BEIJING - Team USA proved stronger than ever in the 4x400-meter relays,
winning both events and setting an Olympic record in Saturday evening
action at the "Bird's Nest" National Stadium.
With only the men's marathon remaining on Sunday morning, Team USA tops
the medal table with 23 total and seven gold. Russia is next with 18
medals and 6 gold; Jamaica has 11 medals and 6 gold. Team USA's women
finish with nine medals, their best total since 1992 and their
third-highest total in history.
Relay power
The relays provided redemption for anchor legs Sanya Richards (Austin,
Texas) and Jeremy Wariner (Waco, Texas), who had been disappointed with
their third and second place finishes, respectively, in the women's and
men's 400 meters.
On Saturday, they put on world-beating performances.
The women were first up on the track. Mary Wineberg (Cincinnati, Ohio)
clocked 51.0 for her opening leg, positioning the U.S. just behind
Russia, along with Jamaica and Great Britain. At the stagger break,
Jamaica was in the lead, followed by Allyson Felix (Los Angeles) running
for the USA, and Russia. The 200m silver medalist, Felix moved into the
lead around the curve and handed off to 2004 Olympic relay gold medalist
Monique Henderson, having clocked a blistering leg of 48.55. Henderson
(Chula Vista, Calif.) turned in a 50.06 split but was passed by Russia
with 20 meters left in her leg.
When Richards took the baton, she trailed Russia by approximately three
meters. Biding her time, she waited until the final straight to move
into first, turning in a 48.93 leg and crossing the line in 3:18.54, the
fastest time in the world since 1993. Russia was second in 3:18.82 and
Jamaica third in 3:20.40.
The men's race was never in doubt. 400-meter gold medalist LaShawn
Merritt opened with a 44.35 leg, and at the break, 400m hurdles gold
medalist Angelo Taylor (Decatur, Ga.) had gapped the field by seven
meters. After a 43.70 leg by Taylor, 400m bronze medalist David Neville
added to the U.S. lead and clocked 44.16 in handing off to 2004 400m
gold medalist and 2008 silver medalist Wariner.
Running with the same passion and determination of Richards and all his
teammates, Wariner blazed a 43.16 leg and finished in 2:55.39 to break
the Olympic record. The previous mark of 2:55.74 was set by Americans
Andrew Valmon, Quincy Watts, Michael Johnson and Steve Lewis in 1992,
and was a world record at the time it was set. The Bahamas were a
distant second in 2:58.03 and Russia was third in 2:58.06.
Howard sixth in high jump
Olympic Trials champion Chaunte Howard finished sixth in the women's
high jump in her second trip to the Olympic Games. The 24-year-old
mother cleared 1.85m/6-0.75 and 1.89m/6-2.25 on her first tries. She
made the next two heights - 1.93m/6-4 and 1.96m/6-5 - on her second
attempts, then got over a season-best height of 1.99m/6-6.25 on her
third attempt. Three tries at 2.01m/6-7 were unsuccessful.
Tia Hellebaut of Belgium pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the
Games, defeating the dominant Blanka Vlasic of Croatia for the gold.
Both women cleared 2.05m/6-8.75, but Hellebaut did it on her first try,
while Vlasic required two attempts. The height was a national record for
Belgium. Anna Chicherova of Russia came third with 2.03m/6-8.
Rowbury 7th in 1500
Olympic Trials champion Shannon Rowbury (San Francisco, Calif.) turned
in the top performance ever by an American woman in the Olympic 1,500m
final. Rowbury ran a smart race from the gun, positioning herself in the
top six and out of trouble as the pace came through at 65.90 for 400m
and 2:13.70 for 800m. With 500 meters left in the race, world champion
Maryam Jamal of Bahrain picked up the pace, stringing out the pack.
Rowbury was in fourth at the break as Jamal came through 1200m in
3:16.41.
The torrid pace caught up with Jamal, and she was passed with authority
in the final 200 meters by Nancy Jebet Langat of Kenya, who won in
4:00.23. Iryna Lishchynska moved up to second in 4:01.63, with Nataliya
Tobias of Ukraine third in 4:01.78. Rowbury finished seventh in 4:03.58,
the highest placing for an American in this event. On three other
occasions, Americans had been eighth: Ruth Wysocki in 1984, Mary Decker
Slaney in 1988, and Marla Runyan in 2000. Jamal faded to fifth in
4:02.71.
Lagat ninth in 5,000m
Unlike the slow, tactical race of the 2007 World Championships, the
Olympic men's 5,000m was an honest pace from the start, leading to a
fantastic finish. Three Ethiopians - Kenenisa Bekele, Tariku Bekele and
Abreham Cherkos - traded the lead for the first several laps. As the
field came through 1 km in 2:45.49 and 2 km in 5:22.29, world champion
Bernard Lagat (Tucson, Ariz.) ran comfortably in fifth or sixth place,
as Matt Tegenkamp (Madison, Wis.) settled in ninth.
With five laps remaining, Kenenisa Bekele took the pace out, covering
the next 400 meters in 60.2 seconds and stringing out the field. With
three laps to go, Lagat was fourth and Tegenkamp remained ninth. Shortly
after, Lagat began to fade and Bekele continued to push. At the finish,
Kenenisa Bekele broke the Olympic record and added the 5,000m gold to
the 10,000 title he already won here in Beijing. His winning time was
12:57.82, and he was followed to the finish by Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya
(13:02.80) and Edwin Cheruiyot Soi of Kenya (13:06.22). Lagat was ninth
in 13:26.89 and Tegenkamp 13th in 13:33.13.
USATF.org.
Team USA medal table, 2008 Olympic Games
Gold (7)
Stephanie Brown Trafton (Galt, Calif.), women's discus, 64.74m/212-5
Angelo Taylor (Decatur, Ga.), men's 400m hurdles, 47.25
Dawn Harper (Los Angeles), women's 100m hurdles, 12.54
LaShawn Merritt (Suffolk, Va.), men's 400m, 43.75
Bryan Clay (Glendora, Calif.), decathlon, 8,791
Women's 4x400m relay: Mary Wineberg (Cincinnati, Ohio), Allyson Felix
(Los Angeles), Monique Henderson (Chula Vista, Calif.), Sanya Richards
(Austin, Texas), 3:18.54
Men's 4x400m relay: LaShawn Merritt (Suffolk, Va.), Angelo Taylor
(Decatur, Ga.), David Neville (Los Angeles), Jeremy Wariner (Waco,
Texas), 2:55.39 OLYMPIC RECORD
Silver (9)
Christian Cantwell (Columbia, Mo.), men's shot put, 21.09m/69-2.5
Hyleas Fountain (Kettering, Ohio), women's heptathlon, 6619 points
Jenn Stuczynski (Churchville, N.Y.), women's pole vault, 4.80m/15-9
Kerron Clement (Los Angeles), men's 400m hurdles, 47.98
Sheena Johnson Tosta (Chula Vista, Calif.), women's 400m hurdles, 53.70.
Shawn Crawford (Los Angeles), men's 200m, 19.96
Jeremy Wariner (Waco, Texas), men's 400m, 44.74
David Payne (Hampton, Va.), men's 110m hurdles, 13.17
Allyson Felix (Los Angeles), women's 200, 21.93
Bronze (7)
Shalane Flanagan (Pittsboro, N.C.), women's 10,000m, 30:22.22AR
Walter Dix (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.), men's 100m, 9.91
Bershawn Jackson (Raleigh, N.C.), men's 400m hurdles, 48.06
Sanya Richards (Austin, Texas), women's 400m, 49.93
Walter Dix (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.), men's 200m, 19.98
David Neville (Los Angeles), men's 400m, 44.80
David Oliver (Kissimmee, Fla.), men's 110m hurdles, 13.18
Team USA Head Coaches quotes
Jeanette Bolden, Team USA women's head coach: "They wanted to go out of
the Olympic Games with a bang and make a statement. I think overall our
team had been a little down until we had a meeting with them and told
them they had eight medals - more than any team since 1992. Once we told
them that, you could see the light bulbs go off. We felt very good about
going out there and hearing the national anthem on that podium."
On the 4x40m relay: "They worked so hard. Sanya was disappointed with
her open 400, and for her to bear down and do what she did today was
amazing. It was an incredible race. All our young ladies did an
excellent job. It just shows the heard and soul they have. I was proud
of them. They ran with so much heart. They wanted to show American we're
doing fine, and we have more medals than we have had in a while."
Bubba Thornton, Team USA men's head coach: "It's been a great
performance. We've had a couple things happen but it wasn't that we
weren't performing. Look at the 100 meters. We were expected to get a
medal. Walter Dix gets a bronze, he has to beat the American record
holder, a former world record holder and the present world record holder
and he gets a bronze. We go to the hurdles and get a silver and a
bronze, who do we have to beat, the world record holder. The 200 meters,
we get a silver and a bronze. Who do we have to beat? The world record
holder. One, two, three in the intermediate hurdles, where's that joy?
We get one, two, three (and we) weren't expected to in the 400, where's
that joy? A gold medal in the decathlon. I'm proud of this bunch.
They've worked hard, trained hard and have done an incredible job."
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