Seven more Gators are headed to the Olympic Games in Rio, but their performances were largely overshadowed by that of a future Florida athlete who didn’t even make the cut.
Noah Lyles, who will run for the Gators next season, represented T.C. Williams High School in the 200-meter Olympic prelims where he bested seasoned-pro runner Tyson Gay and finished first with a blazing 20.04-second race on Thursday.
Unfortunately for him, that was only the prelims. His 20.09 in the finals on Saturday put him in fourth place, one spot away from advancing to Rio.
However, his finals’ time was good enough to break the 31-year-old national high school 200-meter record by 0.04 seconds.
While Lyles likely won’t be going to Rio, multiple Gators will be.
Chief among them is Arman Hall, who finished fourth in the 400-meter dash last week. On Monday, USA Track and Field announced Hall will be running in the 4x400-meter relay. He is the only Gator track athlete who will be running for the U.S. after also competing for UF this past season.
In addition, Kerron Clement will run in the 400-meter hurdles after finishing first in the trials. Will Claye (triple jump), Tony McQuay (4x400-meter relay) and Christian Taylor (triple jump) will join him for the U.S.
Outside of the American competitors, Novlene Williams-Mills will run in the 4x400-meter relay for Jamaica’s women’s squad while swimmer Rex Tullius was added to the roster of the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Contact Ethan Bauer at ebauer@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @ebaueri
