10.5
NSU sprinter qualifies for Olympic trials
Fred Jeter | 5/16/2024, 6 p.m.
HBCU’s will be represented at the upcoming Olympic Track and Field Trials.
Norfolk State’s Kai Cole has punched his ticket to the trials while also drawing the attention of world champ Noah Lyles.
“I see ya Kai!” Lyles posted on X after hearing of Cole’s heroics.
Lyles is the reigning world champ in the 100 meters and among the favorites to prevail at the Summer Games in Paris.
Cole is a 5-foot-5 graduate student at Norfolk State University.
Competing at the MEAC Championships last week at Dick Price Stadium in Norfolk, Cole won the 100 in 10.05 and 200 in 20.55, qualifying for the trials in both events.
Cole’s 10.05 for the 100 ranks among the 10 fastest times run by any American this year.
Aside from speed, Lyles and Cole have something else in common. Both are graduates of T.C. Williams High, the Alexandria school made famous in the sports film “Remember the Titans.”
The Trials will be June 21 to 30 at the University of Oregon. The Olympics will be July 26 through Aug. 11 in Paris.
Should Cole qualify for Paris, he won’t be the first Spartan to do so. In 1976, NSU alumnus Steve Riddick won the gold medal in Montreal for the 4-x-100 relay.
