Aug. 7, 2012

Reigning Olympic Champion Dawn Harper came away with the Silver Medal in an extremely close race that was decided by a photo finish. Harper ran a big lifetime-best of 12.37 for second-place, narrowly missing gold by .02 seconds.

Harper was running out of lane four and got off to a great start, battling with fellow American Kelli Wells and Australian Sally Pearson down the stretch. Harper and Pearson pulled away and came to the line at nearly the same time. After a few minutes of officials looking at the photo finish, Pearson was deamed the winner as Harper took home silver and Wells earned bronze.

In the semifinal round, Harper breezed past the field and into position to defend her 2008 Olympic title as she clocked a new lifetime-best of 12.46. Her time was .37 seconds faster than the second-place finisher. The time was also the second-fastest time in the semifinal round.

The Bruin alumna earned a spot in the Olympic Games after winning the U.S. Olympic Trials earlier this summer. She trains with former women's team coach and current volunteer coach Bobby Kersee.