USATF Women’s 200 — Jefferson-Wooden Scores Rare Double

WHILE 4 MEN have swept the 100 and 200 at U.S. nationals or Olympic Trials on five occasions over the past two decades, until Sunday no woman had doubled since ’03. Allyson Felix and Tori Bowie won at both distances more recently, but not in the same year.

“I get to say that I completed the double at U.S. Champs, which is very hard, by the way,” said Melissa Jefferson-Wooden. “It’s not easy.”

She made it look easy, though. Building on her sensational season, Jefferson-Wooden achieved the first women’s sweep since Torri Edwards. She clocked a 21.84 PR in the 200, the No. 2 time in the world this year, on the heels of her world-leading 10.65 PR in the 100.

“Obviously, the 100 is my preferred event and it’s also my favorite,” said Jefferson-Wooden, the 100 runner-up at the ’24 OT, “but I’ve spent so much time in my career shying away from how good I can be in the 200 and now I’m just starting to embrace that because I know that the more my times get faster in the 200, the more it’s going to help my 100.”

She pulled away from the field coming off the curve and shattered her previous PR of 21.99 set in May. Anavia Battle, who has won four DL 200s this season, was 2nd in a season-best 22.13 to make her first national team since the Tokyo Olympics in ’21.

“I have to continue to remind myself I belong here just as much as anybody else does,” Battle said.

Only 0.002 separated 3rd place from 5th. After some anxious moments watching the scoreboard, Olympic champion Gabby Thomas was relieved to secure the final spot on the team.

Thomas fought hard in the final meters and had the best lean for 22.197, followed by Olympic bronze medalist Brittany Brown in 22.198 and Olympic finalist McKenzie Long in 22.199 — officially 22.20 for all three.

“I put it all out there and it would have been a big disappointment for me to have trained this hard, come all this way and not made it,” said Thomas, who has an ongoing Achilles issue and said she couldn’t jog or put weight on her foot two weeks ago.

Sha’Carri Richardson, who withdrew after the heats of the 100 — in which she has a bye for Tokyo as defending champion — returned for the 200. However, the World Champs bronze medalist was 4th in her heat (22.56) behind Madison Whyte, who claimed the last spot in the final by 0.01.

Jefferson-Wooden said before the heats she…