BATON ROUGE – The wait is finally over for the world’s greatest track and field athletes as the competitors will gather at the Olympic Stadium in London, England, on Friday for the anticipated start of the athletics competition opening the second week of the Games of the XXX Olympiad.
Among those who will begin their pursuit of Olympic glory are 10 LSU Track & Field athletes competing for four different nations from around the world as the athletics competition will run Aug. 3-12.
LSU’s 10 Olympians is tied for the No. 5 most qualifiers among collegiate track and field programs in the United States. Auburn and Florida State lead the way with 12 Olympians, followed by Arkansas and USC with 11 apiece. LSU is tied for fifth with Florida, Oregon and Texas.
The Tigers and Lady Tigers led all track and field programs in Beijing four years ago with a combined 12 Olympians competing in athletics at the Games of the XXIX Olympiad.
One Tiger great is set to make his return to the Olympic Games as the reigning Olympic silver medalist in both the 100-meter dash and 4×100-meter relay as Richard Thompson became and international sprint star and a national hero for Trinidad & Tobago in his debut at the Beijing Games.
Thompson looks to defend his medals as he enters the competition with 2012 seasonal bests of 9.93 in the 100 meters and 38.23 as the anchor leg for the world’s No. 4-ranked 4×100-meter relay team.
Former Lady Tiger Kelly-Ann Baptiste is a medal contender in her own right for Trinidad & Tobago with an appearance in both the women’s 100 meters and 4×100 relay.
Baptiste is competing in her third Olympic Games as she also represented her nation in Athens, Greece, in 2004 and Beijing, China, in 2008. She is the reigning World Championships bronze medalist over the 100 meters and is the No. 4-ranked sprinter worldwide in 2012 with her seasonal best at 10.86. Baptiste is also set to join Lady Tiger senior Semoy Hackett in the 4×100-meter relay in London.
After advancing to the final of the 100-meter hurdles in her Olympics debut in 2008, Lady Tiger star Lolo Jones is a medal contender again this summer as she competes for the United States.
Three other Lady Tiger alums have also made the trip to London as Grenada’s Neisha Bernard-Thomas in the 800 meters and Jamaica’s Nickiesha Wilson in the 400-meter hurdles make their second Olympics appearance and Jamaica’s Samantha Henry-Robinson will debut in the 4×100-meter relay.
Hackett is among four LSU athletes from the 2012 roster earning a trip to London as she lines up with the 100 meters, 200 meters and 4×100-meter relay for Trinidad & Tobago.
Making their Olympics debut are senior Ade Alleyne-Forte in the 4×400 relay for Trinidad & Tobago and senior Riker Hylton in the 4×400 relay and junior Damar Forbes in the long jump for Jamaica. Hylton will be a strong medal contender with Jamaica’s relay team as he ran on the foursome that sprinted to a bronze medal in the final at the IAAF World Championships in Daegu, South Korea, a year ago.
Fans can follow the action and track the progress of their Tigers and Lady Tigers competing in London by liking LSU Track & Field on Facebook and following @LSUTrackField on Twitter. Daily recaps and schedule updates will be posted at LSUsports.net following each day of competition.
Time Schedule for LSU’s Entries at the 2012 Olympic Games
Note: Times are Central and subject to change based on round-by-round qualifying.
Friday, Aug. 3
4:40 a.m. – Women’s 100 Meters First Round (Kelly-Ann Baptiste, Semoy Hackett)
1:05 p.m. – Women’s 100 Meters Second Round (Kelly-Ann Baptiste, Semoy Hackett)
1:50 p.m. – Men’s Long Jump Qualifying (Damar Forbes)
Saturday, Aug. 4
4:00 a.m. – Men’s 100 Meters First Round (Richard Thompson)
6:30 a.m. – Men’s 100 Meters Second Round (Richard Thompson)
1:35 p.m. – Women’s 100 Meters Semifinals (Kelly-Ann Baptiste, Semoy Hackett)
1:55 p.m. – Men’s Long Jump Final (Damar Forbes)
3:55 p.m. – Women’s 100 Meters Final (Kelly-Ann Baptiste, Semoy Hackett)
Sunday, Aug. 5
1:00 p.m. – Women’s 400 Hurdles First Round (Nickiesha Wilson)
1:45 p.m. – Men’s 100 Meters Semifinals (Richard Thompson)
3:50 p.m. – Men’s 100 Meters Final (Richard Thompson)
Monday, Aug. 6
4:05 a.m. – Women’s 100 Hurdles First Round (Lolo Jones)
1:20 p.m. – Women’s 200 Meters First Round (Semoy Hackett)
2:15 p.m. – Women’s 400 Hurdles Semifinals (Nickiesha Wilson)
Tuesday, Aug. 7
1:15 p.m. – Women’s 100 Hurdles Semifinals (Lolo Jones)
2:25 p.m. – Women’s 200 Meters Semifinals (Semoy Hackett)
3:00 p.m. – Women’s 100 Hurdles Final (Lolo Jones)
Wednesday, Aug. 8
5:35 a.m. – Women’s 800 Meters First Round (Neisha Bernard-Thomas)
2:45 p.m. – Women’s 400 Hurdles Final (Nickiesha Wilson)
3:00 p.m. – Women’s 200 Meters Final (Semoy Hackett)
Thursday, Aug. 9
5:35 a.m. – Men’s 4×400 Relay Preliminary Round (Ade Alleyne-Forte, Riker Hylton)
1:30 p.m. – Women’s 800 Meters Semifinal (Neisha Bernard-Thomas)
2:20 p.m. – Women’s 4×100 Relay Preliminary Round (Kelly-Ann Baptiste, Semoy Hackett, Samantha Henry-Robinson)
Friday, Aug. 10
1:45 p.m. – Men’s 4×100 Relay Preliminary Round (Richard Thompson)
2:40 p.m. – Women’s 4×100 Relay Final (Kelly-Ann Baptiste, Semoy Hackett, Samantha Henry-Robinson)
3:20 p.m. – Men’s 4×400 Relay Final (Ade Alleyne-Forte, Riker Hylton)
Saturday, Aug. 11
2:00 p.m. – Women’s 800 Meters Final (Neisha Bernard-Thomas)
3:00 p.m. – Men’s 4×100 Relay Final (Richard Thompson)