Jasmine Camacho-Quinn Smashes 100m Hurdles Olympic Record in Semi-Final
Puerto Rico hurdler Jasmine Camacho-Quinn set a new Olympic record in the semi-final of the 100 meter hurdles at Tokyo's Olympic Stadium on Sunday.
Camacho-Quinn won the semi-final race with a time of 12.26 seconds, beating the previous record of 12.35 set by Australia's Sally Pearson when she won gold at the 2012 London Games.
Also through from Camacho-Quinn's semi-final are Jamaica's Megan Tapper, who came second with a time of 12.62 second, and the Netherlands' Nadine Visser who posted a time of 12.63 seconds.
Camacho-Quinn is one of the favorites to win the final on Monday.
Among her challengers will be Jamaican Britany Anderson, who won her semi-final race with a time of 12.40 seconds, beating American world record holder Kendra Harrison who posted a time of 12.51 seconds.
The first semi-final was won by Nigeria's Tobi Amusan with a time of 12.62 seconds. The Bahamas' Devynne Charlton came in second, qualifying for the final with her time of 12.66 seconds.
The U.S. swept the podium at Rio 2016, with Brianna Rollins taking gold. Nia Ali took silver for Team USA, with Kristi Castlin winning bronze.
Team USA will be hoping for more medals at Monday's final.
Gabriele Cunningham qualified from her semi-final with a time of 12.67 seconds, while world record holder Kendra Harrison clocked 12.51 seconds.
Harrison set the world record time of 12.20 seconds at a race in London in July 2016, weeks after failing to qualify for the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Winning the gold on Monday would make Harrison the first world record holder to also win Olympic gold in the women's 100 metres hurdles for 33 years.
A medal for Camacho-Quinn would be only Puerto Rico's tenth in Olympic history. Only one Puerto Rican athlete has ever won a gold medal at the summer Olympics, when Monica Puig took the gold in the women's tennis singles at Rio 2016.
Team USA is currently sitting second in the Tokyo medal table behind China. U.S. athletes have so far secured 20 gold, 23 silver and 16 bronze medals. The U.S. topped the medal table at the 2016 Rio games, bringing home 46 golds, 37 silvers and 28 bronze.
One of Team USA's top medal hopes on the track, Trayvon Bromell, failed to qualify for the men's 100 meter final on Sunday despite being tipped as a pre-games favorite.
Bromell wrote on Twitter he would "walk away with a smile because I know I showed many that after 4 years out, you can still fight and make dreams come true."
Fred Kerley went on to win the silver for Team USA with a time of 9.84 seconds. Italian Lamont Marcell Jacobs won gold with a time of 9.80 seconds. American Ronnie Baker came in fifth with a time 9.95 seconds.
