Alexis Holmes Sixth in Olympic 400m, Three Hurdlers Advance to Final

PARIS, France – Alexis Holmes ran a personal best time of 49.77 seconds in the 400m Olympic final at a rainy Stade de France, finishing sixth among a world-class field. Additionally, three Kentucky athletes – Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, Masai Russell, and Devynne Charlton (Volunteer Assistant Coach/Purdue Alum)—advanced out of the semifinal round of the 100m hurdles and will race for gold on Saturday.

Holmes, a national champion in the 4x400m relay during her time at Kentucky, turned in the best run of her career on the biggest stage in sport, besting her previous best time of 49.78—set at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials—by one one-hundredth of a second. She finished as the top American athlete in the event at the Paris Games. The blistering final was won by Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic, who bested the Olympic Record with her winning time of 48.17. Holmes is also a member of the Team USA relay pool in the 4x400m relay and could feature in Saturday’s final.

Fresh off a pair of medals from the night before, Hurdle U continued its strong Olympic performance with the semifinals of the 100m hurdles. With all three athletes advancing to the gold medal race, Kentucky Track and Field will make up 37.5 percent of the final, to be contested at 1:45 p.m. ET on Saturday, August 10. The Wildcats will look to continue their success in the event from Tokyo, where Camacho-Quinn won gold and Kendra Harrison took home silver.

Camacho-Quinn, the defending gold medalist in the event, and Masai Russell, holder of the 2024 world leading time, took the top two spots in the third heat of semifinals, qualifying to Saturday’s final automatically. Camacho-Quinn, who represents Puerto Rico, won the heat and was the second fastest qualifier overall in a season best time of 12.35 seconds. The Olympic Record holder will look to become the first woman in the event’s history to claim back-to-back Olympic gold medals. A three time Olympian, she claimed two NCAA championships and three SEC titles in the 100m hurdles during her time as a Wildcat.

Russell, the collegiate record holder in the 100m hurdles, finished second in the heat and posted the fourth fastest time of the morning at 12.42 seconds. The Wildcat has advanced to her first major international final in her first career Olympic Games. Champion of the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Russell will seek to climb the podium on Saturday.

Charlton, a volunteer assistant coach at Kentucky who trains in Lexington, qualified for her second career Olympic final by finishing second in the first heat of the semifinals. The Bahamian, who holder the world record in the indoor 60m hurdles, posted a qualifying time of 12.50, good enough for seventh among the semifinalists. Charlton has now advanced to the Olympic final in both of her appearances at the Games, as she seeks to improve upon her sixth-place finish from Tokyo.

In addition to the three entrants in the 100m hurdles racing at 1:45 p.m. ET tomorrow, two Cats could feature on Team USA’s women’s 4x400m relay. Scheduled to run at 3:22 p.m. ET, Holmes and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone are potential athletes to run one of the four legs in the race. Team USA will announce its final lineup prior to the race. Holmes has won a world championship gold medal with Team USA in the Mixed 4x400m relay, while McLaughlin-Levrone was a member of the gold medal winning 4x400m relay in Tokyo.

A full event schedule for Kentucky athletes is listed below.

Event Schedule

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