Wallace Spearmon Jr. on Tuesday blazed his way for a chance at redemption.
The Chicago-born track-and-field star ran 20.47 seconds in the men's 200-meter sprint to qualify him for Wednesday's semi-finals. From there he has another shot at the Olympic medal he lost four years ago.
Spearmon finished third in the 2008 Olympics but was later disqualified for stepping out of his lane. He earned his ticket to London in July with 19.83 seconds to win the men's 200-meter race.
Spearmon is ranked one of the fastest runners ever. Since the 2008 Olympic mishap he trained and competed for his second chance.
The Midwest made more headlines Tuesday thanks to University of Notre Dame alum Molly Huddle. The long-distance track runner qualified in the women's 5,000-meter race and runs again Thursday.
She is considered a front runner in the distance track event and earned a season's best record Tuesday.
