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Lead Stories: Thursday, November 20, 2008

Team USA: Day 4 Track Recap

Posted August 18th, 2008 at 2:42 PM by Stephanie Lowe

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Olympics

Team USA earned five medals Monday in Beijing, two of them gold.

BROWN-TRAFTON WINS FIRST GOLD MEDAL FOR U.S.

Stephanie Brown-Trafton surprised many as she became the first American woman to win an Olympic gold medal in the discus since 1932. After a rocky first three days, this was the first gold medal for the U.S. at the Beijing Games.

Brown-Trafton’s first throw of 64.74m/212-5 was unmatched by her competitors.

“I told people when you make the final anything can happen. I had a far throw and nobody else stepped up. I won a gold medal!” she said after her victory.

U.S. DOMINATES SWEEPS MEDALS IN 400m HURDLES

In the men’s 400m hurdles, Angelo Taylor won his second Olympic gold medal in 8 years, running a personal-best time of 47.25 seconds.
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2008 Beijing Olympic Preview: Men’s 400 Meter Hurdles

Posted August 13th, 2008 at 12:00 PM by Jesse Squire

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Olympics

Men’s 400 Meter Hurdles

The Schedule: heats, Friday Aug 15; semifinals, Saturday Aug 16; finals, Monday Aug 18
The Americans: #1 Kerron Clement [Pictured], #2 Bershawn Jackson, #6 Angelo Taylor
The Contenders: #3 Danny McFarlane (JAM), #4 L.J. van Zyl (RSA), #5 Marek Plawgo (POL)
The Stats: Records, 2008 List, 2007 Worlds, 2004 Olympics
The Medal Picks: T&FN - Clement, Jackson, van Zyl; SI - Clement, Jackson, Taylor
The Story: This is an American race for gold, and a medal sweep by the USA is a distinct possibility. Jackson failed badly (for him) at the Golden League meet in Paris; other than that, he and Clement have lost to no one but each other. Clement is a tremendous talent who has a history of inconsistency (which is lessening with time), while Jackson’s best times are less stunning but he rarely has a bad race. If Clement is at or near his best, he will win, but otherwise it will be Jackson.
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U.S. stars invade Shanghai

Posted September 27th, 2007 at 3:30 PM by Hariz Siddiqui

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

Team USA standouts Tyson Gay, Sanya Richards, Jeremy Wariner, Michelle Perry, Allen Johnson and Lauryn Williams will lead an accomplished group of U.S. stars Friday at the 2007 Shanghai Golden Grand Prix in China.

This third edition of the Golden Grand Prix in Shanghai has been designated as a qualifying event for the IAAF / VTB Bank World Athletics Final 2008. Competing athletes at the meet will have the opportunity to get an early start on qualifying for next year’s final, to be held September 13-14.

Current world and U.S. men’s 100m and 200m champion Tyson Gay will compete in the 100 meters in a field that includes fellow Americans JJ Johnson and Marcus Brunson. The men’s 110m hurdles also should prove interesting as four-time world champion Allen Johnson and 2007 World Outdoor Championships bronze medalist David Payne do battle with world record holder and reigning world and Olympic champion Liu Xiang, who will compete in front of an enthusiastic hometown audience.
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IAAF World Athletics Final: Men’s 400m

Posted September 22nd, 2007 at 9:08 AM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

With Jeremy Wariner not in the race, it was up to LaShawn Merritt and Angelo Taylor to uphold American dominance in the 400m Dash at the IAAF World Athletics Final in Stuttgart, Germany. Tyler Christopher of Canada and Gary Kikaya (COD) were also in the mix.
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U.S. stars set to compete at World Athletics Final

Posted September 20th, 2007 at 7:40 PM by Martha Jones

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

Team USA standouts Allyson Felix, Sanya Richards, Brad Walker, Wallace Spearmon, Lauryn Williams, Reese Hoffa and Walter Davis lead a strong cast of U.S. stars slated to compete this weekend at the 2007 IAAF World Athletics Final in Stuttgart, Germany.

The 2005 World 200m women’s champion, Allyson Felix defended her title at the World Championships in Osaka with the largest margin of victory in World Championships history, striding to the gold medal and a huge personal best of 21.81 seconds, the fastest time run by a woman this century. Felix, who has posted the three fastest 200m times in the world this year, also won gold in the 4×100 and 4×400 relays, splitting 48.0 in the 4×4. She will compete in the 100 meters in Stuttgart.

For the second consecutive year, Richards earned a share of the IAAF Golden League Jackpot by winning the women’s 400 meters at all six prestigious European meets. She enters Stuttgart with the four fastest women’s 400m times in the world this year, including the world-leading 49.27 she ran Sunday to close out her Golden League victories in Berlin.
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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.
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USA sweeps 4×100 relays, Walker takes first U.S. gold in pole vault

Posted September 1st, 2007 at 12:10 PM by Martin Kennedy

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Special Features, Live Race Coverage

Team USA swept the men’s and women’s 4×100m relays for the first time in 20 years, and Brad Walker won Team USA’s first-ever men’s pole vault gold Saturday night at the 2007 IAAF World Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Nagai Stadium.

With one day of competition and six final events remaining, Team USA remains atop the medal tables with 22 medals, including 11 gold.

The men’s 4×100m victory made Tyson Gay the third man in World Championships history to win three gold medals at a single championship, but that feat was by no means assured heading into the relay.
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Video: Wariner blitzes field for 400-meter gold

Posted August 31st, 2007 at 10:45 PM by Hariz Siddiqui

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

American Jeremy Wariner retained his world 400-meter title in dazzling style to lead an American sweep of the medals on Friday. The 23-year-old Texan powered off the final bend to clock 43.45 seconds despite a swirling wind in Osaka.

LaShawn Merritt took silver in 43.96 with Angelo Taylor completing an all-American podium with a time of 44.32.

Courtesy of: WCSN
Via: TheNewsRoom

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USA sweeps men’s 400,
Felix has historic win at
World Outdoor Champs

Posted August 31st, 2007 at 11:30 AM by Jamal Walker

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

Jeremy Wariner led the first-ever sweep of the men’s 400 and Allyson Felix (Pictured) defended her world 200m title with the largest margin of victory in World Championships history Friday night at the 2007 IAAF World Outdoor Track & Field Championships. Adding a pair of medals in the men’s 110m hurdles, Team USA picked up six medals at Nagai Stadium to bring its overall total to 19.

The defending Olympic and World Champion, Wariner (Waco, Texas) entered Osaka heavily favored in the 400, with the U.S. expected to sweep. Wariner and his compatriots LaShawn Merritt (Suffolk, Va.) and Angelo Taylor (Decatur, Ga.) came through in speedy fashion.
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Jeremy Wariner Repeats as 400m World Champion

Posted August 31st, 2007 at 9:06 AM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Live Race Coverage

Going into the Men’s 400m final at the 11th IAAF World Championships in Athletics from Osaka, Japan, Jeremy Wariner felt the 400m world record (Michael Johnson’s 43.18) was attainable. Three weeks earlier he had run a personal best of 43.50 at the Stockholm Super Grand Prix, making him the 3rd fastest 400m runner of all time, behind Johnson and Butch Reynolds.

Prior to that superb race in Stockholm, a fickle public had all but written him off. He’d had a bad race in Sheffield, England in which he stumbled at the start and did not finish the race. He’d been focusing on developing his speed all season by running more 200m Dashes than usual. Wariner is fast in the 200m, but not quite world class. Consequently, his world ranking had dipped somewhat in 2007.

After Stockholm, Wariner had returned home to Waco, Texas and had gotten in some of the best training performances of his young (23 years old) life. Some of his times in training were comparable to times Johnson had achieved just prior to his world record run. Wariner was ready:

“The confidence I have right now and how easy that 43.5 felt, I can go faster. I’m not going to be beaten unless I don’t run my own race. There’s no telling what I’ll be able to do at world championships now.”

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