Travis Padgett Finishes Fourth in 100m Dash at U.S. Olympic Trials

June 30, 2008

Eugene, OR – Clemson junior Travis Padgett came up one hundredth of a second short in his bid to make the U.S. Olympic team in the 100m dash, finishing fourth in Sunday’s final at Hayward Field. However, by virtue of his finish in the event, Padgett will in all likelihood head to Beijing, China in August as part of a strong 4x100m relay team.

Padgett broke the NCAA collegiate record on Saturday in the quarterfinal round, as he turned heads with a personal best 9.89 to head into Sunday’s semifinals. In the second heat Sunday afternoon, he overcame a tough start and played catch-up down the stretch to finish second in a time of 10.11 seconds.

Padgett got an outstanding jump out of the blocks in the final, but was out-leaned at the finish line by Darvis Patton who took third in 9.84. Padgett ran a 9.85, though the performance was aided by a +4.1 meters per second wind reading.

Tyson Gay won the event with a record time of 9.68 seconds, while Walter Dix of Florida State placed second (9.80).