In a remarkable turn of events, track star Kendall Ellis secured her spot in the Olympics after overcoming an unexpected obstacle – being trapped in a porta-potty just before her crucial semifinal at the U.S. track trials.
The 28-year-old 400-meter runner found herself in a panic when the door of a portable toilet jammed, leaving her trapped inside. “I got locked in the bathroom an hour before the race,”
Ellis shared on social media, expressing gratitude to the “kind sir” who eventually freed her. She recounted the harrowing experience, saying she was “crying and sweating” during her confinement.Despite the pre-race drama, Ellis turned the incident into a positive. “Crazy things happen right before something great is about to occur, so maybe I needed that to get all the nerves and adrenaline out,” she reflected in an interview posted on the Citius Mag Instagram page. The incident resonated with fellow athletes, with 800-meter runner Emily Richards commenting, “Was it the one on the warmup field all the way to the left?!…it got me too.” Brooklyn runner Sarah Stafford dubbed it “Every runner’s nightmare.”
Undeterred by the porta-potty predicament, Ellis went on to achieve her first personal best in six years during the semifinal with a time of 49.81 seconds, according to Post and Courier
. She then surpassed this feat in the final, clinching victory with a time of 49.46 seconds and securing her place in her second Olympic Games.The star runner is no stranger to Olympic success, having previously won gold in the 4×400 women’s relay and bronze in the mixed relay at the Tokyo Games. Her track record also includes gold medals from world championship relay teams and this year’s World Athletics Relays. The USC alum previously captured widespread attention in 2018 with a stunning comeback during the anchor lap of a 4×400 race, where she bobbled the baton and overcame a 30-meter deficit to clinch victory.