DOHA, Qatar - Bryan Clay is leading the men's heptathlon after four events and Team USA continued to advance though the rounds Friday night at the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships, March 12-14, in the Aspire Dome in Doha, Qatar.
After the first day of heptathlon competition, 2008 Olympic decathlon gold medalist Bryan Clay is leading with 3,549 points. Clay finished first in the 60m (6.67), long jumped 7.27m/23-10.25, threw the shot put 15.31m/50-2.75 and cleared 2.06m/6-9 in the high jump. 2009 World Outdoor champion Trey Hardee is sitting in fifth place with 3,450 points. Hardee had best efforts of 6.80 (60m), 7.28m/23-10.75 (LJ), 14.44m/47-4.5 (SP) and 2.06m/6-9 (HJ).
Two-time Olympic and five-time World Outdoor medalist Bernard Lagat began his journey to recapture the world indoor 3,000m title that he first won in 2004 when he won heat 2 of qualifying in 7:59.99. 2009 USA Outdoor 10,000m champion Galen Rupp qualified for the men's 3,000m final on time after placing fifth in heat 2 in 8:00.90. On the women's side, 2009 World Outdoor marathon runner Desiree Davila qualified for the final after running a huge personal best of 8:51.08 to place sixth in heat 2. Sara Hall did not advance after finishing seventh in heat 1 in 9:04.25.
Two-time World Outdoor 400m hurdles medalist Bershawn Jackson won semifinal 1 of the men's 400m in 46.13 and 2009 USA Indoor champion Jamaal Torrance took second in semifinal 2 in 46.69. 2010 USA Indoor champion Debbie Dunn won semifinal 2 on the women's side, crossing the line in 52.08. DeeDee Trotter finished fifth in semifinal 1 in 52.55 and did not advance.
The men's 60m hurdlers easily advanced to tomorrow's semifinals. 2008 Olympic bronze medalist David Oliver was up first, winning heat 1 in 7.60. Two-time World Indoor champion Terrence Trammell followed in his red, white, and blue shoe covers, winning heat 2 in the same time.
Reigning World Indoor champion Lolo Jones easily advanced to the semifinals in the women's 60m hurdles, winning heat 4 in 7.95. 2010 USA Indoor champ Ginnie Powell won heat 1 in 8.07 and will join Jones in the semifinals.
2008 Olympians Jesse Williams and Dusty Jonas each qualified for the final in the men's high jump after clearing 2.26m/7-5. Williams finished qualifying tied for third place, while Jonas was tied for sixth based on misses.
All four men and women coasted through the first round of the 60 meters. Trell Kimmons was up first, winning heat 1 in 6.61. 2009 USA Outdoor champion Mike Rodgers won heat 4 in 6.69. Then came two-time World Outdoor bronze medalist Carmelita Jeter who won heat 4 in 7.30 and finally Miki Barber who finished third in heat 5 in 7.37.
2009 NCAA Indoor champion Sarah Bowman automatically qualified for the women's 1,500m final when she placed third in heat 1 in an indoor personal best 4:12.91. 2008 Olympian Erin Donohue qualified on time with her fourth place finish in heat 2 in 4:10.12. On the men's side, former Stanford standout Garrett Heath ran an indoor personal best 3:39.25 to finish third in heat 3 of the men's 1500m and advance to Saturday's final. 2010 USA Indoor runner-up Will Leer finished fourth in heat 2 in 3:42.16 and did not advance.
In the men's triple jump, 2009 USA Indoor and Outdoor champion Brandon Roulhac finished 14th in qualifying with a best mark of 16.36m/53-8.25, while 2006 World Indoor champion Walter Davis was 15th with 16.33m/53-7. 2009 USA Indoor champion Randall Flimmons took 10th in Group B of the men's long jump qualifying with a mark of 7.68m/25-2.5 and 2010 USA Indoor runner-up Jeff Henderson finished 9th in Group A with a best effort of 7.64m/25-0.75. None of the men's horizontal jumpers advanced to their respective finals.
2009 World Outdoor silver medalist Chelsea Johnson tied for 11th in women's pole vault qualifying, clearing 4.35m/14-3.25. 2010 USA Indoor champion Lacy Janson did not clear her opening height.
This year's edition of the IAAF World Indoor Championships will be streamed LIVE on Universal Sports and replayed on TV each night at 6 p.m. ET. For more information, go to www.universalsports.com.
For more information on Team USA and the World Indoor Championships, visit USATF.org.
Day 1 Team USA evening quotes from Doha
Desiree Davila, women's 3,000m qualifying
"It was a good race. After watching the first heat, it was set up perfect to go out and run a fast time and qualify for the final. And that's what I did. It was a big PR for me."
Ginnie Powell, women's 60mH qualifying
"It was alright. I would have liked a faster time. I didn't have the best start because the gun is faint and it was echoing. The track is good though, it feels light and bouncy."
Lolo Jones, women's 60mH qualifying
"It was easy. For my first round, it was so smooth. I've been sluggish with my start this season so it was good. I was aware after my fourth start that I was pulling away from everyone."
Trell Kimmons, men's 60m qualifying
"It was great. I didn't have a perfect start but my turnover was good. It's a really fast track.
Mike Rodgers, men's 60m qualifying
"It was good, real easy. A blowout. I'm just getting ready for tomorrow."
Will Leer, men's 1500m first round
"Disappointed. I'm just disappointed. I just got off too slow in back. I was too far back when they broke and I couldn't cover the move. So I had to settle for fourth in my heat."
Brandon Roulhac, men's triple jump qualifying
"Terrible. My runway was off all year and it was off today. I didn't have a good competition."
Garrett Heath, men's 1500m first round
"Good race, but I missed the gun. I didn't hear it, it didn't sound like a gun to me. But it worked out ok. I was a little farther back than I wanted to be but I stayed out of trouble. It was a lot of fun. I'm excited fo tomorrow's final."
Sarah Bowman, women's 1500m first round
"It felt good, smooth and relaxed. The bumping didn't affect me because I was just outside of it. I just tried to stay focused and run my race.
This is my first senior team competition. I did juniors but this is different. I'm more aware of what's going on."
Erin Donohue, women's 1500m qualifying
"It felt really good. I made my first international final. That was a big goal of mine and I can check it off my list now. I can't wait for the final. I'm really looking forward to it. It is an indoor PR which looks good for things to come this outdoor season."
Galen Rupp, men's 3000m first round
"It was good, a slow race and I just had to kick at the end. I barely made it into the final by the skin of my teeth, but I'm in so now I have to get ready for Sunday."
Bernard Lagat, men's 3000m first round
"I'm so excited. I've done this before. All the tough guys made it through so it will be a hard race but I'm really excited. It's loaded. It's going to be a fast race. I'm glad my teammate Galen (Rupp) is in it as well. I want him to medal too."
Jeff Henderson, men's long jump qualifying
"It wasn't good. I've never been here before so it was good to get the experience. But I couldn't get a good mark in. I could get off the board."
David Oliver, men's 60mH first round
"It was good. I got out good. I'm happy with the start, that was the main focus. I'm really just glad to be back after being injured and I appreciate the opportunity to represent my country on Team USA."
Terrence Trammell, men's 60mH first round
"It was fairly comfortable. There was a lot of distraction. My goal was just to focus on my race, you know I've been here before, and make it through as easily as possible. It's a relief to get the jitters out."
Lacy Janson, women's pole vault qualifying
"It was so weird. I haven't had issues all year. I couldn't figure it out. Nobody could get on their poles and the runway was slow.
Chelsea Johnson, women's pole vault qualifying
"It's hard to go from Albuquerque, one of the best facilities I've ever jumped at, to here. Something was off, not just for me, for everybody. It's been a long time since the qualifying height to get into the final was that low. Warmups were hard with the high jump and triple jump and us all going on at the same time. "
Carmelita Jeter, women's 60m first round
"It was ok. It was the first wake, just wanted to wake my body up. I did exactly what my coach wanted me to."
Miki Barber, women's 60m first round
"I made it back, that's all I can say. I was a little shaky. Not too many good things to say about that race but I'll be ready for the semifinals."
Debbie Dunn, women's 400m semifinals
"It was great. I thought I would be challenged more. My goal was to win the heat and I accomplished that. We will see what happens tomorrow. Me against the world and hopefully I will come out with the gold."
Randall Flimmons, men's long jump qualifying
"It was not good, performance wise. I wasn't getting any pop. There are a lot of technical things I need to work on. And I need to find a coach. It's not about myself so much, I'm here representing my country and I wish I had done better for Team USA."
Bershawn Jackson, men's 400m semifinals
"It felt good. I got a good start and finished strong. Two races in one day is difficult but I was confident going in. Now I have to put it together for the finals."
Jamaal Torrance, men's 400m semifinals
"It could have been a little better. I'll try to get it together for tomorrow's final. I brought it home strong today and now I'll regroup for the final tomorrow."
About USA Track & Field
USA Track & Field (USATF) is the National Governing Body for track and field, long-distance running and race walking in the United States. USATF encompasses the world's oldest organized sports, some of the most-watched events of Olympic broadcasts, the #1 high school and junior high school participatory sport and more than 30 million adult runners in the United States.
For more information on USATF, visit USATF.org.
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