U.S. Olympic Trials in track, swimming and gymnastics on Friday, Saturday and Sunday had North Texans battling it out for a spot on Team USA.
Track
Michelle Carter, the 26-year-old from Red Oak, made the team in shot put Friday. Carter came in second with a 18.57m mark and is one of three women competing for Team USA.
TCU's Whitney Gipson was just inches away from London on Sunday. Gipson went 22 feet, 10 and a half inches for fourth place, she was just 3 and a half inches short of the third and final spot on Team USA.
World champion hurdler Jason Richardson from Cedar Hill is going to London after finishing second in the 110-meter hurdles final on Saturday.
Some of the biggest names in sprinting skipped the men's 200 meters opening the door for Darvis "Doc" Patton to make another trip to the Olympics.
Wallace Spearmon, who trains in Arlington, won the 200 meters in 19.82 seconds on Sunday to earn a spot on the Olympic team.
Sports Connection
Connecting you to your favorite North Texas sports teams as well as sports news around the globe.
Patton, a TCU graduate and Lake Highlands High School alum, was one of two men who qualified for the finals based on time in the 200 meter dash semi-finals on Saturday, but during the finals on Sunday Patton came in sixth.
On July 2, Team USA will name the relay pool which could include Patton and/or Baylor University alum Jeremy Wariner.
Swimming
Granbury's Dana Vollmer has already made the team in the 100-meter butterfly and 800-meter freestyle relay. Vollmer did not qualify in the 100-meter freestyle finals Saturday night.
Gymnastics
The Olympics Trials were difficult Friday and Sunday for World Olympic Gymnastics Academy gymnasts Nastia Liukin and Rebecca Bross.
Liukin had a break in form during her uneven bar routine and wasn't able to finish with a solid landing in Day 1 competition, and at the finals Liukin had the same form break and an even harder fall during a release move landing face down on the mat below. Liukin the consummate professional chalked up and took to the bars to finish the routine with the massive crowd behind her.
Liukin then tackled balance beam without much difficulty and was again met by the roar of the crowd, with tears in her eyes she waved to the crowd and hugged her fellow competitors.
"I kind of had tears in my eyes just seeing the 12 to 15,000 people on their feet cheering for me and it was an emotional but amazing way to end my career," said Liukin after competing. "I wish I could have done that bar routine and proven to everybody that I'm capable of doing it, but I understand that, you know, my time is up and I'm so excited to cheer these girls on."
Bross who fell off the balance beam during the first night's competition also had a rough Sunday night. Bross, who's coming back from a knee injury, fell twice during her uneven bar routine and with tears in her eyes ended the night without finishing her routine.
Texas Dreams gymnast Kennedy Baker, who trains under former Olympian Kim Zmeskal-Burdette, competed in all four rotations both nights and finished eighth overall.
Jonathan Horton, Jake Dalton and Sam Mikulak, will join trials winner Danell Leyva and national champion John Orozco in London on a men's team expected to challenge longtime powers Japan and China for team gold.
Flower Mound's Steven Legendre was named one of three alternates. He'll go to London, but won't compete unless one of the five team members gets hurt.
Horton, from Houston, gives a veteran presence to the deepest U.S. Olympic team in recent memory. The 26-year-old helped the U.S. win a team bronze in Beijing four years ago, then added a silver medal on high bar. None of the other four members are over 20.
