Jeneba Tarmoh Officially Withdraws From 100m, Cedes Olympic Spot To Allyson Felix

Jeneba Tarmoh has officially “withdrawn herself from consideration for one of three Olympic Team positions in the women’s 100 meters,” per USA Track and Field. She will not participate in Monday night’s scheduled 100-meter runoff and will instead cede her spot in the event to Allyson Felix.

USATF put out a release, roughly just seven hours before the tie-breaking sprint was to take place, that included an e-mail from Tarmoh, forwarded by her agent, with her decision to withdraw:

“I Jeneba Tarmoh have decided to decline my 3rd place position in the 100m dash to Allyson Felix. I understand that with this decision I am no longer running the 100m dash in the Olympic Games and will be an alternate for the event. As an alternate I understand that I will be asked to run if another 100m runner decides not to for personal reasons, and/or on the 4x100m relay.”

The U.S. women’s 100m contingent is now Carmelita Jeter, Tianna Madison and Allyson Felix. Tarmoh did not qualify for the 2012 Olympic Games in an individual event, but will be part of the 4X100m relay pool in London.

USATF President Stephanie Hightower said the organization was “disappointed that Jeneba has changed her mind ... but we know that Allyson, Carmelita and Tianna will represent Team USA well.”

The announcement officially ends more than a week of speculation and drama at the trials, and also ends any hope track fans had of what would have been an epic tie-breaking race in Eugene, Oregon. Tarmoh and Felix finished in a “dead heat” in the 100m on June 23, forcing USATF to declare that a winner would be determined by a runoff, unless one of the runners declined her spot, or both agreed to a coin flip.