CJ Allen gave it his all in an attempt to make it to the Olympic finals in the 400-meter hurdles on Wednesday in Paris. In the last stretch of the race, the 2013 North Mason High alumnus simply ran out of energy.
Allen had the tenth-fastest time (48.44 seconds) out of the 24 semifinalists, with eight participants advancing to the final round on Friday. In the second of three heats, Allen finished fourth, trailing British Virgin Island’s Kyron McMaster (48.15), Estonia’s Rasmus Mägi (48.16), and Qatar’s Abderraham Samba (48.20).World recordholder Karsten Warholm of Norway set the top semifinal time in 47.67, while Rai Benjamin, the winner from the United States, coasted down the home stretch and tied for second in 47.85.
After running 48.64 during the first round of competition Monday, Allen found himself in lane 8 during his semifinal heat. Looking strong early, Allen rounded the final turn in first place and remained there while approaching the final two hurdles. That’s when McMaster, Mägi,and Samba began to overtake Allen.
Samba shared the two fastest non-automatic qualifying speeds with Brazil’s Alison dos Santos, who competed in Heat 1, while McMaster and Mägi finished first and second to secure teat 2’s two automatic qualifying spots into the ffinals.
Allen and American competitor Trevor Bassitt, who finished in 48.29, completed the top 10 overall. Allen, who attended Washington State University and won the Pac-12 400 hurdles championship twice, was a two-time state champion while competing at North Mason. While pursuing his master’s and doctoral degrees, which he obtained in 2023, he began working professionally in 2018.
