Tarmoh may reconsider 100-meter runoff against Felix

The runoff to settle a third-place tie in the women's 100-meter at the U.S. track trials is in jeopardy after sprinter Jeneba Tarmoh is reconsidering her decision to run in a re-match against her training partner Allyson Felix.

A source told The Associated Press that, while no announcement was made, a message about Monday night's race was left for an official at USA Track and Field.

The runoff— a winner-take-all race— is scheduled to be held at 8 p.m. EDT— at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore..

The 22-year-old Tarmoh was reluctant to participate in the second race— to earn the last spot in the event for the London Games—  in the first place.

"In my hearts of hearts, I just feel like I earned the third spot," she said Sunday.  "I almost feel like I was kind of robbed."

When the race was originally run on June 23, Tarmoh's name was put on the scoreboard behind winner Carmelita Jeter and runner-up Tianna Madison.  Tarmoh even carried the American flag in a celebratory lap around the stadium and received a medal.

Then her joy turned to confusion.

After both Tarmoh and Felix crossed the finish line with identical times of 11.068 seconds, the USATF had no protocol in dealing with a tie.

Their solution— either a runoff, a coin flip or one sprinter conceding the race to the other.

Tarmoh and her 26-year-old counterpart Felix initially chose to settle it on the track and not with the flip of a quarter.

"This decision was really hard for me to make," said Tarmoh.  "I was pushed into a corner.  They said if you don't make a decision, you give your spot up.  I work too hard to just to give my spot up.  I had to say it was a runoff." The frustrated runner already didn't qualify for the 200-meter on Saturday but will be eligible for the 400 relay team.

NBC was hoping the highly-publicized match race would boost ratings in conjunction with its coverage of the swimming trials.  Now, it looks like the race might not even get out of the starting blocks.

Felix claims her legs were tired after winning the 200 and wants to put the 100 controversy behind her.

"Once this is over, I'll be happy about it," she said.

Tarmoh went from the high of making the Olympic team to looking at an unprecedented decision to keeping her spot.

"I went to bed happy and then I woke up to do something I don't want to do at all," said Tarmoh.