University of Oregon
Oregon Twilight
Allen's Return Highlights Oregon Twilight
05/04/17 | Track and Field, @GoDucksMoseley
U.S. Olympian and former Oregon football star Devon Allen returns to competition Friday at Hayward Field.
Devon Allen is ready to tackle the first major hurdle in his second comeback from knee surgery.
The U.S. Olympian and former Oregon football star will make his return to competition Friday at Hayward Field, in the 110-meter hurdles race to be run during the Oregon Twilight meet. Allen hasn't competed on the track since injuring his knee playing football for the Ducks last fall, just weeks after running in the Olympic final in Rio.
The Oregon Twilight begins with field events at 1:30 p.m., and events on the track start at 2:15 p.m. The Pac-12 Network will broadcast the final hour beginning at 6 p.m., a window that includes the 110 hurdles at 6:37 p.m.
"Obviously as a competitor I want to win," said Allen, who will race against a field that includes former UO teammate Johnathan Cabral. "But I'm just going to go out there and compete as best I can, run as fast as I can and do what I can to stay healthy."
Allen, who has remained in Eugene in order to finish his business degree in June, injured his knee in a football game at Nebraska on Sept. 17 of last year. In November, he announced he would forgo his remaining football eligibility at Oregon in order to focus on track, in which he won the NCAA Indoor 60-meter title and the 110 title at NCAA Outdoors before winning a USA championship and advancing to the Olympics last year.
Having also returned from a football knee injury suffered in January 2015, Allen said his recovery from the most recent injury has taken place on a familiar timeline. Within three months of surgery he was able to start running again, and he's felt 100 percent in training for about the last five or six weeks, since returning to Eugene from spring break.
"It's just reintroducing my body to hard workouts; after a month of that I started feeling fine," Allen said. "Now, training every day I feel normal."
Allen ran a personal best of 13.03 seconds to win the U.S. Olympic Trials last summer. His goals for the Oregon Twilight are more modest – something around 13.4 seconds, which he ran in his 2016 outdoor debut following his first recovery from knee surgery.
"Obviously it's a major injury and the recovery is long, but once you recover from it there aren't really any effects – as you could tell from last year," Allen said. "I feel like eventually I'll be back better, faster, stronger. When that happens, I don't know; hopefully it's this year."
Allen plans to compete next at the IAAF World Challenge in Kingston, Jamaica, on May 20, and then back at Hayward Field for the Prefontaine Classic a week later. Further out are the USA championships, June 22-25 in Sacramento, Calif., and the IAAF World Championships in London from Aug. 4-13.
From the sound of it, Allen plans to spend the next couple of years focused on his primary event, in his primary sport. An Olympic gold medal and world record in the 110 hurdles command his focus, Allen said, but eventually he hopes to indulge his interest in the decathlon – and he hasn't completely ruled out taking a shot at an NFL career.
"I always enjoyed doing as many things as possible, which is why I played football and did all the other sports as a kid," Allen said. "… Honestly as an athlete I do want to play in the NFL one day. But I think I'm going to give myself four years (on the track)."
Allen's quest to win Olympic gold and threaten the world record begin with his return to competition Friday night in the Oregon Twilight.
"It'll be fun," he said. "I always like competing at Hayward Field – the atmosphere's awesome, the fans are awesome. I train there every day, so although it's a competition, it'll feel familiar, which is nice. I'm excited."
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