EUGENE, Ore. – At the 2021 U.S. Olympic Trials, there was pre-race speculation Lynna Irby-Jackson would win the 400 meters.
In 2024, no one thought that. Well, one did.
“I saw myself winning it,” Irby-Jackson said. “I know that ‘49’ is in there. I’m excited to keep racing and dig deeper and go get it.”
Irby-Jackson, the former Pike High School sprinter, was sixth in the 400 three years ago in 50.35 seconds. She went on to win two relay medals at Tokyo.
It is doubtful, although not inconceivable, that she will run in a second Olympics in Paris. The top six customarily are chosen by USA Track & Field for relay pools, especially with the introduction of the mixed 4x400 (two men, two women).
Irby-Jackson, after winning a semifinal in 50.17 on June 22, was seventh in the final a day later in 50.74. Seventh place makes her chances of selection “iffy,” she said.
“If Team USA calls, obviously, I’ll answer, wherever they want me. If not, no hard feelings. We still have the rest of the season to continue our journey.”
Irby-Jackson won a gold medal in the mixed 4x400 relay at the World Relays on May 5 at Nassau, Bahamas. Her relay legs in the two rounds, 50.03 and 50.10, were faster than those of Kendall Ellis, who won at the trials.
Irby-Jackson is in the best shape of her career, according to Tonja Buford-Bailey, her Texas-based coach.
The sprinter’s best time of 49.80 dates from the 2018 NCAA Championships while a Georgia freshman. She was fourth in the 2023 USA Championships in 50.11.
Her experience at these trials has been “bittersweet,” she said. She ran the fastest first 100 meters of the final, 11.84, and was just .13 behind Ellis through 300 meters. Irby-Jackson said she was “over-analyzing” the race as it was being run.
"I don’t feel like I went out too fast, honestly,” she said. “I was just entirely too focused on not my own lane. In the race, I was like, ‘Is this the right pace?’ instead of going for it. I should have just run.”
Irby-Jackson’s meet ended Friday in a semifinal of the 200 meters, in which she ran out of unfavorable lane 1 and was seventh in 22.85.
“I went into the race with a chip on my shoulder because I knew I’d have to work really hard,” she said.
She made the final in 2021, finishing seventh in 22.46. She has not run as fast since.
She has been around so long, it’s easy to forget Irby-Jackson is 25. She was making U.S. teams as long ago as 2015, when she was second in the 400 in the under-18 World Youth Championships at Cali, Colombia. One of her teammates was Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone.
Irby-Jackson recently re-signed with Adidas and intends to continue in the sport at least through the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
“As a competitor, you expect more, you want more,” she said. “You get a little more hungry.”
Contact IndyStar correspondent David Woods at dwoods1411@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidWoods007.
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