I wish to acknowledge the effort put in by Turquoise Thompson and not just at the trials. Boys and girls, this here TQ is an athlete worth emulating. If you haven't read this story, do read it. Read it anytime, but especially when you're feeling a bit low. She is pure inspiration.

Some tidbits...

"Even if I don't make the team, getting to the Olympic Trials is still achieving a fraction of my dream. I think that this, overall, is an achievement in itself".

"It's a great feeling to represent your country in anything you do, whether it's track or any other sport, being a Marine or in the Navy. I'm pretty sure we all feel the same way. It's a confidence and a proud feeling."

"TQ had one of the best hurdle races I have ever seen her run and I'm so proud of her," UCLA coach Jeanette Bolden said. "She gave it her ultimate best. If you are going to place second, then you are going to place second by doing your best and she did that."

And this is what I will think about when next I injure my big toe...

In addition to managing daily struggles with sickle-cell trait, Osgood-Schlatter disease and exercise-induced asthma, as well as nursing nagging injuries to her hamstrings, hips, knees, glutes and most recently with a protruding tailbone, Thompson also had to adjust her training schedule in comparison to past years to incorporate preparation for the Olympic Trials.

As a parent, this strikes me as well...

Thompson has already followed her father Donn's footsteps by competing at UCLA.

Today, she'll add to her resume by joining her mother as an Olympic Trials participant.

You know damn well that if she had made the team, she would be profiled on TV.

Oh, by the way, while she finished 6th, she had the best reaction time in the final. That's our Bruin girl!