Ajee’ Wilson breaks the tape as she and her team finished first in the Jack and Lewis Rudin Women’s 4x800-meter relay race at the Millrose Games track and field meet in New York Saturday, Feb. 3, 2018. (Craig Ruttle/Associated Press)
NEW YORK — By the time the baton landed in Ajee Wilson’s hand, the result of the race was a foregone conclusion. The only question was whether this American team would set a record.
Wilson ran the anchor leg and pulled away at the Armory in upper Manhattan, joining with Crishuna Williams, Raevyn Rogers and Charlene Lipsey for a world mark in the 4x800-meter relay Saturday at the 111th Millrose Games.
“It’s super exciting,” Wilson said. “Before the race there was talk of what the world record was and we were going out with a mission to set it.”
Their time of 8 minutes, 5.89 seconds topped the mark of 8:06:50 set by the Russian team of Aleksandra Bulanova, Ekaterina Sharmina, Elena Kotulskaya and Anna Balakshina on Feb. 18, 2011.
“It was definitely something we were going for,” Wilson said.
Kendra Chambers, Lynsey Sharp, Ce’aira Brown and Cecilia Barowski of the United States finished second, and the Jamaican team of Fellan Ferguson, Simoya Campbell, Kimarra McDonald and Natoya Goule came in third.
“That was the loudest I ever heard it,” Wilson said. “That was the loudest I ever felt it. It was insane. Every lap was high energy. It wasn’t just for the last 100 of the race or the last lap. It was powerful my entire leg.”
Lolo Jones finished seventh in the women’s 60-meter hurdles. She was clocked in 8.37 seconds, three weeks after she was passed over for a spot on the U.S. bobsled team for the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics.
Jones had represented the United States in the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics (100-meter hurdles) and 2014 Winter Olympics (bobsled).
“I’m not too disappointed,” said Jones, who noted she hadn’t run in “more than a year” as she recuperated from hip surgery in 2016, then spent 2017 preparing to be a pusher on the bobsled team.
“Track and field is great because it’s not subjective. Top three go. Across the line there’s a time and there’s not anybody else picking or deciding whether you have success or (fail),” Jones said.
The 35-year-old Jones didn’t dismiss the idea of competing in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
“Anytime you are at this caliber, you always keep it in your mind,” Jones said. “I also know I am the oldest hurdler out here. So I just have to make sure I’m still enjoying competing and traveling.”
Vashti Cunningham, daughter of retired NFL quarterback Randall Cunningham won the women’s high jump with a leap of 1.96 meters. Britain’s Chris O’Hare won the Wanamaker men’s mile with a time of 3:54:14.
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