London, England – Lolo Jones missed out on an Olympic medal by one-tenth of a second, finishing fourth behind American teammates Dawn Harper and Kellie Wells in the women's 100-meter hurdles.
Sally Pearson of Australia won the race with an Olympic record time of 12.35 seconds. Harper, the gold medalist at the 2008 Beijing Games, was .02 seconds behind for silver.
"It's a dream. Relief was the first thing I felt and then shock. I'm just going through the emotions. I really wanted this. I've worked so hard for two years. To see my name on the scoreboard, I just can't believe it," said Pearson. "I didn't realize how close Dawn was until the end. I said in my head, 'please don't let this happen, I need this.'"
Wells, the only runner to beat Pearson this season, took bronze with a run of 12.48 seconds, beating Jones and Turkey's Nevin Yanit by .10 seconds. It was Jones' fastest time of the season.
Jones was the favorite in this event four years ago in Beijing and seemed on her way to a win before stumbling over the ninth of 10 hurdles in the final, finishing seventh. The 30-year-old had the second-fastest time in qualifying on Monday, but once again an Olympic medal proved to be elusive.
"I hit the first four hurdles. I'm pleased to say I can lift my head up a bit higher, at least it was a clean race this time," Jones said in a reference to her Beijing woes. "It's a season's best (time) so I'm pleased, but obviously I'm crushed."
