By Amy Tennery
(Reuters) – U.S. track star Allyson Felix is going to the Olympics – for a fifth time.
The 35-year-old punched her ticket to Tokyo on Sunday, finishing second in the 400 metres at the U.S. trials in 50.02 seconds to claim her spot for the Summer Games, extending a glittering career with nine Olympic medals already in her coffers.
With her 2-1/2-year-old daughter, Camryn, watching from the stands, Felix once again showed why she is the most decorated female track athlete in American history, exploding off the blocks and fending off a stacked field.
“It has been a fight to get here and one thing I know how to do is fight,” Felix said after the race. “To make the fifth one – so special.”
Her chance of competing in Tokyo appeared in doubt as she trailed going into the final 50 metres, but she fought to the finish line, before rolling onto her back and kicking her legs in the air in celebration.
Felix, who picked up a record 13th gold at the 2019 World Championships, will be joined in Tokyo by Quanera Hayes, who won in 49.78, and Wadeline Jonathas, who finished third in 50.03.
Elsewhere in the day’s action inside Eugene, Oregon’s Hayward Field, 2016 Olympian Rudy Winkler threw for 82.71 metres and the American record in the hammer throw, winning the U.S. trials for a second time in a row.
Emma Coburn, the 2016 bronze medalist in the 3000-metre steeplechase, was headed to Thursday’s final in the event after putting up a leading time of 9:21.32 in the opening round.
(Reporting by Amy Tennery; editing by Richard Pullin)