Southern California sprinter Carmelita Jeter qualified for the London Olympics Saturday by winning the 100-meter dash at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials.
Jeter, who attended Bishop Montgomery High School, crossed the line in 10.92 seconds to earn her first trip to the Olympics.
"When I woke up this morning I felt really good," Jeter said. "I didn’t feel stressed out and I was ready to execute. I talked to my parents this morning and they helped me out a lot. Obviously parents are very biased of their child’s abilities so they were a good confidence boost. They just told me to go out there and have fun and that’s exactly what I did.”
Jeter has come on strong on the international stage after failing to qualify for the Bejing Games.
The Gardena native won gold at the 2011 World Championships in the 100 meters. She won silver in the 200 meters and anchored the United States' gold-medal winning 4x100-meter relay team at the World Championships.
"I am in a very special place right now," Jeter said. "I am trying not to get emotional. This is my first Olympic team! I am extremely blessed."
Tianna Madison will join Jeter -- who graduated from Cal State Dominguez Hills in 2004 with a degree in physical education -- in London in the 100-meter event. Allyson Felix, of Santa Clarita, appeared to have finished in a dead heat with Jeneba Tarmoh for the third and final qualifying spot.
Tarmoh was initially listed as the unofficial third-place finishers on the scoreboard, but U.S. Track and Field officials were meeting to determine the finishing order.
Felix and Tarmoh were both officially timed at 11.068 seconds -- too close to call. Officials used a photo-finish image shot at 3,000 frames per second to determine the dead heat.
The top three finishers qualify for London in each event. Felix also will attempt to qualify in the 200-meter dash.
