silver in the 200m in 2004 and 2008.
“I mean, finally,” he said after the race. “It has taken a long time to arrive. I am very happy.”
running in lane 7, he couldn’t see any of his main rivals until he came out of the corner, except for his compatriot, carmelita jeter, who was outside in lane 9. jeter, who took silver in the 100, won bronze in the 200 at 22.14.
but it didn’t matter that felix had a limited view of his opponents. She came off the curve to pass defending two-time Olympic champion Veronica Campbell-Brown of Jamaica.
Felix kept her graceful form very well and pulled away down the stretch, becoming the only sprinter to finish under 22 seconds. Campbell-Brown faded to fourth place, while her Jamaican teammate Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce took silver at 22.09.
women’s long jump: brittney reese won the long jump, becoming the second u.s. jumper. uu. woman to win the event at the olympic games.
The two-time world champion came into the competition with the best jump of the season and posted the best mark in the final with 23 feet, 4 1/2 inches on her second attempt. she is the first u.s. woman to win the olympic long jump since jackie joyner-kersee in 1988. elena sokolova of russia took silver with 23-2 1/2 and janay deloach won bronze for the united states with 22-7 1/4 .
“It’s a surreal moment,” Reese said. “I got really excited, you do when you represent your country.”
Men’s 110m Hurdles: Aries Merritt led a 1-2 finish for the United States, winning in 12.92 seconds. Defending champion Dayron Robles of Cuba stopped midway through and grabbed his right hamstring.
jason richardson, the world champion, was second in 13.04. parchment hansle from jamaica took the bronze in 13.12.
“I’ve worked so hard for this moment, and who knows if I’ll ever get this chance again.” merritt said.
Women’s 400m hurdles:Natyya Antyukh of Russia won the women’s 400m hurdles, beating world champion lashinda demus and narrowly missing the Olympic record.
antyukh, a bronze medalist in the 400 meters at the 2004 olympics, won in 52.70 seconds, just 0.06 seconds shy of the olympic record set by melaine walker in beijing.
demus took silver in 52.77 and zuzana hejnova from the czech republic took bronze in 53.38.
Other Events: Americans Ashton Eaton (3,698 points) and Trey Hardee (3,537 points) lead the men’s decathlon standings after five events. the competition concludes on Thursday. … San Francisco native Shannon Rowbury qualified for Friday’s 1500-meter final with a time of 4:05.47, the slowest qualifying time. … cal alum alysia johnson montano had the fastest time (2:00.47) in round 1 of qualifying in the 800 meters. the semifinals are on Thursday.