OMAHA — It is one of the most agonizing rituals not just in the Olympic world, but in all of sports. Time and again this week at the U.S. Olympic swimming trials, in race after race, someone will touch the wall first, securing a spot in Rio.
Someone else will finish second, also ensuring a berth at this August’s Summer Olympic Games.
And some poor soul will finish third and go home.
Sometimes the difference between second and third is a fraction of a second, the length of fingernail. But, in reality, the gap might as well be as wide as the Gulf of Mexico, especially for those star-crossed swimmers who, because they missed second place by a centimeter or two, never, ever made it to the Olympics.