Akinosun homes in on Olympic Games debut in Rio after blistering performance in Austin
Top coach backs 21-year-old who qualified for US trials as she won 100m at Texas Relays for record third-consecutive time
Akinosun also ran in the 4x100m relay in the Texas Relays in Austin (Photo: Joshua Guerra)
Text: Jacob Martella
Morolake Akinosun flew by the 21,006 brightly coloured spectators at the 89th Texas Relays earlier this month. By the time she completed the 100m sprint, the 21-year-old stood alone in first place, holding off the field for an event-record third-straight win in the race in Austin.
Even more important than the record win was Akinosun’s time of 11.07 seconds (see video below), fast enough to go to the US Olympic trials in July and compete for a place at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
“That was my second 100m of the year... it can only get better from here”
Morolake Akinosun, USA Olympic hopeful
VIDEO: WL: 11,07 (+1,9) på 100 meter av Morolake Akinosun/@BelieveMoe på Texas Relays.
— Friidrottsnyheter (@AthleticsSweden) April 2, 2016
Res: https://t.co/QBbmzKHeTn pic.twitter.com/xLlVceXu9N
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Akinosun, a senior at the University of Texas at Austin, finished fifth in March in the 50m dash at the Indoor Championships of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and second in the 100m sprint in the 2015 NCAA Outdoor Championships. After her podium-topping performance at the Texas Relays on 2 April, her eyes are now set on reaching her first Olympic Games.
Her head coach, Mario Sategna, who will be part of the USA track and field coaching staff in Brazil, said that Rio 2016 is an attainable goal for her.
“To run that fast this early in the year, that’s I think one of the great benefits with a lot of these collegiate athletes,” Sategna said. “They’re going to get a lot of quality races leading into the Olympic trials, so that’s a definite benefit."
“If you can get through the trials and to the final, anything can happen”
Mario Sategna, head coach, University of Texas athletics
University of Texas senior Akinosun is trying to reach her first Olympic Games (Photo: Joshua Guerra)
Akinosun was one of many Olympic hopefuls from around the world who participated in this year’s Texas Relays, from 30 March to 2 April.
The track and field trials for the USA Olympic team will be held from 1 to 10 July in Eugene, Oregon. The Olympic Games track and field events will be staged from 12 to 20 August at the Olympic Stadium in Rio.
