There was no dead heat, this time.
Allyson Felix ran a lifetime-best 21.69 seconds in the 200-meter final on a rain-soaked track Saturday night in the U.S. Olympic trials. She easily pulled away, no signs of the stress from the last week weighing her down.
Still to be determined is whether she'll be competing in the 100 after finishing in a third-place tie with training partner Jeneba Tarmoh last Saturday. They might have a runoff - a winner-take-all race - or flip a coin to decide the final spot for the London Games in the event.
Another option is Felix simply surrendering her spot to Tarmoh, because she's already going in the 200 and Tarmoh isn't after finishing a distant fifth.
A resolution is likely to come Sunday.
On this night, the Felix had the stage to herself.
Wearing neon yellow compression sleeves on her legs, Felix was easy to spot as she settled into the blocks. She was even easier to detect once she flew off the starting line, jumping out to a commanding lead. Felix smiled as she crossed the finish line and clapped her hands before raising them high over her head.
Whew. She was in.
''I knew she was going to be fast,'' her coach Bobby Kersee said. ''But I didn't know she was going to roll out like this. That was very, very impressive.''
Carmelita Jeter finished 0.42 seconds behind and Sanya Richards-Ross even farther back in third to round out the London-bound team. No matter, it's still a double for both of them as Jeter also won the 100 and Richards-Ross captured the 400.
''My coach really didn't want me to run, because I caught a little cramp after the100,'' Jeter said. ''I'm sure everybody is a little relaxed now.''
Kersee told The Associated Press that Sunday morning he and his two athletes, Felix and Tarmoh, will sit down for breakfast and reach a decision.
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