Team USA ties gold medal record; Lagat and Felix make history
Posted September 2nd, 2007 at 10:00 AM by Jeanie Rebb
Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Special Features, Live Race Coverage
It was a night of firsts, and one of history, for Team USA Sunday night in the final session of competition at the 2007 IAAF World Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
With victories in the men’s and women’s 4×400m relays, the United States became the first country to sweep all four relays at a World Outdoor Championships.
Bernard Lagat became the first man to win the 1,500/5,000m double at Worlds, and the first American ever to medal in the 5,000.
Allyson Felix became the second woman in history to win three gold medals at a single World Championships, as the relay team of Dee Dee Trotter, Felix, Mary Wineberg and Sanya Richards ran the fastest time in 14 years.
The men’s 4×400m relay of LaShawn Merritt, Angelo Taylor, Darold Williamson and Jeremy Wariner ran the third-fastest time in history.
Breaux Greer became the first American since the inaugural World Championships in 1983 to win a medal in the men’s javelin.
At the close of competition, Team USA tied the all-time World Championships record for gold medals with 14, matching its feat from 2005, and tied the American all-time medal tally at a World Outdoor Championships with 26. Team USA led a medal table in which a record 46 countries won medals; Kenya had five gold and 13 overall, and Russia had four gold and 16 overall. The other occasion on which the United States won 26 medals, in 1991, just 29 countries were on the medal table.
Not a bad night.
Lagat does the double
Having previously won the 1,500m Wednesday night, Bernard Lagat (Tucson, Ariz.) became the first man ever to win the 1,500m/5,000m middle-distance double at World Outdoors, and the first American to win a World Championship medal of any kind at 5,000m.
To say the pace was pedestrian is to underestimate pedestrians, with 1-lap splits regularly exceeding 70 seconds, including a 1:15 second lap that brought the entire field, running elbow-to-elbow, through 800m in 2:23.96 and 1,000m in 3:00.35. With Lagat tucked in between fourth and seventh place, the pack passed 1,600m in 4:44.61 and 3,200m in 9:11.24. But championship races are about place, not time, and Lagat again ran a perfect tactical race.
At long last, with 700m to go, Mohammed Farah of Great Britain began to push the pace, taking over leading duties from Tariku Bekele of Ethiopia, and the pack at last began to thin. At the bell, Lagat sat on the outside in sixth, with Matt Tegenkamp (Madison, Wis.) in seventh and Adam Goucher (Portland, Ore.) near the back of the pack.
Down the backstretch, Lagat began to weave his way up and made his biggest move on the curve, moving on the outside into second. Heading into the straightaway, he sprinted past Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya, who was running on the rail. In a footrace to the line that was virtually a replay of his 1,500m victory, Lagat got there first in 13:45.87 with Kipchoge second in 13:46.00. Tegenkamp also sprinted down the stretch and came just .03 from the bronze medal, getting outleaned by Moses Ndiema Kipsiro of Uganda, 13:46.75 to 13:46.78. Goucher finished 11th in 13:53.17. It was an impressive victory for Lagat, who this week stated he would prefer a sub-13:00 pace and who had experienced stomach trouble on Saturday.
Lagat entered these championships never having won a gold medal. Moments after his victory Sunday night, Lagat literally leapt onto the medal podium to accept his second gold of the week. He sported a wide, white smile before his eyes welled up with tears as the national anthem played.
Amazing Allysonm
Felix (Santa Clarita, Calif.) closed out an amazing championships with perhaps the fastest 4×400m relay leg ever by an American woman at a major championship.
When Team USA took the track for the relay, victory wasn’t assured, especially with Great Britain having gone 1-2 in the women’s 400. USA Outdoor champion Dee Dee Trotter (Knoxville, Tenn.) opened with a 51.3 leg, handing off to Felix in fourth place behind Great Britain, Jamaica and Russia. (Splits for all relays are unofficial; official splits provided by the results service appeared to be incorrect.)
What Felix did next was nothing short of stunning. She immediately surged into second, then ferociously look the lead at the 200m mark. When she handed off to Mary Wineberg (Cincinnati, Ohio), the Americans held an approximately 7m lead, and Felix’s leg was unofficially clocked by multiple observers as 48.0 - faster even than Florence Griffith-Joyner’s split of 48.2 at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
Wineberg easily held the lead, losing perhaps just a meter of cushion to Jamaica after a 50.2 leg. 2006 IAAF World Athlete of the Year Sanya Richards then did the rest, splitting 49.0 to bring the U.S. home in 3:18.55, the fastest time in the world since Team USA won the 1993 World title in 3:16.71. Jamaica was second in 3:19.73, with Great Britain third in 3:20.04. The win gave Felix Osaka golds in the 200, 4×100 and 4×400, matching the triple-gold feat of East Germany’s Marita Koch at the 1983 World Championships.
Wariner anchors USA relay to #3 all-time
Team USA’s men took the track for the 4×400 relay with the eyes of the world on them after Jeremy Wariner (Waco, Texas), LaShawn Merritt (Suffolk, Va.) and Angelo Taylor (Decatur, Ga.) went 1-2-3 in the 400m final. The world record was in sight.
Merritt led off in an unofficial split of 44.3 seconds, easily in the lead. (Official splits were incorrect.) The 2000 Olympic 400m hurdles gold medalist who also won an Olympic relay gold, Taylor took off, completing his leg in 44.0 and giving Darold Williamson (Woodway, Texas) a huge lead of close to 10m.
The 2004 Olympic gold-medal anchor, Williamson split 44.3 before handing off to his former Baylor teammate, Wariner (Waco, Texas). Striding easily, and powerfully, around the track, Wariner split 43.1 to bring Team USA home in 2:55.56, the third-fastest time in history behind the world record of 2:54.29 and the 1993 World Outdoor win of 2:54.29 by Team USA.
Field report
Usually known for big first-round throws, eight-time USA Outdoor champion Breaux Greer (Scottsdale, Ariz.) was slower to get going in the javelin, but in the end he found the medal podium for the first time in his career. Already the winningest javelin thrower in USA Outdoor history, he is now only the second American to win a medal in the event, after former world record holder Tom Petronaff got silver in 1983.
The American record holder and 2007 world leader, Greer intentionally scratched his first throw, threw 80.67m/264-8 on his second attempt and 84.31m/276-7 on his third, then intentionally scratched his fourth attempt as well. He sat in sixth place after four rounds, but he improved to third with a fifth-round throw of 86.21m/282-10 that gave him the bronze. Tero Pitkamaki of Finland won with a best mark of 90.33m/296-4, with Olympic gold medalist Andreas Thorkildsen of Norway second with 88.61m/290-8.
In the women’s high jump final, six-time USA Outdoor champion Amy Acuff (Isleton, Calif.) cleared 1.94m/6-4.25 to place 12th. World leader Blanca Vlasic of Croatia won with a jump of 2.05m/6-8.75. Antonietta Di Martino of Italy and Anna Chicherova of Russia tied for second at 2.03m/6-8.
Written by: Jill Greer
Via: USA Track & Field
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Tags: 4x400, 5000m, all time gold medal World Championship record, allyson felix, Angelo Taylor, ary wineberg, Bernard Lagat, Breaux Greer, darold williamson, Dee Dee Trotter, field events, flo jo, florence griffith joryner, IAAF, IAAF World Championships, IAAF World Championships in Athletics, Japan, javelin, Jeremy Wariner, LaShawn Merritt, live race coverage, Marita Koch, medal, medal count, medal table, Nagai Stadium, Osaka, sanya richards, Team USA, triple gold, USA Track & Field, usatf
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The Final Sprint