“I was coming out here with a vengeance. I wanted to show these girls that I still had it in me. Yes, they beat me. But I knew I still had a lot left in the tank so I wanted to come out here and prove it.” – Kendra Harrison
And prove it, she most certainly did. On Friday, 23-year-old sprint hurdler Kendra Harrison broke a 28-year-old world record in the 100-meter hurdles at the London Anniversary Games. Running 12.20, she beat the previous world record of 12.21 set by Bulgaria’s Yordanka Donkova in 1988. But, at first, Kendra didn’t know she’d broken the record since the stadium clock initially showed an incorrect finishing time of 12.57. When it was corrected seconds later, her reaction was priceless.
video time codes for viewing: race starts at 2:30. Kendra reacts to news at 3:30
According to SB Nation, “Harrison previously broke the American record of 12.24 on May 28 at the Prefontaine Classic.” Despite this and her latest record-setting run in London, none of it was enough to get Kendra to next month’s Olympic Games in Rio as a result of her finishing sixth at the highly competitive United States Olympic trials a few weeks ago, a system which only gives the top three finishers a place on Team USA.