EUGENE, OR — Yes, I need a ticket to Paris and I need to be there before July 26.
Ironton native McKenzie Long is part of the travel arrangements being made by the United States Olympic track and field team after her third place finish in the 200-meter dash that qualified her for the Summer Games in Paris.
Long was third in the semifinals on Friday at 22.01 seconds.
Long eclipsed that time with a 21.91 clocking in Saturday’s Olympic Trials finals.
The race was extremely tight as Gabby Thomas won with a 21.81 time followed by Brittany Brown at 21.90, just one one-hundredth of a second ahead of Long.
Sha’Carri Richardson — who won the 100 meters trials — was second in the semifinals at 21.92 but was fourth in the finals at 22.16 seconds.
Tamara Clark was fifth at 22.20, Abby Steiner sixth at 22.24, Jenna Prandini seventh at 22.58 and Jadyn Mays eighth at 22.60 seconds.
A total of 35 sprinters began the preliminaries but only the final 3 runners qualified for the Olympic team.
Long has the fastest 200 time this year in the 200 meters at 21.83 seconds that she ran to win the event at the NCAA Championships on June 8, also in Eugene.
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