July 2, 2012
The Flats – Former Georgia Tech All-American Angelo Taylor earned a trip to his fourth Olympic Games by finishing second in the men’s 400-meter hurdles Sunday night at Hayward Field on the University of Oregon campus in Eugene, Ore.
Taylor was leading the race before clipping the ninth hurdle, but recovered to finish in second place with a time of 48.57.
“Well, I knew it was going to be a tough, grind-out race,” Taylor said. “I got out pretty good, and I was going at a fast pace down the backstretch. I clipped hurdle No. 9, and it threw me off, but I told myself to keep going, and I regained my composure. I’d like to congratulate Michael [Tinsley] and Kerron [Clement] for making the team.”
Taylor competed in the 2000 Sydney Olympics, 2004 Athens, Olympics and the 2008 Beijing Olympics. In Sydney and Beijing, he won the gold medal in the 400-meter hurdles. Taylor added a second gold in Beijing in the 4×400-meter relay.
“Not many people make it to their 4th Olympic team, so this is something that I really wanted to do,” Taylor said. “I knew the competition I was facing. My main goal was just to stay healthy…and goal #2 was just to make the team. It took sacrifice, and putting in the time day in and day out to get to this point.”
Another former Yellow Jacket Chaunte Lowe (Howard) also earned a spot on the U.S.’s London 2012 team by winning the women’s high jump with a mark of 2.01 meters. Lowe competed in the high jump at the 2004 Athens Olympics and finished sixth in the high jump with a height of 1.99 meters at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
— RamblinWreck.com —
