EUGENE, Ore. - If the sprinting world had any question about how
prepared Tyson Gay is to repeat his gold-medal performances of the 2007
World Championships at the Olympic Games, he answered that question with
a roar Sunday at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Track & Field.
With a 4.1 meters-per-second wind behind him, the world 100 and 200m
champion ran the fastest 100 meters ever by a human being, 9.68, to win
the men's 100m Olympic Trials title. Moments after Gay crossed the line,
the flags at Hayward Field fell still, leaving observers to wonder what
a slightly more tame, and legal, breeze would have resulted in.
No matter. Gay headlines an American 100 meter squad that will be
looking for multiple medals in Beijing. 2007 NCAA champion Walter Dix
was next across the line Sunday in 9.80, followed by 2003 World Outdoor
200m silver medalist Darvis Patton. Completing the field were collegiate
record holder Travis Padgett (9.85), Rodney Martin (9.97), Leroy Dixon
(9.99), Michael Rodgers (10.01) and Xavier Carter (10.11).
Prior to Sunday, the fastest time ever run had been 9.69 by Obadele
Thompson in 1996, where a wind in excess of 5mps couldn't be accurately
measured. Earlier Sunday, Gay had been somewhat leisurely in the first
stage of his semifinal race but came on to win in 9.85 (+2.2mps), while
Patton won the second semi in 10.04 (+0.5).
The top three finishers in each event at these Olympic Trials, who have
met Olympic performance standards, will earn the ultimate prize of a
spot on the Team USA roster for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing,
China.
Drama, heartbreak in women's 400 hurdles
America's best women's 400m hurdlers laid it on the line Sunday, with
many questions to be answered. Former #1 world-ranked Lashinda Demus was
trying to make her second Olympic team one year to the month after
giving birth to twin boys, 2007 Visa Champion Tiffany Ross-Williams was
looking to repeat as national champion, and Olympic Trials record holder
Sheena Tosta was looking to get back on top.
Coming into the final stretch, Ross-Williams led fellow South Carolina
grad Demus over the final hurdle. Although the final meters off the last
hurdle are normally a strong point for Demus, she was passed in the
waning stages of the race by surprising Queen Harrison of Virginia Tech,
who ended second in 54.60, and Tosta, who was third in 54.62. Demus
ended fourth in 54.76.
Experience reigns in men's 400H, women's discus
The American lineup for the men's 400 hurdles is steeped in both talent
and experience. After placing fourth at the 2004 Olympic Trials, the
eminently competitive Bershawn "Batman" Jackson entered the homestretch
in the lead and never relinquished it. The 2005 world champion won
handily in 48.17, with 2007 world champion Kerron Clement holding on for
second (48.36) and 2000 Olympic gold medalist Angelo Taylor taking third
(48.42).
Likewise, there were no surprises in the women's discus. Three-time
national champion Aretha Thurmond returned to the top of the podium
after having a child in spring of last year, winning her fourth career
national title and second Olympic Trials crown with a toss of
65.20m/213-11. She will be joined on the U.S. team by American record
holder Suzy Powell-Roos (62.92m/206-5) and 2004 Olympian Stephanie Brown
Trafton (62.65m/205-6).
Battle over the bar
Voices of experience were heard loud and clear in the men's pole vault,
where the most seasoned U.S. competitors seemed to best deal with the
swirling breezes. A competition that had been rife with passed heights
and tricky winds got slimmed down rapidly midway through the
competition.
2006 USA outdoor champion Russ Buller withdrew from the competition with
an injury after clearing 5.60m/18-4.5 for fourth place, leaving only
Derek Miles, four-time national champion Jeff Hartwig and world champion
and American record holder Brad Walker remaining. Their Olympic spots
assured, it became a matter of determining the winner.
Emerging from several years of at times mysterious injury battles, Miles
cleared 5.80m/19-0.25 on his second attempt to take the lead as Hartwig,
with a best clearance of 5.70m/18-8.25, failed to clear the height.
Walker ran through on his second attempt at 5.80m and passed on his
third attempt, then chose to call it a day. Walker had cleared
5.65m/18-6.5 on his very first attempt of the competition, and it was
enough to ensure he is Beijing-bound.
Miles then raised the bar to 5.91m/19-4.75 in an effort to break Tim
Mack's Olympic Trials record of 5.90m, but took two tries before he,
too, had had enough. It was the first national outdoor title and second
Olympic berth for the 35-year-old Miles, who also competed in Athens in
2004.
Hartwig will be 41 in September and is the oldest American man ever to
make an Olympic pole vault team.
Long jump surprise
In another dramatic field-event competition, the biggest casualty of the
day came in the men's long jump.
2008 USA indoor champion Trevell Quinley moved from third to first on
his last jump of 8.36m/27-5.5 (+1.6), a huge personal best by 14cm. With
the leap, he knocked Brian Johnson down to second (8.30m/27-2.75) and
Miguel Pate to third (8.22m/26-11.75). Competing on the same runway
where he suffered a near career-ending knee injury in 2003, Pate was the
comeback story in the jump final, leaping up and down the runway after
securing his spot for Beijing.
Dwight Phillips won't have the opportunity to defend his 2004 Olympic
gold medal in the event. The two-time world champion fell from third to
fourth in the fifth round of jumping and was unable to move back to
third on his sixth and final jump. He was less than an inch out of
third, with a best of 8.20m/26-11).
Two-woman triple jump team
The women's triple jump featured great competition and a near-miss for
one competitor. Two-time defending U.S. outdoor champion Shani Marks was
the class of the field, winning with a Hayward Field record of
14.38m/47-2.25 (+1.4mps). Veteran Shakeema Welsch was second with
14.27m/46-10.0 (+3.5mps) and 2005 USA champion Erica McClain was third
with 13.96m/45-9.75 (+0.4mps). Marks and McClain entered the Olympic
Trials already with the Olympic "A" standard of 14.20m, necessary to
compete in Beijing. Although Welsch exceeded 14.20m in Eugene, her mark
was wind-aided so will not be accepted as an A standard. Marks and
McClain will represent Team USA in at the Olympics.
Three men control decathlon
After one day of competition, the decathlon is shaping up as a three-man
race between former 2005 world champion Bryan Clay, NCAA champion Trey
Hardee, and 2003 world champion Tom Pappas.
Clay and Pappas traded wins through the first four events. The
28-year-old Clay had a strong 100m (10.39, 1001 points) and high jump
(2.08m/6-9.75 for 878 points), the first and fourth events,
respectively, but struggled in the long jump and shot. The 31-year-old
Pappas, by contrast, was very strong in those events, winning the long
jump with a mark of 7.77m/25-6 (1002 points) and the shot put with a
personal-best 17.26m/56-7.5 (929 points). The University of Oregon's
Ashton Eaton had the fastest 400m time of 47.07.
At the end of the day, Clay led the point tally with 4,476, with the
24-year-old Hardee second (4,454) and Pappas third (4,405). Jangy Addy
was a distant fourth (4,249).
Round and round
In Sunday's qualifying action, Mary Wineberg won heat 1 of the women's
400m quarterfinals in 51.46, Natasha Hastings won heat 2 (51.51), Sanya
Richards won heat 3 (51.08), and Dee Dee Trotter took the fourth heat
(51.97). Winning their races on the men's side of the card were LaShawn
Merritt (45.30), Jeremy Wariner (46.04), Lionel Larry (45.89) and
Quentin Iglehart-Summers (45.87).
For complete coverage of the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Track &
Field, including results, athletes quotes, TV schedule and start lists,
visit www.usatf.org.
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