DeeDee Trotter (The Herald/Submitted Photo)

Justin Gatlin (The Herald/Submitted Photo)

Sunday was a very rewarding day for the Tennessee track & field program, as two highly-decorated alums raced to bronze medals in front of a crowd of 80,000 at Olympic Stadium.

Former Lady Vol DeeDee Trotter and Vol product Justin Gatlin completed dramatic career comebacks by racing their way to bronze medals in the women’s 400-meter dash and the men’s 100-meter dash, respectively.

Three-time Olympian Trotter was the first to earn a spot on the podium. Making her first Olympic final appearance since placing fifth in the 400-meter dash in 2004, Trotter put together a season-best readout of 49.72 seconds to earn her second career medal at the Games to go along with a gold medal won with the USA 4x400m relay unit in 2004. She became the first Lady Vol to earn an individual event medal at the Olympics since LaVonna Martin grabbed silver in the 100m hurdles in 1992.

Trotter, who barely made the Olympics in 2008 after suffering several injuries, has gradually made the climb back to the elite level of sprinting she displayed in 2004. Racing confidently and aggressively, she went for the top spot on the podium on Sunday and led coming down the home stretch. She didn’t have quite enough reserve left at the end, and American teammate Sanya Richards-Ross (49.55) and Great Britain’s Christine Ohuruogu (49.70) overtook her for gold and silver.

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