Five years after a crushing disappointment, Keni Harrison excited about 2021 Olympics
For Keni Harrison, redemption was a long time coming.
It was five long years ago that the former University of Kentucky track and field star, ranked No. 1 in the world in the 100-meter hurdles, inexplicably finished sixth at the Olympic Trials and failed to qualify for the 2016 Summer Games in Rio.
“Heartbreaking,” Harrison recalled last week.
Then it was one year ago when, thanks to COVID-19 and the global pandemic, Harrison’s second shot at making the Olympic team was delayed when the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo were postponed, thus scrapping the U.S. Trials.
“We were in disbelief,” Harrison said.
Ah, but this year, the third time was the charm. Competing in the trials on June 20 in Eugene, Oregon, the 28-year-old Harrison won the 100-meter hurdles in a time of 12.47 seconds — the second-best this season — to earn a long-awaited spot in the 2021 Games, which begin July 23 in Tokyo.
“My mindset is I’m excited,” said Harrison during a Zoom call Thursday with local media.
She has every reason to be excited, and then some.
“I’ve just been training the past five years for the moment of making my first Olympic team,” Harrison said. “And it finally came true.”
The Olympics have been a dream for the Tennessee native who grew up in North Carolina since Harrison watched the 2012 Olympics in London. “I said, ‘Man, that’s what I want to do. I want to go there with ‘Team USA’ on my chest.’”
After transferring from Clemson to Kentucky in 2013, Harrison won five SEC gold medals and was named the National Track Athlete of the Year as a senior. She is to be inducted into the UK Athletics Hall of Fame this fall.
As a professional, just three weeks after her upset loss in the 2016 Olympic Trials, Harrison set the world record in the 100-meter hurdles at 12.20 seconds in London. In 2018, Harrison won the World Indoor Championship. In 2019, she placed second in the World Championships. Still, the Olympics are the Olympics.
“I think missing the team in 2016 was heartbreaking,” she said, adding, “What fueled me the past couple of years was that disappointment.”
She will be joined by some familiar faces in Tokyo. Sydney McLaughlin, Javianne Oliver and Daniel Roberts join Harrison as former Wildcats who have made the U.S. team. Meanwhile, current UK stars Dwight St. Hillaire (Trinidad & Tobago) and Megan Moss (Bahamas) have also qualified.
“It shows that the program is fire,” Harrison said. “It shows that Coach did a great job recruiting all of us. And for all of us to make the Olympic team, it shows the amount of talent Kentucky had. And the fact that we all went to Kentucky is also awesome because we can continue to put Kentucky on the map.”
Speaking of maps, it was announced last week that because of the growing number of COVID-19 cases in Japan, the Tokyo games will be held without fans.
“For me, I think just being able to line up with the best in the world, that’s going to bring enough competitiveness out of me,” Harrison said. “It’s nice to have fans there and maybe when you’re done, you can celebrate with them. But in the midst of being lined up with the best in the world, you’re not really worried about fans in the stands. You’re just worried about going out there and competing to the best of your ability.”
That ability was on display at Eugene. “The USA team is so strong, so stacked,” Harrison said. “(The trials) are kind of like a preview.”
How fast will the former UK star have to go to win the gold?
“I don’t worry about the time,” she said. “Whatever it takes to win, that’s the time. If it’s 13 seconds, it’s 13 seconds. But I don’t really try to put too much emphasis on the time because you can run 12.2, but if you lose. So you just never know.”
Harrison does know one thing about time. It has been a long five years.
“We’ve been waiting so long for this moment,” she said Thursday. “We’re going to take advantage of it and enjoy every step.”
Summer Olympics
When: July 23-Aug. 8
Where: Tokyo, Japan
