Eugene, Ore. – The red, white and blue will add some Orange to their Olympic track team, as Freddie Crittenden III qualified for the Paris Olympics in the 110-meter hurdles at Friday’s U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials.
Crittenden makes his first Olympic squad after setting a new personal-best time of 12.93 seconds in the event, which was just 0.13 seconds shy of the world record, to finish second in the final. He’ll be joined on the U.S. Olympic team by Grant Holloway (12.86 seconds) and Daniel Roberts (12.96 seconds) in the event.
The top-six finishers in the race all set new PRs, and it was the first time three runners broke 13 seconds in the same race. Holloway’s time is the current world lead heading into the Olympics.
A Syracuse track and field athlete has now qualified in four-straight and seven of the last-nine Summer Olympic Games.
A former U.S. Champion in the 60-meter hurdles, Crittenden was a five-time All-American and six-time All-ACC honoree in his time at Syracuse. He was a runner-up in back-to-back seasons at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships in his collegiate career at Syracuse, where he graduated in 2017. He has since had a successful international career.
Crittenden may be joined by some of his former teammates in Paris, with qualifying still happening in numerous countries. Amanda Vestri (United States) will race in the women’s 10,000-meter run final Saturday night at 9:09 p.m. eastern on NBC. Shaleah Colaire (Canada), Jaheem Hayles (Jamaica) and Benne Anderson (Germany) are also competing at their respective nation’s national championships.
Syracuse University photo
