Michelle Carter will participate in the Rio Olympics, and Justin Gatlin has been put on notice in the men's 200-meter race.
Michelle Carter will return to the Olympics in the women's shot put to try and get a medal after coming so close in the 2012 London Olympics. Carter qualified for the finals in London but ultimately finished in fifth place there. On Thursday, she took part in the US Track and Field Olympic trials and finished in first place.
Her best throw went 19.59 meters, edging out Raven Saunders in second. Saunders' throw went 19.24 meters, just barely ahead of Felisha Johnson at 19.23 meters in third. All three women will advance to Rio and represent the USA in the event, however.
The women's triple jump finals were also held on Wednesday, with Keturah Orji getting the win with a jump of 14.32 meters. Orji edged out Christina Epps, who managed a distance of 14.17 meters. In third was Andrea Geubelle with a distance of 13.95 meters. All three have met the Olympic standard of 14.15 meters in the past and should do well when they get to Rio.
Finally, the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase event was also held on Thursday. That event saw Emma Coburn, Courtney Frerichs and Colleen Quigley finish with the top three spots. Coburn went 9:17:48, with Frerichs in second at 9:20.92 and Quigley in third at 9:21.29. It wasn't very close after that, with Shalaya Kipp taking fourth place at 9:28.72.
Coburn competed in the event at the London Olympics and finished in ninth place.
In non-finals news, Justin Gatlin lost his first race to someone other than Usain Bolt since 2013. He finished second to Ameer Webb in the 200-meter preliminaries on Thursday. Both will advance to Friday's semifinals, but it's significant nonetheless. It was Gatlin's first individual loss since finishing in second to Bolt in the 100-meter and 200-meter at the 2015 World Championships.
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