Notable accomplishments by Team USA athletes at the 2009 IAAF World Championships in Athletics in Berlin
For Immediate Release
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Contact:
Tom Surber
USA Track & Field
Media Information Manager
317-713-4690; [email protected]
Team USA Superlatives, 2009 IAAF World Championships in Athletics
-Team USA won more gold medals than any other country (10)...2nd place Jamaica (7)
-Team USA won more medals than any other country (22)...2nd place Jamaica (13)
-Team USA dominated the placing table with 231 points...2nd place Russia (154)
-Tyson Gay posts American record in 100 meters: 9.71 seconds (third-fastest time ever).
-Dwight Phillips won his third world outdoor title in the men's long jump, tying Ivan Pedroso of Cuba for the most wins ever at this event.
-Trey Hardee improved his personal best by 256 points in winning the decathlon gold medal with 8,790 points, making him the #3 American all time in that event.
-Team USA is now the only nation to have three separate athletes win gold in the men's shot put in three consecutive years: Adam Nelson (2005), Reese Hoffa (2007), Christian Cantwell (2009).
- Michelle Carter's sixth-place finish in the women's shot put is the highest by an American since Connie Price-Smith finished fifth in 1997.
-Amy Yoder Begley's sixth-place finish in the women's 10,000m in 31:13.78 is the fastest time ever by an American at a World Outdoor Championships.
-Jenny Barringer bettered her own American record in the 3,000m steeplechase final in 9:12.50, which improved upon her previous standard by nearly 10 seconds. Her fifth-place finish is the highest ever by an American at a World Championships.
-Dathan Ritzenhein's time of 27:22:28 is the best ever by an American in the 10,000m at a World Outdoor Championships. His sixth-place finish is also the best ever by an American.
-For the first time in World Championships history, three U.S. men: Bernard Lagat, Lopez Lomong and Leonel Manzano qualified for the men's 1,500m final. The last time three American men appeared in an Olympic 1,500m final was 1968 (Jim Ryun, Tom Von Ruden, Marty Liquori).
-Kerron Clement joined National Track & Field Hall of Famer Edwin Moses (1983, 1987) and Felix Sanchez of the Dominican Republic (2001, 2003) as the only men ever to win the world 400m hurdles title twice. All three accomplished the feat in consecutive years.
-Rachel Yurkovich became the first American woman to qualify for the women's javelin final at a World Championships since Karin Smith finished 10th in 1983.
-These championships mark the first time ever that Team USA has placed three women (Christin Wurth-Thomas, Shannon Rowbury & Anna Willard) in a World Outdoor Championships 1,500m final.
- Nick Symmonds is the first American to make the men's 800m final at a world outdoor championships since Rich Kenah won the bronze medal and Mark Everett finished eighth in 1997.
-Allyson Felix won her third consecutive women's world 200m title, more than anyone in history.
-Stephanie Brown Trafton and Aretha Thurmond qualified for the women's discus final. It was the first time two Americans competed in that final since 2001.
-Kara Goucher's 10th place finish in the women's marathon is the highest for an American since Linda Somers placed seventh in 1995.
-Team USA women's fifth place finish in the World Marathon Cup at the World Outdoor Championships is its best finish ever. Team USA finished sixth in 1999, 2005 & 2007.
- For the first time ever, three U.S. women (Rowbury, Wurth-Thomas, Willard) finished in the top ten in the women's 1,500 meters.
-Shannon Rowbury's bronze medal win in the women's 1,500m final is the highest finish by an American since Regina Jacobs won the silver medal in 1999.
-Team USA's gold medal winning women's 4x400m relay squad of Debbie Dunn, Allyson Felix, Lashinda Demus and Sanya Richards posted the fastest time in the world since 1993 (3:17.83). It is the sixth-fastest time ever.
-Brittney Reese's win in the women's long jump is the first by an American at the World Outdoor Championships since Tianna Madison won gold at Helsinki in 2005.
-Team USA's gold medal winning 4x400m relay quartet of Angelo Taylor, Jeremy Wariner, Kerron Clement and LaShawn Merritt posted the fastest time in the world this year of 2:57.86.
For more information on Team USA at the World Outdoor Championships, visit http://www.usatf.org/events/2009/IAAFWorldOutdoorChampionships/.
Reese, 4x400 relay squads win gold as Berlin World Championships conclude; Rowbury takes bronze in 1500m
For Immediate Release
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Contact:
Tom Surber
USA Track & Field
Media Information Manager
317-713-4690; [email protected]
Berlin - Brittney Reese and Team USA's 4x400m relay squads won gold, Bernard Lagat won his second medal, and Shannon Rowbury won 1,500m bronze Sunday evening at the 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics at the 1936 Olympic Stadium in Berlin, Germany.
Reese wins long jump gold medal
Two-time USA Outdoor champion and 2008 Olympic Games fifth-place finisher Brittney Reese (Gulfport, Miss.) has been the top women's long jumper throughout this outdoor season, and she proved it again this afternoon when she won the gold medal on her third attempt when she soared to 7.10 meters/23-feet 3.50 inches.
For Reese her winning leap was a personal best and the farthest jump in the world this year. Reese also owns the second (7.06m/23-2) and third (6.99m/22-11.25) best jumps this outdoor season.
2009 USA Outdoor Championships runner-up Brianna Glenn (Tucson, Ariz.) competed in her first world outdoor championships final where she placed ninth with a best of 6.59m/21-7.50.
Lagat takes second Berlin medal
2007 world outdoor 1,500m and 5,000m champion and two-time Olympic medalist Bernard Lagat (Tucson, Ariz.) won the silver medal in the 5,000 meters after a tremendous battle with Ethiopian 5,000m and 10,000m world record holder Kenenisa Bekele.
Lagat, who won the 1,500m bronze medal earlier this week, ran well despite being spiked during 5,000m qualifying, was in the lead pack throughout the race, along with 2007 world championships fourth-place finisher and U.S. two-mile record holder Matt Tegenkamp (Portland, Ore.).
The final 150 meters set up as a battle between Lagat and Bekele for the gold medal. They were even going into the final turn, until Bekele edged ahead with 70 meters remaining. Lagat pursued as best he could, but Bekele beat him to the finish line in 13:17.09. Lagat stopped the clocks in 13:17.33. Tegenkamp finished eighth in 13:20.23. 2009 USA Outdoor Championships 5,000m runner-up Chris Solinsky (Madison, Wisc.) finished 12th in 13:25.87.
Rowbury wins women's 1,500m bronze medal
Two-time USA champion and 2008 Olympic Games seventh place finisher Shannon Rowbury (San Francisco, Calif.) posted the best finish by an American in a world outdoor championships women's 1,500-meter final in 10 years. And then it got better.
Rowbury was up near the front the entire way and trailed Great Britain's Lisa Dobriskey by a few yards down the final stretch. Although Rowbury couldn't catch her, she finished fourth in 4:04.18, which is the highest finish by an American in this event since Regina Jacobs placed second in 1999 in Seville, Spain.
However, during the last lap, race winner Natalia Rodriguez of Spain tripped Ethiopia's Gelete Burka from behind. Following the race Rodriguez was disqualified and Maryam Yusuf Jamal (BRN) was declared the winner (4:03.74). Lisa Dobriskey of Great Britain (4:03.75) was awarded the silver medal, and Rowbury became the bronze medalist.
2009 USA Outdoor Champs runner-up Christin Wurth-Thomas (Springdale, Ark.) also had a strong race in finishing fifth in 4:06.19. 2008 Olympian Anna Willard (Ann Arbor, Mich.) finished sixth in 4:06.19.
This marks the first time ever that three U.S. women (Rowbury, Wurth-Thomas, Willard) have ever finished in the top ten in this event.
No mercy in men's 4x400m relay final
If the men's 4x400m relay had been a boxing match, it would've been stopped after two rounds.
Two-time Olympic Games 400m hurdles gold medalist Angelo Taylor (Atlanta, Ga.) ran a strong lead leg before handing the baton to 2009 world outdoor championships silver medalist Jeremy Wariner.
By the time Wariner was finished with his second leg run, he had extended Team USA's lead to a whopping 20 meters, and the suspense was over. It was more of the same during the third leg by 2009 world 400m hurdles champion Kerron Clement (Los Angeles, Calif.), who kept the margin in the neighborhood of 20 meters. Reigning world and Olympic champion LaShawn Merritt was a lonely competitor as he completed his anchor leg and ended the 2009 World Championships of Athletics when he crossed the finish line in the world leading time of 2:57.86.
Team USA women's 4x400m relay quartet dominates
2009 USA Outdoor Championships runner-up Debbie Dunn (Norfolk, Va.) got the U.S. off to a tremendous start in the women's 4x400m final. Dunn handed a 10-yard lead to three-time world outdoor 200m champion and two-time Olympic silver medalist Allyson Felix (Santa Clarita, Calif.).
Felix extended the lead early on in her run, and two-time world champs silver medalist Lashinda Demus (Palmdale, Calif.) had a 12-meter margin when she began her third leg.
2009 world 400m champion and 2008 Olympic bronze medalist Sanya Richards (Austin, Tex.) extended the margin to 20 meters with 200 meters to go, and she crossed the finish line securing Team USA the gold medal in 3:17.83, which is the fastest time in the world this year and the fastest time globally since 1993. It is also the sixth-fastest time in history.
Symmonds finishes sixth in two-lap final
Ten men running in eight lanes answered the gun for the men's 800m final and that group included two-time USA Outdoor champion and 2008 Olympian Nick Symmonds.
Symmonds ran at the front during the first lap and traded a couple elbows with Russian Yuriy Borzakovskiy in front of the finish line just prior to beginning the second lap.
Symmonds sat in second place until there were 80 meters remaining when he was passed by Alfred Kirwa Yego (KEN), Yusuf Saad Kamel (BRN) and Borzakovskiy. Symmonds finished the race in sixth place (1:45.71), which is the highest finish by an American at a world outdoor championships since Rich Kenah won the bronze medal in 1997.
Team USA Medal Table - 2009 World Championships in Athletics
Gold (10)
Christian Cantwell (Columbia, Mo.), men's shot put, 22.03m/72-3.50
Sanya Richards (Austin, Tex.), women's 400 meters, 49.00
Kerron Clement (Gainesville, Fla.) men's 400m hurdles, 47.91
Trey Hardee (Austin, Tex.) men's decathlon, 8,790 points
Allyson Felix (Santa Clarita, Calif.) women's 200 meters, 22.02
LaShawn Merritt (Suffolk, Va.) men's 400 meters (44.06)
Dwight Phillips (Snellville, Ga.) men's long jump (8.54 meters/28 feet .75 inch)
Brittney Reese (Gulfport, Miss.) women's long jump, 7.10 meters/23-3.50
Team USA women's 4x400m relay, 3:17.83
Debbie Dunn (Norfolk, Va.), Allyson Felix (Santa Clarita, Calif.), Lashinda Demus (Palmdale, Calif.), Sanya Richards (Austin, Tex.), Natasha Hastings (Los Angeles, Calif.), Jessica Beard (College Station, Tex.)
Team USA men's 4x400m relay, 2:57.86
Angelo Taylor (Atlanta, Ga.), Jeremy Wariner (Waco, Tex.), Kerron Clement (Los Angeles, Calif.), LaShawn Merritt (Suffolk, Va.), Lionel Larry (Compton, Calif.), Bershawn Jackson (Savoy, Ill.)
Silver (6)
Tyson Gay (Clermont, Fla.), men's 100 meters, 9.71
Chelsea Johnson (Los Angeles, Calif.), women's pole vault, 4.65m/15-3
Lashinda Demus (Palmdale, Calif.), women's 400m hurdles, 52.96
Terrence Trammell (Atlanta, Ga.), men's 110m hurdles, 13.15
Jeremy Wariner (Waco, Tex.), men's 400 meters, 44.60
Bernard Lagat (Tucson, Ariz.) men's 5,000m,13:17.33
Bronze (6)
Carmelita Jeter (Inglewood, Calif.) women's 100 meters, 10.90
Bershawn Jackson (Savoy, Ill.) men's 400m hurdles, 48.23
Bernard Lagat (Tucson, Ariz.) men's 1,500 meters, 3:36.20
Wallace Spearmon (College Station, Tex.) men's 200 meters, 19.85
David Payne (Covington, Ky.) men's 110m hurdles, 13.15
Shannon Rowbury (San Francisco, Calif.) women's 1,500 meters, 4:04.18
Team USA won more gold medals than any other country (10)...2nd place Jamaica (7)
Team USA won more medals than any other country (22)...2nd place Jamaica (13)
Team USA dominated the placing table with 231 points...2nd place Russia (154)
For complete results, quotes and Team USA reports, visit www.usatf.org.
Fans can watch Team USA on national television broadcasts on NBC and Versus, or online via live, daily Webcast at www.universalsports.com. For complete TV listings, visit http://www.usatf.org/events/2009/IAAFWorldOutdoorChampionships/mediaCoverage.asp.
For more information on Team USA at the World Outdoor Championships, visit http://www.usatf.org/events/2009/IAAFWorldOutdoorChampionships/.
Logan provides questions, answers from World Championships
For Immediate Release
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Contact:
Jill M. Geer
USA Track & Field
Chief Public Affairs Officer
508-520-1529; [email protected]
USATF CEO Doug Logan shares his thoughts on 10 days of competition at the IAAF World Outdoor Track & Field Championships in his latest Shin Splints blog. Entitled "Questions, answers and the meaning of sportsmanship," the blog provides Logan's outlook on the performance of the U.S. team, the U.S.-Jamaica sprint rivalry, the Usain Bolt phenomenon, and what true sportsmanship looks and sounds like. To read the blog, visit http://www.usatf.org/about/leadership/ShinSplintsBlog//
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Goucher leads Team USA women's marathoners to fifth-place finish
For Immediate Release
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Contact:
Tom Surber
USA Track & Field
Media Information Manager
317-713-4690; [email protected]
BERLIN - 2008 Olympic Trials 5,000m champion and 10,000m runner-up Kara Goucher (Portland, Ore.) was the top U.S. finisher at the women's World Marathon Cup competition Sunday through the streets of Berlin. The race was contested under mostly sunny skies with temperatures in the low 70's.
Goucher, who stayed with the main pack for the majority of the race, finished 10th in a season's best time of 2 hours 27 minutes 48 seconds. Goucher's finish is the highest by an American woman in the World Championships marathon since Linda Somers finished seventh in 1995.
Goucher was closely followed by 2008 Bank of America Chicago Marathon fifth-place finisher Desiree Davila (Rochester Hills, Mich.), who finished 11th in 2:27:53, which greatly improves on her previous personal best of 2:31:33 set last year in Chicago.
2008 Olympic Trials marathon fifth-place finisher Tera Moody (Boulder, Colo.) rounded out the scoring for Team USA as she placed 28th in 2:36:39 to give the U.S. its combined time of 7:32:20.
Team USA women's fifth-place finish in the World Marathon Cup at a World Outdoor Championships is its best ever. Team USA finished sixth in 1999, 2005 & 2007.
Other finishers for Team USA included 2008 USA 25 km champion Paige Higgins (Littleton, Colo.), who finished 30th in 2:37:11, and Zoila Gomez (Alamosa, Colo.), who placed 30th in 2:42:49.
Team USA quotes
Tera Moody (Colorado Springs, Colorado)--I wanted to break 2:30 today, but with the heat, I had to be a little more conservative. I felt really great, but I just didn't have the turnover.
I felt great from the get-go. I was getting a bit impatient.
Desiree Davila (Rochester Hills, Michigan)--I went out pretty even, and was able to pick it up along the way. A huge pack was sitting in front of me, and as it broke up, I was able to weave my way through. I felt great going into the last lap, and was able to pick people off.
I came in very fit, and having the confidence from the Chicago Marathon, and being able to move through the field was huge.
Kara Goucher (Portland, Oregon)--My legs felt great, and I felt really relaxed. It was great to have a loop course where my husband and coach could yell at me. The pace felt comfortable, and it felt like practice.
I had a lot of problems keeping my fluids down. After the second personal fluid station, I started throwing up what I took in. I would start taking it, then a mile later, I'd throw up.
I started to cramp with 13k to go, and then the field started to surge. It wasn't there. I just wasn't good enough today. I thought I hydrated myself well leading up to the race.
When the field made their break, my body wouldn't go.
Paige Higgins (Flagstaff, Arizona)--It went very well, but the heat got to me. Tera Moody and I pretty much buddied up together and pursued the second chase pack. We were in it to get a real good team placing.
I liked running on a criterium-style course like this. You can figure out the undulations, and you can break up the course into sections. My coach told me to do a 30k run, and a 12k race. The fans made a huge difference, and that's why I love this course. It's very runner-friendly, and even if you're not a runner, you can see us pass by four times.
Zoila Gomez (Alamosa, Colorado)--It wasn't what I had expected. The first 10k I was right on what I wanted to run, and on the second lap I was feeling th esame thing.
Shortly before the half-marathon, I started feeling some hot spots on the bottoms of my feet. The race was harder than I thought with the blisters and all. I'm glad I finished the race, but I wished I could have done better.
For complete results, quotes and Team USA reports, visit www.usatf.org.
Fans can watch Team USA on national television broadcasts on NBC and Versus, or online via live, daily Webcast at www.universalsports.com. For complete TV listings, visit http://www.usatf.org/events/2009/IAAFWorldOutdoorChampionships/mediaCoverage.asp.
For more information on Team USA at the World Outdoor Championships, visit http://www.usatf.org/events/2009/IAAFWorldOutdoorChampionships/.
About USA Track & Field
USA Track & Field (USATF) is the National Governing Body for track and field, long-distance running and race walking in the United States. USATF encompasses the world's oldest organized sports, some of the most-watched events of Olympic broadcasts, the #1 high school and junior high school participatory sport and more than 30 million adult runners in the United States.
For more information on USATF, visit www.usatf.org
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Phillips follows in Jesse Owens' footsteps in Berlin
For Immediate Release
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Contact:
Tom Surber
USA Track & Field
Media Information Manager
317-713-4690; [email protected]
BERLIN - Dwight Phillips won the men's world long jump title for the third time Saturday evening at the 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics at the 1936 Olympic Stadium in Berlin, Germany.
The 2004 Olympic gold medalist, Phillips (Snellville, Ga.) won the event with his second attempt leap of 8.54 meters/28 feet .75 inch. Phillips joins National Track & Field Hall of Famer Jesse Owens as winners of the men's long jump competitions at the two major international championship competitions ever held here. In addition to winning the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay at the 1936 Olympic Games, Owens won long jump gold medal in this stadium with a jump of 8.06m/26-5.50w.
Phillips received his gold medal from Jesse Owens' granddaughter Marlene Dortch. German 1936 Olympic long jump silver medalist Luz Long's granddaughter Julia-Vanessa Long awarded the silver medal to runner-up Godfrey Khotso Mokoena of South Africa (8.47m/27-9.50).
Phillips gave a hint of what was to come here in Berlin earlier this year when he easily won at the Nike Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Ore., when he soared to 8.74 meters/28 feet 8.25 inches, which is the top mark in the world this year. That effort tied him with Larry Myricks and Erick Walder for the eighth-best outdoor mark in history, and the trio are also tied as the #5 performers all time. It was the longest jump in the world since National Track & Field Hall of Famer Mike Powell set the world record in 1991.
Phillips' three world titles (2003, 2005, 2009) tie Ivan Pedroso (1997, 1999, 2001) of Cuba for the most wins ever at this event.
2008 Olympian and 2006 USA Outdoor champion Brian Johnson (Zachary, La.) finished ninth with a best leap of 7.86m/25-9.50.
Cosby places seventh in women's hammer throw final
2008 Olympian and two-time U.S. champion Jessica Cosby (Mission Hills, Calif.) finished seventh in the women's hammer throw final with a best toss of 72.17 meters/236 feet 9 inches. For Cosby it was a huge improvement over her 2007 world outdoor championships performance in Osaka, Japan, when she finished 14th in qualifying.
2008 Olympian and three-time U.S. Nationals runner-up Amber Campbell (Myrtle Beach, S.C.) finished 11th with her second round throw of 70.08m/229-11. Poland's 2008 Olympic finalist Anita Wlodarczyk won the gold medal with a world record toss of 77.96m/255-9, and German Betty Heidler won the silver medal and her countrymen and women's hearts with her German national record heave of 77.12m/253-0.
Women's 4x100m relay qualifying
2005 world outdoor 100m champion and two-time world outdoor 4x100m relay gold medalist Lauryn Williams (Miami, Fla.) ran a strong lead leg for Team USA in the first round of qualifying in the women's 4x100m relay.
2006 USA Junior 100m champion Alexandria Anderson (Austin, Tex.) received the baton from Williams and ran well down the backstretch. Anderson and 200m fourth-place finisher Muna Lee didn't connect on their first attempt to pass the baton from the second to third leg, but on their second pass attempt, Lee appeared to grasp it. As she turned to continue running, she fell to the track with what was later diagnosed as a left hamstring strain. As she was taken to the medical area to be evaluated by Team USA staff, Lee's teammates, including scheduled anchor leg Carmelita Jeter, followed her to the area as the team did not finish.
The Team USA lineup of Williams, Allyson Felix, Lee and Jeter on August 8 in Cottbus, Germany, had run the seventh-fastest time in history and 2009 world leader, 41.58. Marshevet Hooker had originally been scheduled to run the third leg in Saturday's first round, but an injury she suffered during the semifinals of the women's 200 led to Lee filling in. Felix was to replace Anderson in the final for an order in the final of Williams-Felix-Lee-Jeter.
Jamaica won Saturday's final in 42.06, for the third-fastest time of the year behind Team USA and their own semifinal performance of 41.88.
Team USA moves on to men's 4x400m relay final
Two-time NCAA Outdoor Champs runner-up Lionel Larry (Compton, Calif.) got the Team USA 4x400m relay squad off to a good start with his lead leg in the men's first heat of 4x400m relay qualifying.
Two-time world 400m hurdles champion Kerron Clement (Gainesville, Fla.) took the baton from Larry and kept Team USA at the front until he handed control of the race to 2008 Olympic and 2009 World Outdoor Championships 400m hurdles bronze medalist Bershawn Jackson (Champaign, Ill.).
Jackson held a slight lead at the end of his third leg and it was up to two-time Olympic Games 4x400m relay gold medalist Angelo Taylor (Decatur, Ga.) to do the rest. Taylor was up to the challenge as he brought the stick to the finish line first in 3:01.40. Team USA will compete in tomorrow's traditional final event of the Championships, the men's 4x400m relay.
Team USA women's 4x400m relay quartet advances
Team USA had an easy time of it in heat 1 of the women's 4x400m relay qualifying. 2009 USA Outdoor Championships runner-up Debbie Dunn (Norfolk, Va.) ran a strong lead leg and held the lead when she handed the baton to 2008 Olympic 4x400m relay gold medalist and 2007 world champs relay gold medalist Natasha Hastings (Los Angeles, Calif.).
Hastings continued to build the lead and Two-time world junior championships 4x400m relay gold medalist Jessica Beard (College Station, Tex.) maintained a sizeable advantage for Team USA.
2009 world 400m champion and 2008 Olympic bronze medalist Sanya Richards (Austin, Tex.) was not pressured as she completed the circuit and secured Team USA's win in 3:29.31
Women's 5,000m final
2007 world champs seventh-place finisher and three-time Olympian Jen Rhines (Mammoth Lakes, Calif.) finished in ninth place with her time of 15:11.63. For Rhines, it was her third appearance in a world outdoor championships final.
Men's pole vault final
2008 Olympic Games fourth-place finisher Derek Miles (Tea, S.D.) had three attempts at 5.50m/18-0.50 and failed to clear. In Miles' last appearance at a world outdoor championships final he finished tied for sixth at the 2003 championships in Paris.
Team USA men's marathon team places 13th
2004 Olympian Dan Browne (San Diego, Calif.) led the way for the U.S. men's marathon squad in the World Marathon Cup competition through the streets of Berlin.
Browne finished 24th in 2 hours 16 minutes 49 seconds, with Matt Gabrielson (Minneapolis, Minn.) finishing close behind in 2:18:41. Nate Jenkins (Lowell, Mass.) rounded out the Team USA scoring threesome by finishing 63rd in 2:32:16. Justin Young (Superior, Colo.) started the race but dropped out around the 30 km mark with a hip injury. Edwardo Torres (Boulder, Colo.) did not start due to an Achilles injury that flared up on Friday.
Kenya won the team title with a total time of 6:25:28, with Ethiopia second (6:32:26) and Japan third (6:41:05)
Team USA Medal Table - 2009 World Championships in Athletics
