Is Wariner Back, Baby?

Flo'da boy wrote:

He ran a really smart leg in the 4x400 final and looked fit. A 44.xx split isn't insane (especially for a guy who ran a 42.xx split in the past) but it shows he's improved a lot since last year.

I don't think he is in contention for Gold anymore. Conversely, I would be shocked if he wasn't on the WC/OG relay squads.

But I wonder if he has a shot to make the open 400 team these next two years. What do y'all think? He has to contend with McQuay, Merritt, Verburg, and all the NCAA guys but I think his experience (and a possible return to form) could see him grabbing the third spot. I haven't seen anything from him--yet--to indicate a top three at the global level, though I think he would make the final

1. It was good to see him running for the US of A again.

2. I think relay duty is his most likely out come. Why?

Yes he looked good, but he split 44.80 and 44.87. In the final, he was the slowest of the 4 Americans. Tony McQuay split 44.00. Plus there are two Americans in college already under 45 open this year:

1 Norwood, Vernon SR-4 LSU 44.44

2 Glass, Najee JR-3 Florida 44.79

So it's going to be hard for him to make the team. Is it impossible? No.

But I think the most likely scenario is relay duty.

not according to your own article, which had one guy at 44.91. so, wariner ran very well and is well ahead of where he's been for a few years. I'd love to see him running 43s again, but running a 44 in an open race would be a major improvement and it looks quite possible now.

He is a veteran who can do safe hand-offs and he's very competitive in relay situations. He's the safe choice. As we've seen in numerous occasions at the World Relay meet - it doesn't matter if you're team is the fastest if they can't handle pacing (Kenya) or hand offs (Alyson Felix) correctly.

american men don't have much trouble in the 4x400 handoffs.

Exactly, see my post in the Felix Tarmoh thread!

The USA needs to do 4x4 exchanges in the 4x200.

Also, Wariner is back. People say he is old but he is only two years older than Merritt. He got a taste of glory now and that will help his confidence a lot. He will get those good ol Clyde Hart chemists brewing the perfect concoction at the perfect time and def make the final and possibly medal this summer. Both he and Merritt are dirty but Jeremy runs so much smoother than Merrit and I just hate watching Merrit run. I have Wariner crushes him but not sure he will.

jjjjj wrote:

not according to your own article, which had one guy at 44.91. so, wariner ran very well and is well ahead of where he's been for a few years. I'd love to see him running 43s again, but running a 44 in an open race would be a major improvement and it looks quite possible now.

Once again, Rojo is displaying how little he actually knows about track and field.

And here's the real gaffe: Lashawn Merritt has a free pass from winning in Moscow. So Wariner only needs to be top-4 to go to Beijing.

Wariner is the same age now that Michael Johnson was when he set the WR. It is difficult to see how much Warnier has now of what he used to have, because he hasn't been healthy for a few years. I don't know that he can beat Merritt (or James) and McQuay might be a stretch. But he doesn't have to beat them to make the team. He just needs to be at least one of the next two after Merritt and McQuay.

The battle in Beijing might become Wariner vs. McQuay for the bronze.

Individuals age at different rates and Wariner is obviously declining much faster than MJ. Based on his pattern, we would expect him to be injured by WCs.

Im Glad McQuay is back competing. I haven't heard much from he lately, and he ended up deleted all of his social media.

I was excited to see him in the heats and even more so in the final.

Did any of you really think anyone was going to pass Wariner and hold it on a 3rd leg relay split? From his first few strides in the qualifying heat I would have bet no one was going to overtake Wariner.

What were all the US splits in the Prelim?

Once a star always a threat!

jjjjj wrote:

not according to your own article, which had one guy at 44.91. so, wariner ran very well and is well ahead of where he's been for a few years. I'd love to see him running 43s again, but running a 44 in an open race would be a major improvement and it looks quite possible now.

But the 44.91 was out of the blocks and therefore better than JW's 44.80.

Some very nice comments from Merritt in the post race press conference:

You can find the heat splits here:

The impressive thing is Wariner ran 44.87 and 44.80 on consecutive days and I believe he had the fastest US split in the heat. I think he has enough to make the team right now and the NCAA guys are going to be cooked by the time they get to USATF.The key thing is for him to give himself a chance to get sharp in Europe without trying to do too much before nationals and get injured. Felix and SRR are going to go head-head in the Pre Classic, but this is exactly how Jeter got badly injured (against English Gardner at Mt Sac in 2013) and if I was coaching him, I would try to keep any direct race against Merritt away until the final at USATF.