USC’s Michael Norman Makes U.S. Olympic Team In Men’s 400m

Track & Field | June 24, 2024

Michael Norman earned his way to the Paris Olympics in the 400m, while Johnny Brackins Jr. placed fourth in the men’s long jump and Allie Jones took fifth in the heptathlon during the fourth day of the 2024 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Team Trials held at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. today (June 24).    Also today, Di’Niko Bates advanced out of the prelims to the men’s 110m hurdles semifinal.

• Michael Norman (USC, 2018), a two-time USA outdoor 400m champion, placed second in the men’s 400m final with a time of 44.41 to qualify to represent USA at the 2024 Paris Olympics.  It will be the second Olympics for Norman who won gold at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics (held in 2021) with USA’s men’s 4x400m relay team and placed fifth in the open 400m final.
• Junior Johnny Brackins Jr., the 2024 USA Indoor long jump champion, agonizingly finished fourth today at the USA outdoor championships as two jumpers passed him during the final round.   The two jumpers who passed him beat his mark by 0.01 meters or roughly a quarter-inch and the top four finishers were separated by just over one inch total.  Brackins Jr. opened the day by matching his wind-legal personal best with a jump of 26-9.00/8.15m (+0.8) to take the early lead.  He was passed by the eventual champion Jeremiah Davis in the second round and remained second until the sixth and  final round.  Brackins even bettered his second-place standing in the competition and fifth-place standing on USC’s all-time list with a new personal-best leap of 26-9.75/8.17m (+1.9) in the third round.
• Allie Jones (USC, 2024) placed fifth in the heptathlon with 6199 points.  She entered the day in fourth place with 3763 points.  Jones opened the day placing third in the long jump with a leap of 20-4.50/6.21m (+1.5) to earn 915 points.  She remained in fourth with 4678 points.  She then placed 11^th in the javelin throw with a mark of 114-8 (34.97m) to earn 571 points.  After six events, she was in seventh place with 5249 points.  The final event of the two-day competition was the 800m and Jones had a PR of 2:11.03 to finish third in the event, earning 950 points and moving up to fifth place.
• Junior Di’Niko Bates placed sixth in his men’s 110m hurdles prelim heat with a time of 13.56 (+1.2) to automatically advance to the event…