Allyson Felix, right, celebrates her win in the women's 200 meters at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials Saturday, June 30, 2012, in Eugene, Ore. Felix won the 200 but she and Jeneba Tarmoh, walking off at left rear, tied for third place in the 100 meters. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
Allyson Felix, right, celebrates her win in the women's 200 meters at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials Saturday, June 30, 2012, in Eugene, Ore. Felix won the 200 but she and Jeneba Tarmoh, walking off at left rear, tied for third place in the 100 meters. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
Allyson Felix, left, and Jeneba Tarmoh speak after the finish of the women's 200 meters at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials Saturday, June 30, 2012, in Eugene, Ore. Felix won the 200 but she and Tarmoh tied for third place in the 100 meters. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
Allyson Felix, right, and Jeneba Tarmoh embrace after the finish of the women's 200 meters at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials Saturday, June 30, 2012, in Eugene, Ore. Felix won the 200 but she and Tarmoh tied for third place in the 100 meters. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
Allyson Felix celebrates her first place finish in the women's 200 meters at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials Saturday, June 30, 2012, in Eugene, Ore. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Carmelita Jeter and Jeneba Tarmoh celebrate after the women's 100m final at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials Saturday, June 23, 2012, in Eugene, Ore. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
EUGENE, Ore. (AP) ? The runoff to settle a third-place tie in the women's 100 meters at the U.S. track trials may not make it to the starting line on Monday.
Sprinter Jeneba Tarmoh is reconsidering her decision to take part in the race against training partner Allyson Felix, according to a person with direct knowledge of the situation.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity because no announcement was made. A message 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 ? 5 p.m. local time ? at Hayward Field. The winner earns the last spot in the event for the London Games.
Tarmoh only reluctantly agreed to the runoff in the first place.
"In my heart 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 held on June 23, Tarmoh's name popped up on the scoreboard in the third spot behind winner Carmelita Jeter and runner-up Tianna Madison. Tarmoh even took a celebratory lap around the track, waving an American flag. She received a medal and conducted a news conference.
Then, she found out about the dead heat.
The situation has been a debacle since Felix and Tarmoh crossed the line in an identical time of 11.068 seconds. USATF had no protocol in place to resolve such a deadlock and quickly scrambled to adopt a tiebreaking procedure.
The options were either a runoff, coin flip or one athlete conceding the spot to the other.
The athletes and their agents met with USATF representatives at a nearby hotel Sunday to work out a deal. Felix and Tarmoh chose to settle matters on the track, not with the toss of a quarter.
Although, Tarmoh was clearly unhappy with the choice.
"This decision was really hard for me to make," said Tarmoh, who didn't qualify in the 200 on Saturday night but will be eligible for the Olympic 400 relay team. "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 give my spot up. I had to say it was a runoff."
The race was going to be a boon for track and shown on NBC in conjunction with the network's coverage of the swimming trials.
Everyone was talking about the race.
And just when it looked like everything was heading toward a showdown, this wrinkle surfaced nearly 12 hours before they crouched into the starting blocks.
Sports Illustrated was the first to report that Tarmoh was thinking of not running.
After two races and six grinding rounds, taking the track again wasn't exactly an ideal situation for either sprinter.
Felix said her legs were exhausted, especially after turning in a personal-best of 21.69 in winning the 200, her signature event and one she is expected to win gold in at the London games. It was an electric performance that was almost overshadowed in the flap.
After she finished, all anyone wanted to know was how she was going to break the tie in the 100.
"I didn't get to really enjoy it," Felix said. "As soon as I came off (the track), that's the first time that I actually thought about the process. Of course, I wasn't thinking I wanted to do a coin toss, but that's the first time I sat down and went through things in my head.
"Once this is over, I'll be happy about it."
For Tarmoh, there's also an emotional element. She went from the high of thinking she made the team after the race, to the low of having to claim her spot all over again.
"I went to bed so happy and then I woke up to do something I don't want to do at all," Tarmoh said.
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