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Olympic Trials Sunday Sprint Recap
by: LetsRun.com
June 29, 2008

*Sunday Field Event Recap Here (Olympic Champ Dwight Phillips Comes Up Short, Jeff Hartwig Makes the Team at 40)

Men’s 100 Final: Tyson Gay the Fastest 100 Ever 9.68

An historic weekend of sprinting came to a fitting conclusion with a 100 meter final for the ages.  It didn’t feel windy in the press box, but the 4.1 m/s was well over the allowable so while Tyson Gay ran faster than any human being in history, it won’t go down as a record.  But it will go down as a thrilling, electric moment.  And for Travis Padgett, it will go down as heart-break as he ran 9.85….but 9.85 was only good for fourth.   Walter Dix ran great to place second in 9.80 and Darvis Patton edged Padgett with a 9.84 for third.  Overall, six men broke ten!  But most of 20,700 on hand will remember Gay’s fantastic effort that is the fastest time ever run, under any conditions.  The former performance in that category was Obadele Thompson’s 9.69 in 1996. 

Dix continued to run in his Florida State jersey, but we're when he toes the line for the 200, it seems like for sure he'll have a pro contract.

As impressive Gay's 9.68 was, Gay said afterwards it was far from a perfect race. He told Dick Patrick of USAToday, "Relaxation is the key to track and field. (Saturday, when he ran 9.77) I was totally relaxed and let the time come to me. I may have pressed a little today."

Finals
  1 Tyson Gay                    adidas                    9.68   4.1
  2 Walter Dix                   Florida State             9.80   4.1
  3 Darvis Patton                adidas                    9.84   4.1
  4 Travis Padgett               unattached                9.85   4.1
  5 Rodney Martin                Nike                      9.97   4.1
  6 Leroy Dixon                  Nike                      9.99   4.1
  7 Michael Rodgers              Nike                     10.01   4.1
  8 Xavier Carter                Nike                     10.11   4.1

Semifinal One: 

After a false start tensed the field a bit, Tyson Gay was out solidly but not spectacularly.  He pulled away from Walter Dix and the rest of the field at 50 meters but then seemed to relax 30 meters from the finish.  The wind was just over the allowable (2.2), he crossed the line in 9.85, with Dix right behind in 9.93.   

Heat  1 Semi-Finals   Wind: 2.2
  1 Tyson Gay                    adidas                    9.85Q
  2 Walter Dix                   Florida State             9.93Q
  3 Rodney Martin                Nike                     10.08Q
  4 Xavier Carter                Nike                     10.09Q 10.086
  5 Ivory Williams               Nike                     10.09  10.087
  6 Rae Edwards                  Nike                     10.16
  7 Trindon Holliday             L S U                    10.17
  8 Chrisdon Hargrett            adidas                   12.11

Semifinal Two: 

High school phenom Jeffery Demps seemed to flinch at the gun, but the race was not recalled and he got a poor start.  Any hopes of taking the world junior record under 10.00 were dashed, as were his hopes for advancing to the final.  Darvis Patton blew by Travis Padgett at half-way and cruised into the finish a clear winner in 10.04.  Wallace Spearmon, who still has the 200 remaining, was denied a spot in the final by one one thousandth of a second. 

Heat  2 Semi-Finals   Wind: 0.5
  1 Darvis Patton                adidas                   10.04Q
  2 Travis Padgett               unattached               10.11Q
  3 Leroy Dixon                  Nike                     10.17Q
  4 Michael Rodgers              Nike                     10.18Q 10.178
  5 Wallace Spearmon             Nike                     10.18  10.179
  6 John Capel                   unattached               10.21
  7 Mark Jelks                   Nike                     10.24
  8 Jeffery Demps                unattached               10.34

Women’s 400 Hurdles Final: World Leader Demus Won't Be in Beijing

      The women’s 400 hurdles was witness to a big upset as the current world leader, Lashinda Demus was out hard and leading through the first five hurdles but then paid for her aggression by tying up over the last hurdle to fade to fourth.  Queen Harrison of Virginia Tech, who didn’t even win the NCAA title this year (she qualified for the meet but did not start after suffering a hamstring injury while running in the preliminary rounds of the 4X100 for the Hokies in Des Moines), came on strong to finish second and PRed in 54.60.  An additional piece of hardship she had to overcome was hurdling another athlete who fell in her lane: "I had to go around her and jump at the same time, so it was my extra hurdle. Stuff like that happens all the time. I came to do my best and I had to build my confidence after my hamstring injury." The winner was Tiffany Ross-Williams, who ran the most patient race among the qualifiers, coming on strong to win in a seasonal best 54.03 (also the second best in the world this year).  Grabbing the final spot on the team was Sheena Tosta, who also ran a seasonal best, 54.62.  

Harrison  and Tiffany Ross-Williams both have fathers currently in prison and have overcome difficult circumstances to make the team.
*Post-Race article on Harrison and Her Father from NY Times She's got 22 siblings.
*Post Race article on Harrison in Washington Post Her mother was in prison as well.

Finals
  1 Tiffany Ross-Williams        Reebok                   54.03
  2 Queen Harrison               Virginia Tech            54.60
  3 Sheena Tosta                 Nike                     54.62
  4 Lashinda Demus               Nike                     54.76
  5 Christine Spence             Nike                     55.74
  6 Angel Perkins                adidas                   56.23
  7 Miriam Barnes                Nike                   1:00.18
 -- Latosha Wallace              Asics                       DQ  hooking 7th hurd

Men’s 400 Hurdles Final: Bershawn Jackson Storms Back to Win

In a loaded field that included 2000 Olympic gold medallist Angelo Taylor, 2005 world champion Bershawn Jackson and 2007 world champion Kerron Clement, the Big Three all qualified for the U.S. team.  But there was nothing formulaic about the race.   Jackson struggled with hurdles, 2, 3, and 4 so much so that he seemed that he must be hurt….but he got back on his stride and absolutely rolled through the field from the 200 meter mark on to cruise to victory in 48.17.  His ability to chase down this world class field in the last 200 meters stamps him as the favorite in Beijing despite the credentials of his teammates.  And the race for the rest of the spots was equally exciting.  Clement, known for his inconsistent hurdle technique, came to a near stop on the 10th and final hurdle and the field seemed to swallow him….but for those who watched Clement in college, it was no surprise that he was able to surge home to the finish and still maintain second place….he is a freakish talent.  Taylor, the defending American champ in the flat 400 also rallied down the stretch to move from fourth to third and reclaim a place on the Olympic team in the intermediate hurdles.  Justin Gaymon, the SEC champ who was DQed at the NCAA Championships, finished a mere .04 from third with a PR 48.46.  Looking ahead to the Olympics, Jackson said "Amazing awaits, that's the whole theme of the Olympics. We're definitely going to sweep, but who comes in first, that's anybody's guess."

Finals
  1 Bershawn Jackson             Nike                     48.17
  2 Kerron Clement               Nike                     48.36
  3 Angelo Taylor                Nike                     48.42
  4 Justin Gaymon                Georgia                  48.46
  5 Johnny Dutch                 South Carolina           48.52
  6 Brandon Johnson              Nike                     48.72
  7 Reuben McCoy                 Auburn                   49.18
  8 LaRon Bennett                unattached               50.89

Women’s 400 Quarterfinals

 No big surprises here as the top 11 seeds all advanced.  Heat winners Mary Wineberg, Natasha Hastings, Dee Dee Trotter and Sanya Richards all won convincingly, with Richards appearing to shut down with a full 100 meters to go.  She still finished well clear of second place. 

Richards, who struggled last year with illness after an outstanding 2006 campaign, said "I haven't had any flare ups since January 1. Recovery is very important to me. I am still on medication, and I need to keep my stresses low. In my mind, it's gone, but I still have to take precautions." 

Heat  1 Preliminaries
  1 Mary Wineberg                Nike                     51.46Q
  2 Monique Henderson            Reebok                   52.24Q
  3 Ashlee Kidd                  Nike                     53.22Q
  4 Nina Gilbert                 unattached               53.37
  5 Dominique Blake              Penn State               53.90
  6 Francena McCorory            Hampton                  57.73
Heat  2 Preliminaries
  1 Natasha Hastings             Nike                     51.51Q
  2 Shareese Woods               adidas                   51.60Q
  3 Shana Cox                    Penn State               51.69Q
  4 Moushaumi Robinson           unattached               52.02q
  5 Jenna Griffin                unattached               53.20
  6 Dominique Holmes             Tennessee State          53.35
  7 Lauren McNary                unattached               53.60
Heat  3 Preliminaries
  1 Sanya Richards               Nike                     51.08Q
  2 Ebonie Floyd                 Nike                     51.37Q
  3 Brandi Cross                 South Carolina           51.63Q
  4 Monique Hennagan             Nike                     51.73q
  5 Jessica Cousins              Nike                     52.63q
  6 Donniece Parrish             Kansas State             54.14
 -- Miriam Barnes                Nike                       DNS
Heat  4 Preliminaries
  1 Dee Dee Trotter              adidas                   51.97Q
  2 Debbie Dunn                  unattached               52.20Q
  3 Monica Hargrove              unattached               52.36Q
  4 Kenyata Coleman              Ole Miss                 52.92q
  5 Cynetheia Rooks              unattached               52.95
  6 Leslie Cole                  Oklahoma                 53.19
  7 LaJada Baldwin               unattached               54.01

 

Men’s 400 Quarterfinals: Wariner vs Merritt Gets Underway

 Key players Jeremy Wariner and LaShawn Merritt made it through with ease and the main question that needed answering was whether Angelo Taylor (the defending US champ) could somehow recover 45 minutes after making the U.S. team in the 400 hurdles.  The 400 hurdles/400 is an incredibly tough under any circumstances and Taylor’s attempt with the two so close together are the stuff legends are made of.  And Taylor did everything he could to make it happen, purposely false-starting and striding out half-way through the turn and walking slowly back to the starting blocks to eke out a few more moments of recovery.  But it was not to be as he was behind from the gun and ultimately he pulled out at the 250 mark.  Said Taylor, "I thought I'd have more time than I did...I thought I'd have 45 minutes between races and I only had 23 minutes. I just couldn't recover completely."  Other key non-qualifiers were Tyree Washington and Andrew Rock. 

Heat  1 Preliminaries
  1 LaShawn Merritt              Nike                     45.30Q
  2 LeJerald Betters             Baylor                   45.46Q
  3 Greg Nixon                   Asics                    45.74Q
  4 Miles Smith                  unattached               45.77q
  5 Joel Stallworth              unattached               46.68
  6 Craig Everhart               HS International         48.08
 -- Andrew Rock                  adidas                     DNF
Heat  2 Preliminaries
  1 Jeremy Wariner               adidas                   46.04Q
  2 Erison Hurtault              RIADHA                   46.25Q
  3 David Neville                Nike                     46.41Q
  4 Arman Dixon                  Sacred Heart             46.70
  5 Derrick Brew                 Reebok                   46.88
  6 Bobby McCoy                  unattached               46.91
  7 Terrance Reid                Northern Iowa            47.42
Heat  3 Preliminaries
  1 Lionel Larry                 U S C                    45.89Q
  2 Reggie Witherspoon           Nike                     45.94Q
  3 Darold Williamson            Nike                     46.00Q
  4 Jamaal Torrence              Nike                     46.24q
  5 Obra Hogans                  Shore A C                46.36q
  6 Justin Oliver                Texas A&M                46.85
  7 Ahmad Hubbard                Mississippi State        47.10
Heat  4 Preliminaries
  1 Quentin Iglehart-Summers     Baylor                   45.87Q
  2 Calvin Smith                 unattached               46.14Q
  3 Jordan Boase                 Washington               46.31Q
  4 Fernada Blakely              unattached               46.32q
  5 Tyree Washington             unattached               46.56
  6 Drew Morano                  Colorado State           47.26
 -- Angelo Taylor                Nike                       DNF

 

More OT:
Sunday:
Sunday Field Event Recap Here (Olympic Champ Dwight Phillips Comes Up Short, Jeff Hartwig Makes the Team at 40)
Saturday:
LRC 
Men's 800 Semi Recaps: Krummenacker, Hernandez Out, Craziness in Women's 800
Previous:

*LRC Rest of Day 2 Recap: Women's 100, American Record in Quarters of 100, Men's Shot, Heptathlon

Friday
Women's 10k:
Flanagan, over Goucher but Amy Yoder-Begley Steals the Show
*LRC Day 1 800/5k Prelims: Men's 5k Semis: Alysia Johnson Out, Khadevis Robinson Struggles

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