Team USA stars dominate at Gateshead
By USATF
Posted Wednesday, 2 September, 2009
Led by Tyson Gay, LaShawn Merritt, Dwight Phillips, Carmelita Jeter and Allyson Felix, U.S. athletes won 12 of the 20 events contested Monday at the Aviva Grand Prix in Gateshead, England.
2009 World Outdoor Championships silver medalist Tyson Gay got back on the winning track by finishing first in the men's 100 meters in 10.15 seconds. Gay won the race convincingly over runner-up Craig Pickering (GBR, 10.32) and third-place finisher Mario Forsythe (JAM - 10.35). Competitors ran into a -2.0 meters per second headwind.
2004 Olympic gold medalist and 2009 World Championships fourth-place finisher Shawn Crawford, and 2009 world champs bronze medalist Wallace Spearmon staged a spirited duel in the men's 200 meters. Crawford barely made it across the finish line first for the win in 20.80 seconds, with Spearmon the runner-up in 20.81.
Reigning world and Olympic champion LaShawn Merritt continued his dominance in the men's 400 meters by winning in 45.10 seconds. Martyn Rooney (GBR) was the runner-up in 45.47, and two-time Olympic 400m hurdles gold medalist Angelo Taylor finished third in 45.50.
Two-time USA Outdoor champion and 2009 World Outdoor Championships sixth-place finisher Nick Symmonds won the men's 800 meters in 1 minute 47.30 seconds, with Kenya's Geoffrey Kipkoech Rono the runner-up in 1:47.43.
2008 Olympian and 2009 world outdoor champs finalist Leonel Manzano was victorious in the men's 1,500 meters, stopping the clocks in 3:41.10. Andrew Baddeley of Great Britain was the runner-up in 3:41.24.
Two-time World Outdoor Championships bronze medalist and 2008 Olympic Games silver medalist David Payne captured a narrow victory in the hotly contested men's 110m hurdles. Payne finished first in 13.60 seconds, followed closely by William Sharman (GBR), who finished on Payne's heels in 13.61.
In men's field event action, three-time World Outdoor champion and 2004 Olympic gold medalist Dwight Phillips finished first in the long jump with a best leap of 8.39 meters/27 feet 6.50 inches.
2008 Olympic Games fourth-place finisher Derek Miles tied 2009 world champs finalist Viktor Chistiakov (RUS) for top honors in the pole vault with both clearing 5.70m/18-8.25, and 2009 world champs finalist and current world leader Andra Manson won the men's high jump with a best clearance of 2.33 meters/7 feet 7.75 inches.
In women's action, two-time World Outdoor Championships bronze medalist and reigning U.S. champion Carmelita Jeter was victorious in the 100 meters in 11.07 seconds. 2009 world champs finalist Debbie Ferguson McKenzie (BAH) was the runner-up in 11.26.
Three-time World Outdoor champion and two-time Olympic silver medalist Allyson Felix was the winner in the women's 200 meters in 23.13 seconds, with Emily Freeman (GBR) the runner-up in 23.39. Also posting a win on the track was 2008 Olympian and 2009 world champs 1,500m fifth-place finisher Christin Wurth-Thomas, who finished first in the 800 meters in 2:01.22.
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