Image details: U.S. Track and Field Olympic Trials - Day Five served by picapp.com
1 Sanya Richards Nike 49.89
2 Mary Wineberg Nike 50.85
3 Dee Dee Trotter adidas 50.88
4 Monique Henderson Reebok 50.98
5 Natasha Hastings Nike 51.13
6 Ebonie Floyd Nike 51.26
7 Monica Hargrove unattached 51.94
8 Debbie Dunn unattached 52.41
The women’s 400 makes for good theatre. The world’s top ranked women in 400-meters, Sanya Richards finished fourth last year, and failed to qualify for the U.S. team to compete in the world championships in Osaka last year.
This year there are question marks and doubts about whether Richards can qualify for the U.S. team in a field loaded with talent. Sanya has been waiting a year to make up for last year but the talented field stands in her way.
A leading contender, Mary Wineberg (50.57) won her heat in the fastest qualifying time of the night, ahead of Natasha Hastings (51.04) , Debbie Dunn (51.79), and Monica Hargrove (51.88).
In the following heat, Sanya Richards (50.75) got out well winning her heat narrowly over Dee Dee Trotter (50.90). Monique Henderson (51.07) and Ebonie Floyd (51.49) rounded out the remaining athletes that qualified for the women’s 400 meter final on Friday.
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Sanya Richards, America’s dominating 400m medal threat, continued on the road to Beijing by running the fastest time (51.08) in today’s women’s 400m quaterfinals. In addition to Richards, who easily won the third heat, Mary Wineberg, Natasha Hastings and Dee Dee Trotter all won their respective heats.
After the race, Richards remarked: “I was so excited to watch Lauryn Williams make the team again last night. I couldn’t imagine being on the team without her … not that I’ve made it yet. I was anxious to get out there today. The fans are incredible. Coach wanted me to run the first 200, then maintain and control the race enough to win it. I’m as close as I can be to 100 percent healthy. I’m very motivated. Last year at Nationals I was fourth. I haven’t forgotten that.”
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2004 Olympic silver and two-time World Outdoor 100m medalist Lauryn Williams, 2004 Olympic 4×400m gold medalist Sanya Richards, 2004 Olympic silver medalist and two-time World Outdoor 200m champion Allyson Felix and two-time World Outdoor 200m medalist Wallace Spearmon addressed the media at a press conference Thursday held in conjunction with the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials - Track & Field, June 27 - July 6 at historic Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.
Below are excerpts from Thursday’s press conference.
Lauryn Williams
I’ve been doing the same things I’ve always been doing before a USA Championship, nothing extraordinary. I’ve been preparing, getting ready for a top peak and a top three finish at Eugene.
It’s pretty nerve-wracking for me, I’ll say. I’d say that there’s a good 8 to 12 girls and anybody’s game. I just hope that I can get out there and get my adrenaline pumping and do what I’ve always done. I’ll work the kinks out during the rounds.
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Meet records fell across all event groups, none bigger than Brad Walker’s American record in the pole vault, and Maria Mutola had a historic exit Sunday at the Nike Prefontaine Classic.
The fourth event of USATF’s Visa Championship Series, the Nike Prefontaine Classic drew a meet-record 14,221 fans to Hayward Field, site of the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Track & Field June 27-July 6. They were treated to a formidable show, including no fewer than eight meet records and Walker’s AR.
The 2007 world champion, Walker looked magnificent throughout the competition. He had just one miss, at his opening height of 5.70m/18-8.25, then passed to 5.90m/19-4.25, which he cleared on his first attempt and which won the competition for him. Walker then elevated the bar to 6.04m/19-9.75. On his very first attempt, he cleared, brushing the bar just a bit, but leaving it up.
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With the 2008 IAAF Golden League kicking off in Berlin this weekend, outdoor track is in full swing. This being an Olympic year, every major meet from here on out can offer a piece of what the final Olympic track & field puzzle might look like. The 2008 Reebok Grand Prix, which begins tonight, May 31, 2008, at at 5:00pm in Icahn Stadium on Randall’s Island in New York City, NY, is no exception. Here are some quick glimpses into many of the events that will be held tonight:
100m
Men: Fresh off a sizzling 9.76 (just 0.02 slower than Asafa Powell’s world record), Usain Bolt will face World Champion Tyson Gay, who is facing some pre-Olympic jitters. Both men are fully capable of blowing their starts, which would offer Shawn Crawford and Xavier Carter some hope. There’s an A race and a B race. That’s always a letdown, isn’t it?
Women: Loaded with stellar American and Jamaican sprinters, this race should be a preview of the Olympic final: Veronica Campbell Brown, Lauryn Williams, Allyson Felix, Torri Edwards, more.
200m
Men: Wallace Spearmon is the only man in the race to have broken 20 seconds. It’s his race for the taking.
Women: Lashauntea Moore, the 9th fastest 200m runner of 2007 (22.46) faces Muna Lee, the 2nd fastest in the world (22.30) from 2008 and Shalonda Solomon, the 7th fastest in the world (22.36) in 2006. Keep an eye out for University of Texas freshman Bianca Knight, who turned pro this year after running a fabulous 22.40.
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The sprint events, topped by Usain Bolt’s (Pictured) sizzling 9.76 in the 100m, stole the headlines at the Jamaica International Invitational this past weekend.
To relive the action, check out the following slide show that we put together using photographs courtesy of Getty Images. In addition, official race results for highlighted middle & long distance events can be found below.
Tyson Gay “Your Season Starts Now”
The Jamaican tourism board’s current slogan is “Your Vacation Starts Now.” Well, Tyson Gay is paying no heed to that sentiment. He’s headed there to do some work. He will begin his 2008 season at the Jamaica International Invitation meeting on May 3rd, 2008 where he will run a 200m dash.
Read more at: [Xinhua, China]
“Glimmer of Hope” For USA Cross-Country
An article in the UK’s Herald discusses the recent 2008 IAAF World Cross-Country Championships and mentions USA cross-country as “show[ing] a glimmer of hope” in being able to compete against the Africans in future championships. The US is also seeking to host the event in 2010 and has asked the Scots for help in conducting a successful event. My advice? Invite a bunch of Africans.
Read more at: [The Herald, UK]
Sanya Richards: “This is what I’ve been training for all my life”
Sanya Richards is ready to claim the Beijing Olympic Gold in 2008 in the 400m, having suffered a setback in 2007 that caused her not to qualify for the Osaka World Championships in that event. Her coach, Clyde Hart said, “I think she’s probably better (now) than she’s been since I’ve had her.”
Read more at: [USA Today]
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Blue Collar High School Runner
Eugene, Oregon’s Register-Guard has a profile of high school speedster Luke Puskedra who describes himself as a blue-collar runner. Puskedra, who has signed a letter of intent to run at Oregon, has the fastest indoor mile time of 2008 for a high schooler, having run a 4:08.77.
Read more at: [Register-Guard]
Spotlight On MarathonWeb.com
New York’s Star Gazette features MarathonGuide.com in an article that covers a range of statistics found on the site including the average 
men’s time for a marathon (4:29:52), average women;s time (4:59:28) and the % of runners who broke 3 hours in 2007 (only 1.7%).
Read more at: [Star Gazette]
Carolina Klüft Will Not Defend Her Olympic Heptathlon Title
In an expected move, Carolina Klüft announced that she will not defend her Olympic Heptathlon title from Athens. Instead, she will focus on the jumps in Beijing.
Read more at: [IAAF]
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USA Reigns Supreme in World Championships Medal Count
Team USA, even with many of its top athletes not in attendance, still took away a total of 13 medals, more than any other nation at the 12th IAAF World Indoor Championships held in Valencia, Spain from March 7-9, 2008. These included 5 gold, 5 silver and 3 bronze. Russia was a close second with 12 medals, including 5 gold, 4 silver and 3 bronze.
Read more at: [IAAF]
IHT Dismisses Worlds As “For Connoisseurs Only”
An article in the International Herald Tribune dismissed the 2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships as being “for connoisseurs only.” With The US contingent being “B Team USA” and still winning the meet, the writer probably has a point. Imagine if Wariner, Gay, Felix, Richards, Webb and Tegenkamp had been there.
Read more at: [IHT]
Mottram Focused On Edinburgh
After a disappointing 5th-place finish at the world indoors, Aussie Craig Mottram is now focused on redeeming himself at the World Cross-Country Championships to be held later this month in Edinburgh, Scotland. Mottram’s coach, Nic Bideau, said that “the focus is the cross-country. I mean he hadn’t done the preparation for a race like that, which was a sprint home.”
Read more at: [Melbourne Herald Sun]
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A handful of the stars who competed in Shanghai will travel to Japan to compete in the Seiko Super Track and Field meet on Sunday, September 30 in Yokohama.
Three-time gold medalist at the 2007 World Outdoor Championships Tyson Gay is back in the men’s 100 meters, looking to avenge his loss from Shanghai. Anwar Moore […]
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 […]
Sanya Richards closed out her European season in style Sunday, winning the women’s 400 in the second and final day of competition at the IAAF World Athletics Final in Stuttgart, Germany.
Richards continued in her impressive string of world-leading wins in the women’s 400. Coming off world leaders in the last three Golden League meets, Richards […]
A slew of sensational performances, topped by Dayron Robles’ 12.92 victory in the 110m hurdles, highlighted a thoroughly entertaining second and final day of the 5th IAAF/VTB Bank World Athletics Final in Stuttgart this afternoon.
Continuing his impressive late season campaign, the 20-year-old Cuban slashed the year-old meet record set by Liu Xiang, leaving thoughts of […]
Sanya Richards capped off a near-perfect season at the IAAF World Athletics Final in Stuttgart, Germany, tying her world-leading time of 49.27 and demolishing yet another women’s 400m field. Other than a 4th place finish at the U.S. national championships, Richards was undefeated this season. Her sole loss was after an illness. Here are the […]
Khadevis Robinson: A Change is Going to Come in US Track
In an interview with Cecil Harris of MensRacing.com, a New York Road Runners website, Khadevis (pronounced kuh-DAY-vis) Robinson talks about his 2007 season, his intellectual approach to preparing for his event, the 800m Run, and how it relates to chess (and life!), the upcoming birth […]
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 […]
Sanya Richards has been named USA Track & Field’s Athlete of the Week after winning the women’s 400 meters Sunday at the 2007 ISTAF Meeting in Berlin, Germany to earn her second consecutive share of the Golden League Jackpot.
The 2006 IAAF Athlete of the Year, Richards earned half of the million-dollar jackpot by going undefeated […]
Sanya Richards and Yelena Isinbayeva each won a $500,000 share of the IAAF Golden League Jackpot after their respective victories at the ISTAF meeting in Berlin today, the final meet of the six-meet Golden League series.
In front of a near-capacity crowd of 70,000 –the third consecutive announced Golden League sell-out – Richards yet again crushed […]
Isinbayeva Predicts World Record to Come Soon
Russian Pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva (right) confidently predicted a new world record will come soon. With a confidence that borders on arrogance, the world-record holder said about tomorrow’s DKB-ISTAF meet in Berlin, “it doesn’t matter who is there, I will only concentrate on myself. Because I am Isinbayeva!” Read […]
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