Tarmoh withdraws from women’s 100m Olympic Team

EUGENE, Ore. – Jeneba Tarmoh has withdrawn herself from consideration for one of three Olympic Team positions in the women’s 100 meters.

In an email forwarded to USATF President and Chairman Stephanie Hightower at 9:37 a.m. Pacific Time by her agent, Kimberly Holland, Tarmoh said, “I Jeneba Tarmoh have decided to decline my 3rd place position in the 100m dash to Allyson Felix. I understand that with this decision I am no longer running the 100m dash in the Olympic Games and will be an alternate for the event. As an alternate I understand that I will be asked to run if another 100m runner decides not to for personal reasons, and/or on the 4x100m relay.”

At the U.S. Olympic Team Trails – Track & Field, Tarmoh and Felix on June 23 finished in a dead heat for the third and final Olympic Team 100m position, in 11.07 seconds, behind winner Carmelita Jeter and second-place Tianna Madison.  In a Sunday afternoon meeting with their coach, managers and USATF officials, the athletes agreed to break the tie via a run-off, which was to be held Monday afternoon in Eugene.

“We are disappointed that Jeneba has changed her mind regarding her position on the Olympic Team,” Hightower said. “We all worked hard to reach a consensus on the tiebreaker, but we know that Allyson, Carmelita and Tianna will represent Team USA well.”