Keni Harrison was NCAA champion in the indoor 60-meter hurdles and outdoor 100-meter hurdles her senior season at UK. (UK Athletics Photo)
Keni Harrison didn’t grow up dreaming of participating in the Olympic Games like she will be doing later this month. Instead, the former University of Kentucky star hurdler played soccer until she got to high school and joined the track team. It wasn’t until she got to college that she started dreaming of being an Olympian.
“I started (track) late at age 15 or 16. I had a lot of catching up to do and girls were better than me,” Harrison said Thursday on a Zoom call with UK media members.
However, after watching the 2012 Olympics, she knew she wanted to wear Team USA on her chest and participate in the Olympics. Most figured she would be on the 2016 U.S. Olympic team when she was favored to win the 100-meter hurdles at the U.S. Olympic Trials. Instead, she ran sixth in 12.62 seconds — one of her slowest times — and missed qualifying for the Olympics. It was the only race she lost all season.
But Harrison didn’t let that disappointment destroy her Olympic dreams. She won the 100-meter hurdles at the recent USA Olympic Trials and heads to Tokyo as one of the medal favorites. She still holds the world record of 12.20 seconds set in 2016.
“I am just really pleased with how everything is going,” Harrison said. “I am just really excited, confident in myself, and ready to go and do my best.”
Harrison says she is doing her weight room training to improve her strength.
“I am training and trying to peak my body to run the best I can in a couple of weeks,” Harrison said.
