Kersee wants USATF to push back possible runoff

By Associated Press Published: Jun 27, 2012 at 7:08 PM PDT
Kersee wants USATF to push back possible runoff
This Saturday, June 23, 2012, photo provided by USA Track & Field shows the third-place finish of the women's 100-meter final from a photo-finish camera, shot at 3,000-frames-per-second, during the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials in Eugene, Ore. Allyson�Felix and Jeneba Tarmoh, in foreground, finished in a dead heat for the last U.S. spot in the 100 to the London Games, each leaning across the finish line in 11.068 seconds. (AP Photo/USA Track & Field)

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — Bobby Kersee is requesting that USA Track and Field extend its deadline to give his athletes more time to recover.

The coach for Allyson Felix and Jeneba Tarmoh is pushing for a Tuesday runoff race, should that be the option his sprinters decide to do.

To run any sooner, Kersee said, wouldn't be fair to his athletes.

USATF officials said they will wait until after the women's 200 meters Saturday night at the Olympic track trials to finalize plans for breaking a third-place tie in the 100.

Felix and Tarmoh technically have until Sunday, when the trials end, to decide betwen a runoff — a winner-take-all race to break the tie — or a coin flip to determine who gets the last spot on the London-bound team in the event.