Olympic 100m silver medalist Carmelita Jeter quietly returned to competition for the first time since August, running 11.27 and 11.32 seconds in the last week, according to the Times of San Diego.
Jeter, 34, backed up her London Olympic silver by winning bronze at the World Championships in August, after a quadriceps injury had bothered her since May.
The U.S. women’s sprinting scene is quite different this year. Jeter’s 11.27 ranks outside the top 20 Americans, but last year’s top two from the U.S. Championships (which Jeter missed due to injury) haven’t been impressive either.
English Gardner has run a season’s best of 11.25, and Octavious Freeman clocked 11.35.
The star this year so far has been Tori Bowie, who was primarily a long jumper through the indoor season. Bowie has run 11.05 in the 100m, .01 behind U.S. leader Morolake Akinosun, and a world-leading 22.18 in the 200m.
Allyson Felix has said she’s focusing more on the 400m than the 100m this season.
The 100m world leader this year is Veronica Campbell-Brown, the only woman to break 11 seconds at 10.86. Olympic and World champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce has struggled with injury.
Jeter has declared her intention to compete in the 100m at next week’s U.S. Championships in Sacramento, Calif.