An accident could be the last thing on an athlete’s list of daily events. And the day comprises an event as big as the US Olympic trials, the list could literally scream anything positive, just not ‘accident’. However, Kendall Ellis endured one such accident on June 22 at Hayward Field in Oregon. The 28-year-old was resolute in improving her performance in the 400m event on Saturday, as in the previous round, she had survived a disqualification scare.

However, before even entering the track, she faced an enormous question mark on her participation chance. No, it wasn’t an injury that hindered Kendall Ellis’ probability of making it to the semifinal round of the 400m event. Rather, an unforeseen situation involved wherein she was locked in a bathroom. In a post-event sharing, the athlete herself divulged about the same. 

Kendall Ellis could hardly think a break would her chance away 

3 years ago, Kendall Ellis missed her entry in the individual Olympic event by 0.07 seconds. Since then, she has been honing her prowess to ace the contest on the D-days. However, last Saturday was one of her D-days when she had to prove herself in the second semi-final of the individual 400m event. However, as per her shared update on the X, she found herself locked in the bathroom just before the trial event kicked off. Narrating the then situation, the American athlete wrote, “I was in there crying and sweating”. Kendall Ellis’ dream of participating in the individual Olympic event hit rock bottom. However, a glimmer of hope showed up under the circumstances. 

As the two-time world champion has written in her update, someone kind-hearted individual appeared on the scene and unlocked her from the bathroom. In an acknowledgment of that help, Kendall gestured a shout-out for that individual. The rest was history. 

On her way to confirm her entry to the 400m trial final, Kendall Ellis took 49.81 seconds, her personal best timing since 2018. Furthermore, it was the first time in her professional career to settle the timing in the sub-49 category. The last time she did it was in her college and she achieved the feat in the Pac-12 championships. For converting to such an eventful day, the Olympian thanked the almighty. Notably, Kendall Ellis has already earned her Paris Olympics ticket in the 4x400m mixed relay and surely, she wouldn’t refuse another miracle to change the color of the medal this time compared to the one last time the American squad achieved in Tokyo. Meanwhile, Kendall Ellis is not the only one to have lucked out. A Norfolk State sprinter has also faced the short end of the stick. 

Turn of events results in the demolition of dreams

On June 21, Kai Cole made a detailed IG post questioning the authorities for not allowing him to participate in the Eugene trial. He hurled his words toward MEAC (Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference) for not sanctioning the track meet where he had clocked 10.05 seconds in the 100m dash event in May. As per the existing rules on the ground, he should have easily entered the trial list at Hayward Field on Saturday. However, as the track meet had no sanctioning, USATF did not consider Kai Cole’s timing. 

The sprinter sobbed, “Unfortunately my university didn’t fully support me in effort to get the ruling overturned.” Yet the MEAC authority had something different to say. As per the authority, their track meet is registered under the NCAA Division 1 guidelines. However, because of recent changes in USATF’s policies, the mentioned meet failed to come under their net. That caused harm to the selection process. But unlike Kendall Ellis’ fate, Kai ended up with a sad ending as his dream to perform at the Paris Olympics suffered a death blow. That is called fate. Isn’t it?