'This is awful': Olympic trials suspended after frightening incident
The US Olympic track and field trials were suspended on Sunday as oppressive heat sparked frightening scenes.
Temperatures reached 42 degrees Celsius at one stage in Oregon, with heptathlete Taliyah Brooks carted off the field in a wheelchair after collapsing.
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Fans were filing into the stadium for the headline races of the final day of the trials when the track announcer said action was being suspended due to extreme heat at around 3pm.
All spectators were asked to evacuate.
A USA Track and Field official said temperatures on the surface of the track exceeded 65 Celsius.
Brooks was in fourth place after five of the seven heptathlon events when she collapsed during warmups for the sixth event - the javelin.
She was initially listed as a "DNS" - did not start - but officials later said she had been granted a request to re-enter the javelin competition when the action resumed.
After that, she would join the last event - the 800 metres.
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Among those still waiting to secure spots in the Olympics were Noah Lyles in the men's 200, and Dalilah Muhammad and Sydney McLaughlin, who were set to face off in the women's 400 hurdles.
Earlier, JuVaughn Harrison won the high jump in soaring temperatures and humidity.
Third-place high jump finisher Shelby McEwen called the heat "mind-blowing."
"It's crazy. I wasn't expecting it to be this humid," he said.
"We just had to be mentally locked in, mentally prep ourselves for it, stay hydrated and go out and get the job done."
The men's 5000m took place at 10am because of the forecast, with Paul Chelimo fending off a pair of runners for a 0.19-second victory.
"Honestly," Chelimo said, "I wanted it a bit hotter."
A record heat wave settled in over the Pacific Northwest for the second day, with the temperature in Portland - two hours north on Interstate 5 - reaching an all-time record of 43C.
Fans were left gobsmacked that officials let things progress so far before suspending the action on Sunday.
I was at the meet and it was sad to see her pass out. If they are going to allow her to compete, doctors must be ok with it. She was 11 points from 3rd place before the Javelin. I wonder if they will allow her to make up the event?#OlympicTrials2021 #trackfieldtrials2021
— JJ Birden (@jjbirden) June 28, 2021
Absolutely unreal
— BrandiKHOU (@BrandiKHOU) June 28, 2021
They have seen the forecast for over a week and needed an athlete fainting to take it seriously and change start times? I mean, you have to think of all of the volunteers and officials that are on the verge of heat illness working in polos and slacks!
— Scott Jones (@CoachJones007) June 28, 2021
They’ve been talking about these temps for at least 10 days. They should’ve made contingency plans then. Why not postpone it till Monday morning?
— scott (@scott18476303) June 27, 2021
How frustrating. I hate weather decisions that are judgement calls. You don’t wanna cancel needlessly and you don’t wanna not cancel when it’s dangerous. I’ve had to make so many of those decisions over the years that I have a lot of empathy for those who have to make them.
— Rod Murrow, JD (@RodMurrow) June 28, 2021
bro who thought it was okay to let these people track and field in 100°+ heat Taliyah Brooks collapsed and honestly I can’t blame her
— dahri. (@cartierdahri) June 27, 2021
Ugh, that's awful. I saw she was a DNS for the event but had no idea what happened.
— Karthik K (@kkanagas) June 27, 2021
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