Lopes Qualifies for Olympics

Victoria, British Columbia - Nebraska’s Priscilla Lopes qualified for the Canadian Olympic team on Saturday, finishing third in the finals of the 100-meter hurdles in a time of 13.05 seconds at the Canadian Olympic Trials. Lopes qualified for the Olympics with her third-place finish and by meeting the Olympic "A" Qualifying Standard of 12.91 seconds for the second time.

On Friday, Lopes put herself one step closer to making the Canadian squad with a qualifying time of 12.87 seconds, marking the second time she met the Olympic "A" Qualifying Standard. Lopes first met the Standar during her second-place finish at the 2004 NCAA Outdoor Championships, where she ran 12.64 seconds.

Having already met the Olympic qualifying times, Lopes needed only to finish in the top three of Saturday’s 100-meter hurdle final to qualify for the Olympics. She did just that, finishing third, 1.16 seconds ahead of Jessica King, who finished fourth. Fellow countrywomen Perdita Felicien and Angela Whyte finished first and second, respectively, in the finals and will join Lopes in Athens, Greece, later next month.

Lopes becomes the third athlete with ties to the Nebraska program to qualify for the Olympics, joining teammate Nenad Loncar (Yugoslavia) and former Husker Ineta Radevica (Latvia).

In her first season as a Husker, Lopes claimed the NCAA championship in the 60-meter hurdles at the 2004 NCAA Indoor Championships. The Whitby, Ontario, native also recorded a silver-medal performance in the 100-meter hurdles at the 2004 NCAA Outdoor Championships.

Opening Ceremonies for the Olympic Games begin on August 13 and the games will run until August 29 and will be televised by NBC. Round one of the 100-meter hurdles is set for 11:35 a.m. on Aug. 22 at the Olympic Stadium in Athens.

100-meter Hurdles Olympic Schedule (All times are central)
First Round
Aug. 22, 11:35 a.m.

Second Round
Aug. 22, 2:40 p.m.

Semifinals
Aug. 23, 11:00 a.m.

Finals
Aug. 24, 2:30 p.m.