<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Your teams. Your favorite writers. Wherever you want them. Personalize SI with our new App. Install on iOS (iOS&amp;nbsp;or Android)&lt;/em&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;EUGENE, Ore. \u2014 Oregon wide receiver and NCAA champion hurdler Devon Allen claimed his second U.S. national title as he won the men's 110-meter hurdles at Saturday's U.S. Olympic Trials before a home crowd at Hayward Field. He'll now head to the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Aries Merritt, the reigning Olympic champion, will not have&amp;nbsp;a chance to defend his gold medal in the 110-meter hurdles less than a year after undergoing a kidney transplant.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Allen's 13.03 time was a personal best and secured his place on his first U.S. Olympic team. His 2016 season has been impressive after missing the 2015 outdoor campaign due to a knee injury he sustained while playing football. In June, he won the 2016 NCAA crown in&amp;nbsp;13.50 seconds.\r\n\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;DEVON ALLEN\r\n\r\nHe wins the men's 110m hurdles with a blazing 13.03! More highlights: https://t.co/s8sasnBSYw https://t.co/LuPeshQnvV\r\n\u2014 NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) July 10, 2016\r\n\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Merritt finished fourth Saturday with a time of 13.22. Ronnie Ash and Jeff Porter nabbed the final two spots to the Summer Games.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In 2013, Merritt went to the hospital and was told by doctors that his kidney function was less than 15% because he was dealing with a collapsing form of Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis. He was told that he would need a transplant in May, but he decided to continue competing through August\u2019s world championship in Beijing.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;At the world championships, he went on to win bronze with a time of 13.04, his fastest time since setting the world record of 12.80 in 2012.&amp;nbsp;After the race, he told reporters that his bronze medal was going to \u201Cshine brighter than my gold.\u201D\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022 &lt;strong&gt;LAYDEN: Months after kidney transplant, top hurdler Aries Merritt chasing Rio berth&lt;/strong&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Merritt had only raced three times before competing at this week\u2019s trials. In May 2016, he suffered a groin injury unrelated to his kidney transplant. Merritt can still feel the effect of the transplant when he raises his trail leg (right leg).\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;On Wednesday, Merritt told reporters his doctors were concerned about him potentially competing at the Olympics due to the Zika virus outbreak. He still wanted to compete at the Olympics.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The toughest challenger for gold in the 110-meter hurdles in Rio hails from Jamaica in Omar McLeod, who has run five of the fastest times in the world this year, including a season\u2019s best of 12.98. The United States\u2019 110-meter corps has medaled at every Olympics since 1984.\r\n&lt;/p&gt;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.si.com/olympics/2016/07/09/rio-olympics-us-track-and-field-110-meter-hurdles-aries-merritt-devon-allen>