Jump to content

Andretti Qualifies for Semifinals


golden girl

Recommended Posts

Wariner, Merritt sail into 400 semifinals

By The Associated Press

Posted Sunday, August 17, 2008 9:57 PM ET

BEIJING (AP) - Reigning Olympic and world champion Jeremy Wariner and rival LaShawn Merritt have qualified for the Olympic semifinals at 400 meters.

Both Americans built big leads and jogged home to win their respective heats. Wariner won the last of seven heats in 45.23 seconds, while Merritt led the fifth heat in 44.96.

"No surprise. He's ready. I'm ready. Time to go," Merritt said. "We're here. It's the Olympic Games. It's time for a showdown - a throwdown."

The once-invincible Wariner's biggest concern here figures to be Merritt, who beat him twice this year -- including at the U.S. Olympic Trials.

Wariner played down the rivalry, saying, "That's not on my mind right now."

The pair finished 1-2 at the 2007 World Championships and own the year's two best times in the one-lap test of speed and endurance. Wariner has said he intends to break the world record of 43.18 set at the 1999 world championships by Michael Johnson, who now serves as Wariner's manager.

The 400 semifinals are Tuesday, the final Thursday.

With Wariner taking gold, the United States swept the 400 medals at the 2004 Olympics.

David Neville, the third U.S. entrant here, also advanced Monday, finishing second in his heat in 45.22. He's been dealing with a sore Achilles' tendon and took the previous three days off to rest.

"I thought I was going to be able to run a little bit slower," Neville said. "I did what I had to do and make it through."

http://www.nbcolympics.com/trackandfield/news/newsid=228946.html#wariner+merritt+sail+into+semifinals

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Men's 400m -- preliminaries

The clash between world and Olympic champion Jeremy Wariner and the in-form Lashawn Merritt in the Men's 400m will be one of the most intriguing battles in Athletics at the Games.

Wariner has been virtually unstoppable since his 400m and 4 x 400m relay victories at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games - adding two individual 400m world titles, two 4 x 400m relay world titles and a Golden League jackpot win to his extensive resume.

Wariner is the third-fastest 400m runner in history, clocking 43.45s in Osaka at the 2007 World Championships.

The 24-year-old is the only athlete in the world to have gone under the 44-second mark this year. In Paris, Wariner recorded 43.86s and in Oslo he registered 43.98s.

He has declared he is chasing dual Olympic champion Michael Johnson's world record of 43.18s set at the Worlds in Seville in 1999.

Merritt, the 2007 World Championships silver medalist, has emerged as the greatest threat to Wariner.

In Berlin on June 1, Merritt edged out Wariner on the finish line in a huge upset, 44.03s to 44.07s. With new-found confidence, Merritt then went on to defeat Wariner at the US Olympic trials in July. However, one week later, Wariner bounced back to defeat Merritt in Rome - 44.36s to 44.37s. Wariner repeated the feat in Paris shortly after, reasserting his authority over the event.

Barring a shock defeat, those fighting it out for the minor medals include two talented one-lappers from the Bahamas, Christopher Brown and Andretti Bain.

http://en.beijing2008.cn/news/sports/headlines/athletics/n214557377.shtml

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Heat three was a much softer affair.

Costa Rican Nerys Brenes won easily in 45.36. James Godday of Nigeria qualified easily in second (45.49). Bahama’s Andretti Bain didn’t look like a 44.62 runner this year, and he had to work very hard after a gentle start just to take the third spot in 45.96

http://2008olympics.runnersworld.com/2008/08/mens-400m-preli.html

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So, MM...do you think Andretti has a shot to make the finals?....i see he runs Tuesday AM around 10am EDT...... :-P

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So, MM...do you think Andretti has a shot to make the finals?....i see he runs Tuesday AM around 10am EDT...... :-P

Oh yeah!  Not that I can base it off expertise, but on what I've read. He's about the fifth best odds to win gold. I looked at the odds for enjoyment purposes only and he had 40/1 odds, and that was about the fifth best. His relay team has the second best odds at 10/1 following the US. So he has a legit shot at two medals. He will have to run a lot better than a high 45 seconds though. He'll probably need to run close to his national championship time. High 44s or low 45s to advance. Still his title run this summer is the fifth best time in the world this year.

But what do I know?  I just hope he leaves happy with his performance. We are all so proud of him!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Andretti is going to be running in lane one today. Obviously his competition is good at this point. We're down to the 24 best in the world. I'm not sure how many advance. I would assume eight, but nine would make sense too. The top three from each heat would advance that way.

The best time in the heat belongs to Milburn at 44.80. Steele had the second best time by winning his primary heat with a 44.92. The other runner were in the 45s. I'd say Bain needs to run a 44.95 to advance, but that's a total guess.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

ouch!....at least he made the top 24....no shame in that...and he runs in the relay over the weekend where Bahamas has a good shot at a medal..... :-)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Jerimey Wariner just cruised in first in the semi-finals with a 44.15 - looked like he easily squandered a .5 second.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...