Agony of victory, defeat on track
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Photo gallery: U.S. Olympic Track and Field |
By Eddie Pells
Associated Press
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EUGENE, Ore. — Allyson Felix felt no final-day pressure at the U.S. Olympic track and field trials. She's just that good.
Wallace Spearmon, Jenn Stuczynski and Marshevet Hooker are good, too, but all had to endure their share of bumps, bruises and thumping hearts before their Olympic trips were sewn up yesterday.
The day after Tyson Gay's untimely fall reminded everyone there are no sure things in track, the two sprinters and the pole vaulter worked harder than anyone might have imagined to make it to Beijing.
Spearmon, thought to be a shoo-in in the men's 200, needed a late burst to win the third and final spot in that sprint.
Stuczynski set the American record in the pole vault at 16 feet, 1 3/4 inches, but only after she missed on her first two jumps at the lowest height and needed an emotion-draining third and final attempt to keep her chances alive.
And Hooker, who ran the fifth-fastest time ever in the 100 (it was wind aided) to start the meet last weekend, crashed across the line to win the final spot in the 200 by .01 seconds. She needed that because she didn't earn a spot in the 100 despite her fast times in qualifying.
"I felt relief, I felt blessed, I felt joy, I felt everything at once," said Hooker, who paid the price with scrapes on her elbow, hip, hand and leg. "And I felt the sting."
That pain will go away.
Others, like Anwar Moore, will have to live with it for four years. Moore, an underdog who finished first here at the Prefontaine Classic last month, was in third place with about 15 meters left, but stumbled over the final hurdle in the 110-meter race and wound up sprawled on the ground.
Later, three-time 1,500 national champion Alan Webb finished fifth in one of the more competitive fields at trials. The qualifiers were Bernard Lagat (Kenya), Lopez Lomong (Sudan) and Leonel Manzano (Mexico) — three men born in different lands who made it to America and will now wear red, white and blue at the Olympics.
"That means America is a melting pot," Lagat said. "America is where they welcome everybody regardless of their place or birth."
Lagat, also the champion in the 5,000, was the only person over the two-week meet to win two events.
Felix cruised to victory in the 200, finishing in 21.82 seconds to secure the trip she didn't wrap up last week in the 100, when she finished out of the top three.
It made for a long wait, but she rolled with it.
"I'm a laid-back person. I was just relaxing, waiting for this, thinking about it, waiting to get started," she said. "I'm relieved, but it's not done yet hardly. Now it's time to go back to work."
Spearmon figured to coast to victory but he finished third, just ahead of Rodney Martin to get the final spot in the 200, the one freed up when Gay fell Saturday in the quarterfinals.
"I got third, and the question is now, if he was here would I have made the team?" Spearmon said. "I can't answer that question. I'm here. That's all I can tell you."
Gay's MRI showed a strain in a muscle in the back of his left leg. He's restricted to light workouts for the next two weeks, but said he'd be ready for the Olympics.
"I'll be 100 percent for the 100 and 400 relay," Gay said in an NBC interview before yesterday's 200 final.
Gay said he felt a "little tweak" in the hamstring before Saturday's race and told coach Jon Drummond, who recommended he not run. But Gay didn't take that advice.
"I thought it would go away once I warmed up," said Gay, the defending world champion in the 100 and 200. "By the time I came off the blocks, 20, 25 meters into the race, my hamstring pulled up."
His absence means Walter Dix and Muna Lee, on the women's side, are the only American sprinters who will get a chance to double in individual events.
Dix finished first in the men's 200 and the other spot went to defending Olympic gold medalist Shawn Crawford, who fought injuries since Athens and was thought to only have an outside shot.
Crawford trained with coach Trevor Graham before the last Olympics, and though he wasn't ever involved in a doping scandal, his name came up because Graham was a key player.
"Whatever he did with anybody else, I'm not worried about it," Crawford said. "I know what I did. I can't hold that against a person. People make mistakes. I didn't make those mistakes. I'm not worried about it."
While Crawford's story could turn out to be a great comeback tale, what the Americans really want to redeem their sagging sport are some young, new faces with new stories to tell.
Stuczynski is a candidate. A basketball player who took up pole vaulting four years ago and trains in a quonset hut, she has set the American record twice in seven weeks.
She missed by a bunch on her two attempts at the world record, 16-5 1/2, but when it was over, she was thinking more about those misses at the start. When she finally cleared the first height, she buried her hands in her face and fell back onto the mat.
"The first one didn't scare me. The second one made me a little nervous," she said. "When I got to the third, I didn't feel good either, but I got over.
"I think I was more happy to make the opening height than I was the record jump."
She wasn't the only one who felt relieved.
• • •
| At Hayward Field, Eugene, Ore. (All race distances in meters) (q-Top four in each heat advance) (x-qualified for Olympic team)
MEN
200 Final 1, x-Walter Dix, Florida State, 19.86 seconds. 2, x-Shawn Crawford, Nike, 19.86. 3, x-Wallace Spearmon, Nike, 19.90. 4, Rodney Martin, Nike, 19.99. 5, Charles Clark, Florida State, 20.53. 6, Rubin Williams, Tennessee, 20.61. 7, Bernard Williams, adidas, 20.63. Xavier Carter, Nike, DNS.
1,500 Final 1, x-Bernard Lagat, Nike, 3:40.37. 2, x-Leonel Manzano, Nike, 3:40.90. 3, x-Lopez Lomong, Nike, 3:41.00. 4, William Leer, Oregon TC Elite, 3:41.54. 5, Alan Webb, Nike, 3:41.62. 6, Jon Rankin, Nike, 3:41.75. 7, Said Ahmed, Nike, 3:42.20. 8, Andrew McClary, Arkansas, 3:42.40. 9, Rob Myers, Reebok, 3:42.62. 10, Christopher Lukezic, Reebok, 3:43.26. 11, Steve Sherer, unattached, 3:43.41. 12, Gabriel Jennings, Saucony, 3:47.92.
110 Hurdles Semifinals (q-Top four in each heat advance) Heat 1—1, q-David Oliver, Nike, 12.89. 2, q-David Payne, Nike, 13.06. 3, q-Aries Merritt, Reebok, 13.24. 4, q-Ty Akins, Auburn, 13.26. 5, Michael Mitchum, unattached, 13.34. 6, Aubrey Herring, unattached, 13.35. 7, Shawon Harris, Texas Tech, 13.57. 8, Arend Watkins, unattached, 13.87. Heat 2—1, q-Terrence Trammell, Mizuno, 13.08. 2, q-Antwon Hicks, adidas, 13.09. 3, q-Anwar Moore, Nike, 13.15. 4, q-Andrew Brunson, Florida State, 13.33. 5, Ryan Wilson, unattached, 13.36. 6, Joel Brown, Nike, 13.40. Dexter Faulk, Nike, FS. Kevin Craddock, UCLA, DNS.
Final 1, x-Oliver, 12.95. 2, x-Trammell, 13.00. 3, x-Payne, 13.25. 4, Merritt, 13.27. 5, Hicks, 13.33. 6, Brunson, 13.43. 7, Akins, 13.82. 8, Moore, 16.64.
Triple Jump Final 1, x-Aarik Wilson, Nike, 57 feet, 2A inches. 2, x-Kenta Bell, Mizuno, 56-6›. 3, x-Rafeeq Curry, Shore AC, 56-5fl. 4, Walter Davis, Nike, 56-5A. 5, Brandon Roulhac, Shore AC, 56-3fl. 6, Allen Simms, unattached, 55-11A. 7, Lawrence Willis, unattached, 54-6›. 8, James Lemons, unattached, 53-4›. 9, Kyle Jenkins, Indiana, 53-1fl. 10, Muhammad Halim, Cornell, 52-8fl. 11, Alnozo Moore, HPC Elite, 52-7A. 12, James Jenkins, HPC Elite, 51-4A.
Discus Final 1, x-Ian Waltz, Nike, 216-1. 2, x-Michael Robertson, Nike, 209-1. 3, x-Casey Malone, Nike, 205-7.4, Doug Reynolds, unattached, 205-6. 5, Rashaud Scott, Kentucky, 203-4. 6, William Conwell, Club Northwest, 202-7. 7, Adam Kuehl, Nike, 201-9. 8, James Dennis, unattached, 198-7. 9, Jason Young, unattached, 197-10. 10, Matt Lamb, Washington State, 194-10. 11, Jarred Rome, Nike, 193-5. 12, John Godina, adidas, 187-11.
Javelin Final 1, Bobby Smith, Monmouth Track Club, 249-6. 2, x-Mike Hazle, Nike, 248-7. 3, Brian Chaput, Javelin USA, 248-1. 4, Christopher Hill, unattached, 244-5. 5, x-Leigh Smith, unattached, 243-7. 6, Barry Krammes, Shore AC, 242-2. 7, Sean Furey, unattached, 241-2. 8, John Hetzendorf, unattached, 230-9. 9, Corey White, unattached, 226-1. 10, Aris Borjas, VS Athletics, 225-8. 11, Daniel Brown, unattached, 219-0. 12, Jon Jeffreys, unattached, 210-0.
WOMEN
200 Final 1, x-Allyson Felix, adidas, 21.82. 2, x-Muna Lee, Nike, 21.99. 3, x-Marshevet Hooker, adidas, 22.20. 4, Lauryn Williams, Nike, 22.21. 5, Bianca Knight, adidas, 22.25. 6, Carmelita Jeter, Nike, 22.35. 7, Shalonda Solomon, Reebok, 22.36. Torri Edwards, Nike, DNS.
1,500 Final 1, x-Shannon Rowbury, Nike, 4:05.48. 2, x-Erin Donohue, Nike, 4:08.20. 3, x-Christin Wurth, Nike, 4:08.48. 4, Morgan Uceny, Reebok, 4:10.85. 5, Amy Mortimier, Reebok, 4:14.98. 6, Lindsey Gallo, Reebok, 4:15.96. 7, Tiffany McWilliams, adidas, 4:16.28. 8, Sarah Bowman, Tennessee, 4:16.54. 9, Sara Hall, Asics, 4:16.79. 10, Jordan Hasay, unattached, 4:17.36. 11, Jenelle Deatherage, Reebok, 4:22.45. 12, Treniere Clement, 4:24.62.
20,000 Race Walk Final 1, x-Joanne Dow, adidas, 1:35:11.00. 2, Teresa Vaill, Walk USA, 1:36:35.00. 3, Susan Armenta, unattached, 1:42:12.00. 4, Sam Cohen, Parkside AC, 1:42:33.00; 5, Jolene Moore, New York AC, 1:42:37.00. 6, Stephanie Casey, unattached, 1:43:51.00. 7, Solomiya Login, SE Pa. AC, 1:44:09.00. 8, Maria Michta, Walk USA, 1:47:45.00. 9, Carolyn Kealty, unattached, 1:48:40.00. 10, Loretta Schuellein, Walk USA, 1:49:04.00. 11, Susan Randall, Miami Valley TC, 1:49:15.00. 12, Margaret Ditchburn, unattached, 1:51:31.00. 13, Heidi Hauch, unattached. 2:12:01.00. Lauren Forgues, Maine Racewalkers, DNF. Sara Standley-Gonzalez, unattached, DQ. Kristen Furseth-Mullaney, Pegasus AC, DQ.
100 Hurdles Semifinals (q-Top four in each heat advance) Heat 1—1, q-Damu Cherry, Nike, 12.48. 2, q-Kellie Wells, Nike, 12.58. 3, q-Joanna Hayes, Nike, 12.68. 4, q-Virginia Powell, Nike, 12.75. 5, Tiffany Ofili, Michigan, 12.76. 6, Michelle Perry, Nike, 12.79. 7, Ellakisha O'Kelley, unattached, 13.23. 8, LaNeisha Waller, unattached, 13.25. Heat 2—1, q-Lori Jones, Asics, 12.45. 2, q-Nichole Derby, adidas, 12.54. 3, q-Dawn Harper, unattached, 12.58. 4, q-Candice Davis, unattached, 12.76. 5, Virginia Johnson, Nike, 12.82. 6, Yvette Lewis, unattached, 12.87. 7, Kristi Castlin, Virginia Tech, 13.00. 8, Shantia Moss, unattached, 13.04.
Final 1, x-Jones, 12.29. 2, x-Cherry, 12.58. 3, x-Harper, 12.62. 4, Denby, 12.62. 5, Davis, 12.66. 6, Powell, 12.74. 7, Hayes, 12.96. Wells, DNS.
Pole Vault Final 1, x-Jennifer Stuczynski, adidas, 16-1fl. 2, x-April Steiner Bennett, adidas, 15-1. 3, x-Erica Bartolina, unattached, 14-11. 4, Jillian Schwartz, Nike, 14-9. 5, Tracy O'Hara, unattached, 14-9. 6, Becky Holliday, unattached, 14-9. 7 (tie), Mary Vincent, Asics; Chelsea Johnson, Nike; and Stacy Dragila, Nike, 14-5A. 10 (tie), Lacy Janson, Nike, and Melinda Owen, Idaho, 14-5A. Erin Asay, unattached, NH. |
