PARIS – Penn State track & field alum Cheickna Traore concluded his first Olympic berth with a 20.54 mark in the first round of the 200-meter dash Monday.
Cheickna Traore: Olympian 🇨🇮@traoxe clocked made his Olympic debut with a 20.54 in today’s 200-meter first round
— Penn State Track & Field/Cross Country (@PennStateTFXC) August 5, 2024
He will run again tomorrow morning in the repechage round at 6:30 a.m.#WeAre | #OlympiansMadeHere
📸| #GettyImages pic.twitter.com/A2diypy6ZO
The Ivory Coast sprinter finished sixth in his opening round heat Monday afternoon, but scratched out of the repechage round Tuesday morning.
Traore qualified for his first Olympics this past summer with a 19.93 in the 200-meter dash at the NCAA East Region Preliminary meet. His time was a personal best, school record, and Ivory Coast national record in the half-lap sprint. The superstar sprinter will go down as one of the greatest sprinters in Penn State history as his NCAA title in the 200m in June was Penn State’s first sprint championship since 1941. He also made history as Penn State track & field’s first Olympian in the men’s sprint events since Mike Shine in 1976.
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