EUGENE, Ore. – Eric Gregory (Metairie, La.) had his moment in the sun at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Track and Field here Friday afternoon at Hayward Field on the campus of University of Oregon.
Gregory ran in the second heat of the men's 400-meter dash and finished seventh with a time of 45.79 seconds. The top five finishers from each heat (five races) automatically advanced to Sunday's semifinal round. The next two fastest times were also selected to Sunday's semifinals. Gregory finished 27th overall but two runners in the last heat qualified with slower times than him. He was two spots away (0.29 seconds) from making the semifinal round.
Gregory finishes 27th in a 35-runner field (33 runners finished) after he was the 35th runner selected by USA Track and Field a week ago when they announced the five-heat field.
Gregory was third in the opening 100 meters of Heat 2 with a time of 11.19 seconds, he was fourth at the 200-meter mark (21.66) and fifth at the 300-meter mark (32.96). His slowest 100-meter segment came down the stretch as it took him 12.83 seconds.
"It was a good race. Everyone pushed me through the race. It was my first real race that there was somebody faster than me," said Gregory after the race in the mix zone where media assembled to interview the Bison runner and Coach
Byron Moore. "I learned a lot from this race. The last 100 meters is my biggest weaknesses. So, now, I know what I need to do [for the future]."
Gregory became the first Gallaudet University student-athlete to compete at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in any sport.
It was bad luck of the draw for Gregory as he ran in the fastest heat that was paced by high school phenom Quincy Wilson from the Bullis School, nearby in Potomac, Md.. Wilson won the heat and set an Under-18 World Record and National High School record with a time of 44.66 seconds.
Chris Bailey from Tracksmith and Arizona State University's Justin Robinson were the next two to come across the finish line with times of 44.86 and 45.15, respectively. That is a season best time for Robinson after he qualified with a time of 45.20 seconds. Bailey entered with the third fastest time in the 400-meter dash this season (44.42).
University of Kentucky runner Kennedy Lightner was the fourth runner to finish in the second heat with a time of 45.17 seconds. Unnattached runner Emmanuel Bynum was the fifth runner from the second heat to advance to Sunday's semifinal round with a time of 45.34 seconds.
Unattached runner Jacory Patterson posted a fast time of 45.46 seconds but had to wait for the other three heats to finish. Patterson was one of the two fastest times that did not automatically qualify in their respective heat to advance to Sunday's semifinal round. The other at-large qualifier went to Texas A&M sprinter Jevon O'Bryant, who crossed the finish line in 45.51 seconds in the third heat.
There were two runners in Heat 5 that advanced to Sunday even though they had times slower than Gregory's time. If Gregory ran in Heat 5, he would've finished fourth in that heat and would've advanced to Sunday's semifinal round.
"The way I feel like right now is how I felt after I ran in my first national championship race [as a first-year runner in 2019]," said Gregory, who placed 10th in the 200-meter dash at the 2019 NCAA Division III outdoor track and field national championship.
Gregory used that 2019 disappointment to fuel him to three straight NCAA Division III men's outdoor 400-meter dash national championships in 2022, '23 and '24.
"This entire process has been a wonderful learning experience for Eric and I," said Moore. " No, we did not move on to the semifinal round but you won't find any disappointment over here. Eric has only trained for three years in the 400-meter dash. So you better believe that you will see him competing in the U.S. Olympic Team Trials four years from now."
Gregory is confident this is not his first and last U.S. Olympic Team Trials.
"For sure [I'll be back]," said Gregory, when asked about coming back to the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in the future. "I will be back greater than before."
MISSED NATIONAL MEDIA EXPOSURE
Unfortunately for fans of Gregory, Gallaudet University Athletics and the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community no one saw the race as NBC Sports shifted the broadcasting window up on Friday morning and they didn't show the first four heats of the men's 400-meter dash. They started the 6:30 p.m. (Eastern) broadcast on USA Network and Peacock with live coverage showing Heat 5 of the men's 400-meter dash before showing all five heats of the women's 400-meter dash. NBC Sport producers assured the Gallaudet Athletics Communications Office on Friday morning that they would show the missing heats on tape delay but that never happened during either the USA Network or NBC broadcasts on Friday, June 21. It was a missed opportunity to spotlight 26 men's sprinters and to see Wilson and Gregory make history.
UPDATE: NBC Sports post all five heats of the men's 400-meter dash on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/ickgUGgUYsY?feature=shared. No commentary for the first four heats.
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