Khallifah Rosser of Cal State Los Angeles has already won a national championship, tied a long-running school record and won an elite race at the legendary Mt. San Antonio College Relays in 2016.
Now he is in Oregon ready to take his shot at the grandest goal of all: a spot on the United States Olympic Team.
Rosser, also a product of Summit High School and Chaffey College, will compete in the first round of the 400-meter hurdles at the U.S. Olympic Trials today at 6:53 p.m., hoping to advance to the semifinals on Friday wit the final slated for Sunday.
He has the seventh-fastest qualifying time entering the Trials and needs to finish among the top three to earn a spot on the U.S. Olympic Team.
“I feel good; I’m real confident that I can reach my goal, but right now I am focusing everything on the first day and doing what I need to do to make it out of the first round,” Rosser said. “If I execute the plan like I should, I should do well.”
Rosser’s qualifying mark of 49.04 came in winning an NCAA Division II championship in May.
He is also buoyed by a break-through performance at the Mt. SAC Relays in April when he achieved a then-personal best mark of 49.27, while beating an elite field that included Olympic Trial participants like Jeshua Anderson, C.J. Allen and Michael Tinsley. “