Felix notches 5th Olympics trip

EUGENE, Ore. — Flat on her back, gasping for breath, Allyson Felix kept her eyes on the scoreboard.

When her name came up in the second spot in the 400 meters, she kicked up her heels and covered her face with her hands.

No doubt, this fifth trip to the Olympics is her sweetest.

The 35-year-old mom rallied from fifth at the start of the homestretch to the second-place finish at U.S. track trials Sunday. It earned her the chance to win a 10th Olympic medal and break a tie with Jamaica’s Merlene Ottey as the most decorated female track athlete in the history of the games.

“It has been a fight to get here, and one thing I know how to do is to fight,” Felix said. “I just did it all the way home.”

Running from outside her usual comfort zone, in Lane 8, Felix got off to a fast start and led 100 meters in. Slowly, she lost the lead, lost her grip on the third spot and was fighting just to stay close. But in a closing burst that will likely go down as one her her best, she reeled in half the field.

She finished in 50.02 seconds, 0.24 behind Quanera Hayes and 0.01 ahead of Wadeline Jonathas.

University of Arkansas junior Markus Ballengee broke the school record in the decathlon, scoring 8,097 points to finish seventh overall. Ballengee broke the previous record of 7,955 points set in 2012 by Kevin Lazas.

Former Razorback Payton Chadwick reached the 100m hurdles finals and finished seventh with a time of 12.66. Razorback Krissy Gear posted a time of 9:47.59 in the 3,000m steeplechase to finish eighth in her heat and 16th overall.

Former Arkansas State University runners Sharika Nelvis (100m hurdles, 12.81) and Jaylen Bacon (100m, 10.17) failed to get out of their respective semifinal heats.

In a jam-packed 100 men’s final, 39-year-old Justin Gatlin pulled up lame about halfway through the race and finished last. Trayvon Bromell, Ronnie Baker and Fred Kerley finished in the top three spots, also leaving Noah Lyles out of the mix (but still the favorite in the 200).