Dead-heat dispute brings 200m silence

Allyson Felix and Jeneba Tarmoh, stuck in a dispute over an Olympic berth, strode past reporters without comment after advancing in the 200 metres Thursday at the US Olympic Track and Field Trials. Both women involved in the controversy over the third and final women’s 100m Olympic berth were flanked by coach Bobby Kersee as they walked in silence through the only access point where they must meet with journalists. Tarmoh smiled and waved to a camera but otherwise said nothing about the controversy that almost everyone else at the trials is talking about. Also silent were reigning world 100m champion Carmelita Jeter and Tianna Madison, who secured 100m berths in last today’s final by finishing first and second. Training partners Felix and Tarmoh shared third in 11.068 seconds. With only three qualifying for London and USA Track and Field having no protocol to break the deadlock, the sanctioning body and US Olympic Committee created a policy that came down to a coin flip or run-off if neither backs out. Felix and Tarmoh have told USA Track and Field that they will not decide how they want to settle the matter until after Saturday’s 200m women’s final but USA Track and Field says it needs an answer by tomorrow’s conclusion of the meet. That added tension to an already heated 200m qualifying session in a race expected to be one of the toughest of the meet. Madison led 21 semi-final qualifiers by winning her heat in 22.57 with Jeter next in 22.63. Sanya Richards-Ross, already qualified in the 400 and hoping to double in London, was pleased with her heat-winning time of 22.67. “It was good,” she said.” The first round is always the toughest. You want to stay controled but you also want to go for it.” Felix, the 2004 and 2008 Olympic 200m silver medalist, was sixth-fastest overall but won her heat in 22.82 while Tarmoh was eighth overall after winning her heat in 22.90. Felix and Tarmoh will both go to London as members of the US 4x100 relay pool but only one of them can have a chance to become the first US Olympic winner in the event since Gail Devers in 1996. Bianca Knight, who was 17th in 200 qualifying, finished fifth in the 100 just behind Tarmoh and Felix and hopes to be selected to one of two open spots in the relay pool. She said the controversy was not a distraction to her. “That never bothered me at all,” she said. “I ran the race I wanted today. I’m going to have to have a personal best to make the team.” Tarmoh was originally ruled the winner by one-thousandth of a second but after referees consulted the camera image from the photo finish, it was declared a dead heat with each crossing the line in 11.068 seconds. One athlete can decline the Olympic berth. If neither does, they can agree on either a run-off or coin flip and that system will be used. If they disagree, a run-off will settle the affair. from gulf times.