Jon Jones finishes fifth at USATF Outdoor Championships, misses World Championship berth by 26 centimeters

Jon Jones' knees need a rest.

After his NCAA National Championship earlier this month, it came out that the UB senior had been competing on two sore knees which completely halted his weightlifting regimen and severely limited his workload in practice. Jones will need a ten-week rehab plan to recover, but was holding out for this weekend's USATF Championships and the chance at a berth at the IAAF World Championships.

Jon needed to finish fourth in the event to earn that berth, and ultimately fell just 26 centimeters short, coming in fifth behind Joe Kovacs, Christian Cantwell, Jordan Clarke, and all-time US great Reese Hoffa, who are all sponsored by Nike. Jon's top throw came on his third attempt, a new personal best of 20.92 meters that for a few moments elevated him into fourth position, but he fouled on two subsequent throws, presumably going for broke, and didn't crack 20 meters on his last.

For the second straight year Jones was the top collegiate competitor at the meet, besting Penn State's Darrell Hill by 12 centimeters after the two tied their best throws at the NCAA Championships. Three other collegians were competing, but only Jones and Hill made the final eight after the preliminary first three rounds.

Jim Garnham has vowed that once Jones gets healthy his throws will shoot up quickly, and given that it's even more impressive that he's continued to set personal bests this spring and summer. For now, it's time to heal and get stronger, and while there are more competitions I'm sure, the next big hurdle is the US Olympic Trials a year (ish) from now.

Congrats once again on a great career Jon!