Florida track star [autotag]Robert Gregory[/autotag] made it to the 200m finals at the US Olympic Trials, but a seventh-place finish (20.56 seconds) on Friday ended his season there.
The “fastest man in the United States,” Noah Lyles took first place comfortably with a 19.53-second finish, good for the world lead this season and a meet record. Kenny Bednarek was the only true challenge with a 19.59 finish. Erriyon Knighton also medaled and will join the team in Paris.
Gregory was one of two runners in the final representing a college; Jamarion Stubbs of Alabama State was the other. The other seven participants were signed to Adidas, Nike or were unattached.
Gregory cruised in the opening round with a time of 20.38 seconds, saving some energy to make a deeper push. In the semis, he clocked his first sub-20 second 200m since the 2023 U.S. Championship when he set a personal best of 19.90. This time it was just under the threshold at 19.98 seconds.
The TCU transfer has dominated SEC meets — both indoor and outdoor — for the better part of the last two seasons. A First Team All-American in the 200m and 4x100m outdoor events, a second-place finish at the NCAA Division I Championships last month made him an Olympic hopeful. He was the fastest collegiate American in the event.
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