Keni Harrison wins silver in 100m hurdles at Tokyo Games

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TOKYO — 5 years in the past, Keni Harrison mustered a smile as disappointment welled in her eyes. “I do not know what occurred,” she stated.

She had arrived on the 2016 U.S. Olympic monitor and subject trials because the prohibitive favourite within the 100-meter hurdles, not simply to win the occasion but additionally doubtlessly take gold in Rio. As an alternative, she had completed sixth – shocked, heartbroken and off the group solely.

For the subsequent 1,851 days, the frustration of that second fueled Harrison. And on Monday, she lastly bought redemption. The 28-year-old gained a silver medal on the Tokyo Olympics with a time of 12.52 seconds, narrowly defeating Jamaica’s Megan Tapper, who gained bronze, and ending behind solely Jasmine Camacho-Quinn of Puerto Rico, who took gold.

The opposite American competitor within the subject, Gabbi Cunningham, got here in seventh.

“I feel lacking out in Rio, it is all the time behind my head once I’m coaching,” Harrison stated. “That is what continues to make me work laborious – simply remembering that second of getting sixth on the U.S. trials.

“So simply selecting myself again up and simply going after it, simply constructing my confidence again up – to get a silver medal to convey dwelling to my nation, I could not be happier.”

Harrison was born in Tennessee and adopted as an toddler. Her dad and mom, Karon and Gary, have 11 kids, nine of whom are adopted – together with two from Bolivia and two of Korean heritage.

The center little one of the household, Harrison began out as a soccer participant earlier than shifting her focus to trace. She ran collegiately for the College of Kentucky and gained a pair of nationwide championships as a senior, then caught across the following 12 months as a volunteer assistant coach whereas coaching for Rio.

That is when she first bought to know Camacho-Quinn, who was a freshman on the group. They skilled collectively frequently and shared the identical coach.

“I feel we introduced the perfect out of one another,” Harrison stated. “I knew she wished to beat me, I wished to beat her. So it introduced this good aggressive edge.”

Camacho-Quinn, who has now run the 5 quickest occasions on the planet this 12 months, stated her time coaching with Harrison virtually helped put her relaxed in Monday’s last. It introduced again reminiscences of their coaching classes in Lexington.

“It actually calmed me down within the blocks,” stated Camacho-Quinn, whose brother, Robert, performs within the NFL. “I feel with that have we had collectively, that introduced us up to now. We each know what it look.”

After lacking out on the Olympic group in 2016, Harrison proceeded to set a brand new world document of 12.20 seconds at a Diamond League occasion the next month. In the meantime, the U.S. girls went on to comb the medal spots in Rio, led by Brianna Rollins-McNeal.

Harrison stated the frustration of the 2016 trials motivated her, however by no means prompted her to doubt her capacity.