Gray’s Creek Alum Quanera Hayes Back in Olympics After Qualifying for Paris

There's fast, and then there's Olympic fast. And for the second straight Olympic Games, Gray's Creek High School alum Quanera Hayes is the latter, as she has qualified for the Paris Olympics. Hayes notably had previously made the US Olympic Team for the rescheduled 2021 Tokyo Games, after a stunning upset in the women's 400m final at the U.S. Olympic trials in 2001. She is a 2010 Gray's Creek graduate, and Hope Mills native. This time around, Hayes qualified as a member of the women's 4x400 relay pool. It doesn't guarantee her a competing spot, but she is on the list of eligible runners. Hayes made her way to the finals of the women's 400 in Tokyo, where she finished seventh.  Joining Hayes in Paris will also be Army Captain Sammy Sullivan, a Jack Britt graduate, who will compete for Team USA as a member of the Women's Rugby Sevens quad. The Paris Olympics begin on Friday, July 26 and the first round of the women's 4x400 that Hayes would potentially be eligible for is on Friday, August 9. Opening Ceremonies for the Games will be held along the Seine River - instead of in a stadium as most other Olympics have done - and will be broadcast live at 1:30 p.m. on Friday, July 26, with an encore on NBC that night. Quanera Hayes competes in the women's 400 meter final on Day Three 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials Track & Field at Hayward Field on June 23, 2024 in Eugene, Oregon.