Ypsilanti native Tiffany Porter falls .08 seconds short of Olympic hurdles final
David J. Phillip | Associated Press
Ypsilanti native Tiffany (Ofili) Porter’s Olympic Games came to an end on Tuesday afternoon. Eight hundredths of a second and three places kept Porter, who competes for Great Britain, out of Tuesday afternoon’s final.
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Porter’s hopes to make Tuesday’s 4 p.m. final were temporarily alive as she held the second fastest non-automatic qualifying time after the heat. The top two finishers in each heat automatically qualify for the medal race as well as the two fastest times across all heats.
But in the third and final heat, Canadian Phylicia George and Russian Tatyana Dektyareva finished third and fourth, respectively, with times faster than Porter. Jones and George (12.65) claimed the two non-automatic berths. Americans Dawn Harper (12.46) and Kellie Wells (12.51) won the first and third heats.
Porter is a citizen of both Great Britain and the United States who competes for the country of her mother's birth rather than her own. Porter’s husband, Jeff Porter -- also a former national champion at Michigan -- qualified for the men’s 110-meter hurdles semifinal for the United States on Tuesday morning with a time of 13.53 seconds.
“Tiffany didn't make it through w/ 12.79 but she is & will always be my CHAMP. Love you babe #hurdlingbeyondlimits #running4u," Jeff posted on Twitter after Tiffany's race.
Jeff will compete in the men’s 110 hurdles semifinals Wednesday at 2:15 p.m. with the final scheduled for 4:15 p.m.
Pete Cunningham covers sports for AnnArbor.com.
Comments
Bob
Wed, Aug 8, 2012 : 10:55 a.m.
Thanks for the coverage!
Anon Imus
Wed, Aug 8, 2012 : 2:53 a.m.
Another stellar job of fact checking by Sports Dept. While Porter may have lost her heat by .08 seconds she actually missed the finals by .04 seconds based on times from other heat. Wouldn't have been such a big deal if it wasn't plastered in your HEADLINE!