By Philip Hersh
Chicago Tribune
CHICAGO - Round two of the Allyson Felix-Sanya Richards rivalry will not occur at the 2008 Olympics.
The international track federation (IAAF) has denied a request by USA Track & Field for a schedule change that would have made it practical for the top two U.S. women runners to meet in the 200 and 400 meters at the Beijing Games.
That denial almost certainly deprives Felix of the chance to win four gold medals. She won three, two on relays, at the 2007 world championships.
``It is unfortunate the IAAF denied the schedule change,’’ Renaldo Nehemiah, Felix’s agent, said by e-mail Thursday.
``On the heels of winning a historic three gold medals, I would think the IAAF would have acknowledged how positive Allyson attempting to double would have been for our sport and the Olympics.’’
The 2008 Olympic schedule has the first two rounds of the 200 the same day as the 400 final, creating substantial risk for anyone attempting to run both.
Felix, of Los Angeles, the world’s top 200-meter runner since the 2004 Olympics, could have seriously challenged Richards in the 400.
Richards, of Austin, Texas, has dominated the 400 over the same period.
Richards, meanwhile, had developed into a potential medalist at 200 meters.
I wish they would have made the change but I kind of felt it wasn't going to happen,'' Richards said Thursday by telephone. Now I will concentrate on the 400.’’
They met in the 200 at the 2007 world championships in Osaka, Japan, a race Felix won with the fastest time at the distance (21.81 seconds) since 1999. Richards was nearly a second behind in fifth place. Neither ran the open 400 in Osaka.
An illness-slowed Richards failed to qualify for the 2007 world team in her best event at the U.S. trials, but she went on to record the five fastest 400 times in the world last season, topped by a 49.27.
Felix ran a spectacular second leg on the winning 1,600-meter relay at worlds, with a split time, 48 seconds, by far the fastest of the 32 women in the relay final. Richards’ anchor split was 49.07.
Earlier this year, Felix ran a career-best 49.70 to beat Richards by 2/100ths of a second in a Grand Prix meet at Stockholm.
Felix also ran the second leg on the winning 400 relay in Osaka, making her only the second woman to win three golds at a single world meet.
USATF asked for a schedule change on Richards’ behalf about a year ago and another on Felix’s behalf after the 2007 worlds, according to U.S. federation spokeswoman Jill Geer.
IAAF spokesman Nick Davies said by e-mail that the IAAF turned down the requests because Richards has not been a world champion in either event and the request for Felix came at a point when Beijing Olympic organizers already had begun selling tickets based on a schedule that would have required considerable ``tinkering’’ to accommodate the change.
The IAAF changed the 1996 Olympic schedule to facilitate Michael Johnson’s 200-400 double a year after he had won both at the world championships. Johnson became the only man to win both at the Olympics.
Two women, Valerie Brisco-Hooks of the U.S. (1984) and Marie-Jose Perec of France (1996), have won both races at the Olympics.
