Nia Ali Wins Silver in 100m Hurdles in U.S. Sweep

Philadelphia’s Nia Ali placed second in the women’s 100m hurdle final Wednesday night, part of the United States sweeping the event for the first time in history.

Ali was behind teammate Brianna Rollins for most of the race, and barely edged out her other teammate, Kristi Castlin. Ali trailed Rollins by .11 seconds, but only edged out Ali by .02 seconds, posting a final time of 12.59. It was the first time in any women’s Track & Field event that all of the medals were swept by one nation.

Rollins was the presumptive favorite in the event, considering that she had run faster than anyone else in the world this year. Ali came in with the fourth fastest this year, making her an outside contender for the podium. She also completed her comeback after having a child just last year. She began it by winning her second career indoor world championship title in the 60m hurdles earlier this season.

She had constantly improved throughout the entire year as she shook off the rust from her extended time off after giving birth, and that showed in the Olympics, where she saved her best performance for last. As long as Rollins ran a clean race, it was unlikely anyone was going to catch her, so Ali can take pride for her silver medal, and her place in track & field history.

The father of her son, Michael Tinsley, competed in the 400m hurdles earlier in the games, but was unable to race out of qualifying. At age 27, this was Ali’s first Olympics, making her silver her first ever Olympic medal. It’s possible that she could still fight and qualify for the event in the 2020 games, but at age 31 in a strong hurdling nation like the United States, it seems unlikely. Lolo Jones showed this year at the Trials just how hard it was stay on top in the sport.