Salon.com > Eddie Pells

US, Jamaica advance easily in Olympic relay

Fri, 10 Aug 2012 19:14:14 +0000

LONDON (AP) — Members of the American 4x100 relay team left the Olympic track Friday believing anything's possible — maybe even a win over Usain Bolt.

With Justin Gatlin running the anchor leg, the U.S. broke a 20-year-old national record in its preliminary round, finishing in 37.38 seconds. The old record, first set in 1992 with Carl Lewis running the anchor leg, was 37.40.

"We're going to figure out a way to go out there and compete with them," Gatlin said. "We're not scared of them."

One small problem: Jamaica, running in the evening's opening heat, was only a hundredth of a second slower than the United States, and that was with Bolt on the sideline.

In the final Saturday, Bolt will take Kemar Bailey-Cole's place on the anchor leg, while Nesta Carter, Michael Frater and 100 and 200 runner-up Yohan Blake will run in the first three spots, as they did in the preliminaries.

The U.S. and Jamaican times were the fourth- and fifth-fastest ever recorded, and based on all the fast times run Friday — the American women set a world record at 40.82 seconds in their final later in the evening — the men's mark of 37.04, set by Jamaica at last year's world championships, appears reachable.

US runner finishes Olympic relay lap on broken leg

Thu, 09 Aug 2012 22:33:23 +0000

LONDON (AP) — Manteo Mitchell felt the pop in his leg and knew it wasn't good. "It felt like somebody literally just snapped my leg in half," he said.

The American sprinter had half a lap to go in the first leg of the 4x400-meter relay preliminaries Thursday and a choice to make: keep running or stop and lose the race. To him, it was never much of a choice.

He finished the lap and limped to the side to watch the Americans finish the race and qualify easily for the final. A few hours later, doctors confirmed what he suspected: He had run the last 200 meters with a broken left fibula.

"I heard it and I felt it," Mitchell told The Associated Press. "But I figured it's what almost any person would've done in that situation."

Mitchell finished his heat in a more-than-respectable 46.1 seconds, and the United States tied the Bahamas in the second heat in 2 minutes, 58.87 seconds — the fastest time ever run in the first round of the relay at the Olympics.

The 25-year-old sprinter from Cullowhee, N.C., said he was diagnosed with a complete break of the left fibula — but it was not a compound fracture and the bone is expected to heal on its own in four to six weeks.

US runner finishes Olympic relay lap on broken leg

Thu, 09 Aug 2012 17:31:12 +0000

LONDON (AP) — Manteo Mitchell felt the pop in his leg and knew it wasn't good. "It felt like somebody literally just snapped my leg in half," he said.

"I heard it and I felt it," Mitchell told The Associated Press. "But I figured it's what almost any person would've done in that situation."

Felix takes Olympic gold in 200

Wed, 08 Aug 2012 20:32:21 +0000

LONDON (AP) — No more heartbreak for Allyson Felix. No more silver, either.

Denied twice on the world's biggest stage, Felix won the Olympic gold medal she's been yearning for, taking the 200 meters Wednesday night to fill the last, and biggest, hole in her otherwise stellar resume.

Felix won the race in 21.88 seconds, topping Jamaica's Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, who won the 100 four nights earlier, by .21 seconds. American Carmelita Jeter added bronze to go with her silver in the 100 meters.

One more spot back was Jamaica's Veronica Campbell-Brown, who defeated Felix in the Athens and Beijing Games and was trying to become the first woman to win the same individual track and field event in three consecutive Olympics.

Instead, the Americans were the ones celebrating three straight, their own 15 minutes of fame: Felix, followed quickly by Aries Merritt in the 110 hurdles and Brittney Reese in the long jump.

"Track and field is the best sport for Americans," said Jason Richardson, who finished second to Merritt in the hurdles as part of a seven-medal day at the track for the United States. "We are always aware of what the medal count is. I know track and field can close that, let the world know the Americans are the best track and field country."

Attar makes Olympic track debut for Saudi women

Wed, 08 Aug 2012 11:51:23 +0000

LONDON (AP) — Sarah Attar finished last and more than a half-minute slower than her nearest competitor in the women's 800 meters. Yet hundreds rose to give her a standing ovation as she crossed the finish line.

For the first woman from Saudi Arabia to compete in track and field at the Olympics, the principle was more important than the performance.

Covered in clothing from head to toe, except for her smiling face poking out from her hood, Attar's debut came five days after a Saudi judo athlete became the ultraconservative country's first female competitor at any Olympics.

"This is such a huge honor and an amazing experience, just to be representing the women," Attar said in an interview with The Associated Press. "I know that this can make a huge difference."

The 19-year-old Attar ran 800 meters in 2 minutes, 44.95 seconds. To her, the time wasn't the point.

Her mother is American and her father is Saudi. She has dual citizenship, born in California and running track at Pepperdine University near Los Angeles.

Attar wanted to represent Saudi Arabia at the Olympics as a way of inspiring women.

Suhr brings home pole vault gold for US

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 21:10:04 +0000

LONDON (AP) — Jenn Suhr walked with a purpose over to the stands to see her husband, who gingerly wrapped an American flag around her shoulders while she sobbed into his chest.

Yes, they've come a long way together. From training in a pair of huts connected together to form a jumping pit — to winning an Olympic gold medal on her sport's grandest stage.

Suhr, America's best female pole vaulter for the better part of a half-dozen years, got the Olympic gold she needed to round out her resume.

She vaulted 15 feet, 7 inches (4.75 meters) to defeat Cuba's Yarisley Silva, who cleared the same height but lost on a tiebreaker because she had one more miss in the competition.

Suhr also beat two-time defending Olympic champion Yelena Isinbayeva of Russia, who settled for bronze with a vault of 15-5 (4.70).

Richards-Ross takes 1st US gold at Olympic track

Sun, 05 Aug 2012 20:26:40 +0000

LONDON (AP) — Disappointment, tears and that oh-so-unsatisfying color — bronze — are all in the past for Sanya Richards-Ross.

On this trip to the Olympics, she closed the deal.

Four years after a late fade left her crying and wearing the Olympic bronze medal, Richards-Ross won the 400-meter gold she always thought she should.

Nearly banging elbows with runners on both sides of her — and with the defending champion making up ground on the outside — Richards-Ross got stronger, not weaker, this time over the last 100 meters.

She surged to the finish, won by about a body's length and punched her fist when she crossed the line in 49.55 seconds Sunday night to give the U.S. its first track and field gold medal of the London Olympics.

"I just kept saying, 'You can do this, you can do this," Richards-Ross said. "I just dug really deep and I'm very happy."

Defending champion Christine Ohuruogu of Britain finished second in 49.70 and American DeeDee Trotter, decked out in red, white and blue glitter on her face, won the bronze in 49.72.

This moment, though, belonged to Richards-Ross.

At the end, she wrapped herself in the American flag and went to the stands to embrace her husband, Jacksonville Jaguars defensive back Aaron Ross, who took time off from NFL training camp to travel to London.

Jamaican Fraser-Pryce edges Jeter for Olympic gold

Sat, 04 Aug 2012 21:20:05 +0000

LONDON (AP) — Of course the gold medal stays in Jamaica, mon. Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce wouldn't have it any other way.

A golden ribbon in her hair, the bubbly Jamaican made it back-to-back Olympic titles in the women's 100 meters Saturday night, closing ground over the last 20 meters and leaning at the line to win in 10.75 seconds and edge American Carmelita Jeter by .03 seconds.

Fraser-Pryce became the first woman to repeat in the 100 since Gail Devers of the U.S. in 1992 and 1996.

Veronica Campbell-Brown finished third for her second career 100-meter bronze. Jamaica fell out of the running for a repeat of its sweep in Beijing after 2008 silver medalist Kerron Stewart failed to make it through the semifinals.

Doubt there will be much complaining in that island country, population 3 million, where the top industries are tourism — and, of course, mining precious medals out of Olympic host sites.

On Sunday, Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake will try to keep the gold coming for Jamaica, which has now won six of the last seven medals awarded in the men's and women's Olympic sprinting events, including relays.

Pistorius makes it to semifinals of Olympic 400

Sat, 04 Aug 2012 09:47:07 +0000

LONDON (AP) — It began with a smile at the starting line.

Moments later, Oscar Pistorius took off and the click-click-clicking of carbon on the ground was all but drowned out by the 80,000 fans on hand to watch him make history Saturday. The first amputee to compete in track at the Olympics, Pistorius cruised past an opponent or two in his 400-meter heat, and by the end, the "Blade Runner" was coasting in for a stress-free success.

Typical. Except this time, it was anything but that.

"I've worked for six years ... to get my chance," said the South African, who finished second and advanced to Sunday night's semifinals. "I found myself smiling in the starting block."

Yes, this sun-splashed day at Olympic Stadium was a good one for Pistorius, a double-amputee who runs on carbon-fiber blades and whose fight to get to this point has often felt more like a marathon than a sprint.

Finally racing where he always felt he belonged, he finished in a time of 45.44 seconds, crossing the line and looking up at the scoreboard, then covering his face with his hands when he saw the capital "Q'' — for qualifier — go up by his name.

Ennis sets record for heptathlon hurdles

Fri, 03 Aug 2012 09:57:00 +0000

LONDON (AP) — Talk about your crowd pleasers.

In an opening session of Olympic track unlike any in recent memory, heptathlete Jessica Ennis and a handful of her British teammates gave fans at jam-packed Olympic Stadium a show worth the early wake-up call.

With nearly all 80,000 seats filled for the first taste of Olympic track and field Friday, Ennis wowed the home crowd by finishing the 100-meter hurdles in 12.54 seconds, the fastest time ever in the heptathlon's first event.

How fast? It matched Dawn Harper's gold-winning time in the 100-meter hurdle final at the Beijing Games — and would've been good enough to take that title at the 1992, 1996 and 2000 Olympics.

"Amazing. So loud. When you step up to jump or get in your blocks, they really get behind you. It's a great feeling," Ennis said. "I felt strangely calm. I'm normally quite nervous before the hurdles. Just coming out in the stadium and seeing the crowd was such an amazing feeling. It kind of gives you goose bumps."

Imagine what a treat it was for the home fans, who have been wringing their hands over every aspect of these games: the megamillion-pound costs, the security, the quality of the subway and train service and, of course, the quality of the athletes who would be representing the host country.

Bolt, Blake could seize London Olympics spotlight

Thu, 02 Aug 2012 16:36:20 +0000

LONDON (AP) — By the time Usain Bolt's showboating, record-breaking, gold-gobbling act on the track got revved up at the Beijing Games four years ago, Michael Phelps already was firmly established as The Star of those Olympics.

Nothing anyone did — even Bolt's unprecedented sweep of the 100, 200 and 4x100-meter relay with best-in-history times — could possibly steal the spotlight from Phelps and his eight-gold performance in the pool.

Now it's a different story.

The first week of the London Olympics left a noticeable vacancy on center stage. As if on cue, up steps Bolt, the effervescent Jamaican sprinter who comes in with the most to win, and lose, as the 10-day athletics meet begins Friday at 80,000-seat Olympic Stadium.

Bolt wants nothing less than to become a "living legend" and is well aware that repeat victories in the two individual sprints will put him there. Of course, he'll need to be better than countryman Yohan Blake, who upset Bolt in the 100 and 200 finals at the Jamaican trials.

Win or not, Bolt is guaranteeing a good show.

"Hands down. For sure," he said. "I'm thinking this could easily be one of the fastest 100 meters anybody has ever seen, because these guys have shown a lot of potential throughout the season. There are guys that have been running fast, especially because it's an Olympic year."

New rule makes first bolt from blocks a no-no

Wed, 01 Aug 2012 18:06:09 +0000

LONDON (AP) — Warning: At these Olympics, sprinters will get no warnings.

Under the zero-tolerance false-start rule in place for the London Games, a sprinter's mistimed jump from the blocks could destroy four years of hard work in an instant. If that runner happens to be, say, Usain Bolt, it could turn one of the most anticipated moments of the entire Olympics into one huge downer.

Under the old rule, the entire field was given a warning after the first false start and the disqualifications began with the second one. Under the new rule, the first person to jump is out — no second chances.

The new rule goes on display on the sport's biggest stage Friday when the women line up for the 100-meter heats. Bolt, seeking back-to-back titles in the marquee race of the Olympics, hits the track Saturday.

"A double-edged sword," 2004 Olympic champion Justin Gatlin calls the new rule, which took effect in 2010. "Because some people can take advantage of it if it's two or three false starts and no one is getting charged. At the same time, you can have something like last year with Bolt."

Last year was track and field's worst nightmare.

White takes Olympic gold … with a McTwist

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 13:18:00 +0000

Shaun White had the trick in the bag, along with an Olympic gold medal.

Might as well go for it, right?

Putting on a show when he hardly needed to, White capped his sensational night on the halfpipe with his signature move Wednesday -- the dangerous, spiraling Double McTwist 1260 during a victory lap that will go down as nothing short of epic.

"I wanted a victory lap that would be remembered," White said. "I achieved that."

The redheaded shredder scored a 48.4 on the final run, even though he was already assured of defending his Olympic title with a score of 46.8 on his first trip. Getting ready to close the night, he debated with his coaches for a minute, then made the decision.

Showtime! To the delight of cheering fans, he jerked his body around to milk the last half of the 3 1/2 twists he crams into two head-over-heels flips.

An exclamation point on a spectacular day at the games for the Americans, who already had golds from Alpine skier Lindsey Vonn and speedskater Shani Davis, and wound up with six overall medals, including Scotty Lago's halfpipe bronze.

Wearing a blue bandanna with white stars, all of which goes perfect with the red hair, White easily outdistanced Finland's Peetu Piiroinen.