Sometimes even when the first and second times are charms, it still holds true the third time around.
Former UF track and field standout Hazel Clark qualified for her third Olympic appearance on Monday, when she won the women's 800-meter run with a time of 1:59.82. She also participated in the 2000 Sydney Games and the 2004 Athens Games.
"It was all about the will to win at the end," Clark said. "This is my third trials, third Olympic team, and I have gotten first two times. That's a hard thing to do in this country, so I am very excited.
"I think we are taking a really great team over there, and I want to bring a medal back to this country."
Clark will join former track and field alums Kerron Clement, Tiandra Ponteen and Novlene Williams-Mills in Beijing.
Clement finished second in the finals of the men's 400-meter hurdles on Sunday with a time of 48.36 to qualify for his first Olympic games.
"I crossed the line, and I knew I was an Olympian," Clement said. "I'm just really happy to make the team and represent the United States to the best of my ability. I just wanted to get out really hard and get going. I just kept saying to myself, 'Just make the team, just make the team.'"
Williams-Mills ran a time of 50.11 in the finals of the 400-meter dash to qualify for the Jamaican National Team on Sunday.
Sophomore sprinter Calvin Smith advanced to the finals of the men's 400-meter dash after he finished with a time of 45.43 in the semifinals, good for sixth place.
"I felt good," Smith said. "I got out pretty good and slowed a little bit on the second turn, but I just had to power through."
Current track standouts Lorain McKenzie and Kallinka Pitt each advanced to the finals of their respective events, but did not qualify. Pitt finished eighth in the 100-meter hurdles, and McKenzie was ninth in the 800-meter.
Distance runner Lindsay Sundell was unable to advance after finishing in 19th place in the semifinals of the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase.
