San Marcos High School product Allie Jones made her Olympic Trials debut earlier this week and as she puts it, came in knowing she had a shot to make the Olympic team.
“Obviously, my goals are no longer to make the Trials but to make the team,” she said.
Jones, who competes in the seven-event heptathlon, took fifth overall in Eugene, Oregon with 6,192 points — just two spots shy of making the Olympic roster.
Despite missing out on this year’s Olympics, Jones and her coaching team are excited for what’s to come of her young career at 23 years old.
“More so excitement rather than disappointment that I didn't make the team," Jones said of her finish. "Obviously, I would have loved to and they would have loved me too as well but I think they really got a glimpse of like what I really can accomplish.”
Jones has been a Pac-12 champion, competed on national and world stages, and entered with high expectations. As she explained, competing to be a part of the Olympics is both an honor and a high-stress event.
"I'm consistently comparing myself to Olympians and the world record holder and the U.S. number one girl, but I often have to remind myself to kind of sit back and reflect and like compare myself to like where I am relative. Fifth in the U.S. is so freaking cool.”
Jones’ journey is not over.
She’ll continue to train over the next four years to prepare for the Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028. She just recently finished her collegiate career at USC after graduating from Stanford.
