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Kendra Harrison missed the US Olympic team by finishing sixth at the trials—then ran faster than any woman had ever hurdled before. Her unexpected revenge began just two weeks later at the London Diamond League, where she lined up against three American runners headed to Rio.

This sports story traces Harrison’s record-breaking 100-meter hurdles season, the all-or-nothing US Olympic selection process, and the race that changed her place in track and field history. A timing-beam mix-up delayed the result, but a review revealed the astonishing 12.20-second world record. For fans of Olympic track and field, women’s hurdles, athletics history, and underdog sports stories, this narrated sports feature explores a remarkable performance—and the athlete who set the record without going to the Games.

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Transcript
00:00She broke the American record and set the second fastest time in the history of women's hurdles.
00:05But as the Olympics arrived, Kendra Harrison was nowhere to be seen.
00:09In 2016, Kendra had seemed unstoppable.
00:12She was winning every single event she entered, and on the day of the Prefontaine Classic,
00:17she ran the 100-meter hurdles in a mind-blowing 12.24 seconds,
00:21second only to the world record of 12.21, set 28 years earlier in 1988.
00:28As the Olympics closed in, all eyes were on Kendra to bring home a gold medal and make America proud.
00:34But there was one thing standing between Kendra and her Olympic dream,
00:37the ruthless and somewhat controversial U.S. Olympic trials.
00:41See, around the world, each event in each country has their own rules for determining which athletes are sent to
00:47the Olympics.
00:48Many countries have a discretionary selection process,
00:51which takes into account the athletes' past performances in world athletics-sanctioned events.
00:56But in the U.S., the athletes are selected via a brutal, all-or-nothing trial event.
01:01Only the top three athletes in the final race of the U.S. Olympic trials will go on to represent
01:07the U.S.
01:08So, on the final race of the trials, Kendra lined up at the starting line and...
01:13Kendra in lane two.
01:15She's not even close.
01:16Brianna Rollins wins it.
01:18She came in at sixth place.
01:20Kendra Harrison had failed when it mattered most, and she wouldn't be going to the Olympics.
01:25Kendra was heartbroken.
01:26However, just two weeks after that devastating loss, Kendra's coach encouraged her to shake it off and enter another race
01:33as soon as possible.
01:34Kendra swallowed her pride and once again dragged her feet to the starting line,
01:38this time at the London Diamond League. Kendra looked along the starting line, spotting the other three U.S. runners.
01:45The same three runners who were getting ready to head to Rio to live her dream.
01:49She knew that people would be watching this race closely, eager to see the three U.S. Olympic picks in
01:54action.
01:55So it was at that moment she decided that this race would be her revenge.
01:59If she could manage to run her personal best, she'd likely leave the others far behind, making a mockery out
02:05of the U.S. selection process.
02:07As the starting pistol fired, Kendra powered over each hurdle, and she absolutely decimated the other runners.
02:14Look at Kenny Harrison, storming away with this, and look at the margin of victory!
02:17But as Kendra crossed the finish line and looked at the clock, her victory felt hollow.
02:22She realised that the time was only barely better than her time two weeks prior.
02:25The others must have just been taking it easy in the lead-up to the Olympics.
02:30Right? Let's look at that ending again.
02:32Well, that was strange. The clock seemed to run on and on long after she'd gone through the line.
02:36Kendra had ducked under the timing beam as she crossed the line, and the clock hadn't stopped until second place
02:43finished.
02:43When the officials reviewed the footage to get an accurate time, the figures on the screen reset.
02:5012.20! She's broken the world record!
02:53A young woman who's not even going to the Olympic Games.
02:55I mean, that is one of the question marks against the American selection system, isn't it?
02:5913. The bar is usually locked in the scale, isn't it?
03:0014.20! She Mmmm Sad C Ark!
03:0214.20! I mean, the first of�동 you threw
03:0414.20! She's broken the order!
03:0416.21! She explained him quote!
03:0416.20! She's broken by the Κ Nie disease!

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