PARIS, France — American hurdler Freddie Crittenden III advanced Wednesday in the semifinals of the men's 110-meter hurdles semifinal. He is one of three American runners to advance to the finals. He finished his heat in second place with a time of 13:23.
This comes after Crittenden took advantage of the newly instituted repechage round on Tuesday. After feeling a tweak during training, the former McCluer North High School student, made the decision to jog slowly over the hurdles in the first round to give himself more time to heal.
"At the end of the day, I'm going to make the best decision for myself and my family every single time," Crittenden told 5 On Your Side's Rene Knott about his decision to jog in the preliminary round. "So if people have stuff to say, I just let them talk … I'm gonna do what's best for me every single time."
And his decision paid off. He won his repechage heat Tuesday in 13.42 seconds and advanced to the semi-finals.
"I'm glad I was able to get to the line, let the moment give me all the energy and the strength that I needed," Crittenden said. "I able able to get through that line and make it to the semifinals (Wednesday)."
This marks the first Olympics where track has used the repechage rule to give a second chance to hurdlers and to sprinters and middle-distance runners who don’t move on from their opening heats in the 200 through 1,500 meters.
"The possibilities are endless with God," Crittenden said about the possibility of an American sweep. "... I think if we all just do our best, I mean, it can happen. We'll see."
Crittenden will compete in the final for gold on Thursday at 2:45 p.m.
