Team USA, Day 4, morning: Mens 400, 200 runners breeze in qualifying
Posted Monday, 18 August, 2008
BEIJING - Team USA's long sprinters breezed through qualifying rounds Monday morning at the "Bird's Nest" National Stadium, while the men's 110 rounds saw two medal favorites fall to injury.
As expected, Americans had no trouble advancing through the first round of the men's 400 and 200 meters. In the 400, defending gold medalist Jeremy Wariner (Waco, Texas) won heat 7 in 45.23, LaShawn Merritt (Suffolk, Va.) won heat 5 in 44.97, and David Neville (Valencia, Calif.) was second in heat 1 in 45.22. In the 200, gold medalist Shawn Crawford (Los Angeles, Calif.) easily won heat 1 in 20.61, 100m bronze medalist Walter Dix (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) was second in heat 4 (20.77), and Wallace Spearmon (Fayetteville, Ark.)won heat 7 in 20.46.
Men's 110 hurdles drama
The first round of the men's 110m hurdles brought mixed results. Olympic Trials champion David Oliver (Kissimmee, Fla.) won heat 2 in 13.30 and World Outdoor bronze medalist David Payne (Hampton, Va.) won heat 4 in 13.42 to advance to Tuesday's semifinals comfortably. But Team USA lost another past medalist to injury when in heat 5, two-time silver medalist Terrence Trammell was barely able to come out of the blocks, clearing the first hurdle and hobbling to a halt with an apparent left leg injury. Trammell is being evaluated by USOC medical staff.
Even more stunning, the packed Bird's Nest that roared with the announcement of 2004 gold medalist of Liu Xiang in heat 6 groaned just as loudly when Liu withdrew, badly hobbling after coming out of the blocks during a false start called on the field. Liu's pre-existing, chronic foot injury was cited as the cause of the withdrawal.
Field events reap no finalists
In field event qualifying, Amber Campbell (Myrtle Beach, S.C.) was the top U.S. athlete in the women's hammer, standing in 20th place overall with a mark of 67.86m/222-8. Loree Smith (Eugene, Ore.) had a best mark of 63.60m/208-8, and Jessica Cosby (Mission Hills, Calif.) fouled on all three of her attempts. None made the final.
Rafeeq Curry (Tallahassee, Fla.) had the best mark among America's men's triple jumpers in Monday qualifying. His jump of 16.88m/55-4.75 put him 18th and shy of making the final. Kenta Bell had a best mark of 16.55m/54-3.75 and Aarik Wilson went 15.97m/52-4.75.
For more information on Team USA at the Olympic Games, including athlete quotes, event schedule, TV schedule and complete results, visit www.usatf.org
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