EUGENE, Oregon, June 28 AFP - Shawn Crawford blew away the competition to win the 200m title at the US athletics championships on Sunday, punching his World Championships ticket with a wind-assisted 19.73sec.
I figure whenever the wind is behind you no matter what the time is you still have to make your body move that fast,'' said Crawford, whose time came with a following wind of 3.3m/second. That’s the fastest my body has ever moved in its lifetime, so I’m happy with that,’’ added Crawford, whose personal best with a legal wind is 19.79, recorded back in 2004, the year he won Olympic 200m gold.
Charles Clark was second in 20.00 and Wallace Spearmon third in 20.03, earning the right to join reigning 100m-200m world champion Tyson Gay in the field at the worlds in Berlin in August.
The clear-cut victory was a contrast to the performance that brought Crawford a silver medal at the Beijing Olympics - after two runners who finished ahead of him in the 200m were disqualified.
Crawford never felt good about that, and later gave the silver to its original winner, Churandy Martina of the Netherlands Antilles.
I felt like it was a burden off my shoulders,'' said Crawford, even though authorities haven't changed the official result. I can’t do anything about that,’’ he said. He knows where my heart is.'' Unlike Gay, who made only a cameo appearance here in the first round of the 100m, two-time defending women's 200m world champion Allyson Felix decided to go for the national title despite her world championship bye. She duly collected, winning in a wind-aided 22.02sec. I felt this was a stepping stone,’’ Felix said. ``I’ve got a lot more work to do.’’
Other athletes booking their World Championship berths on the final day of the trials included 2008 Olympic hurdles champions Angelo Taylor and Dawn Harper, Beijing shot put silver medallist Christian Cantwell and bronze medal-winning hurdler Bershawn Jackson.
Lolo Jones’s world title hopes were dashed as she crashed out of the 100m hurdles semi-finals.
Jones was leading the Olympic final last year when she planted her foot in the ninth hurdle and failed to medal. Her hopes of bouncing back with world title had been dimmed when she tore a hamstring in April, and the US championships were her first competition since then.
Olympic silver medallist Hyleas Fountain appeared headed for a big win in the heptathlon when she was forced out by injury.
Fountain hurt her neck in the high jump on Saturday, and aggravated the injury in Sunday’s long jump portion of the seven-discipline event, which was won by Diana Pickler.
Sudanese-born Lopez Lomong, the US flagbearer at the Beijing Games opening ceremony, earned his first national title for his adopted country with a victory in the 1,500m.
Despite the nay sayers it looks like Bobby CAN get male short sprinters in shape when it counts …
I think bobby can get the 200 meter runners ready, but in the 100 I have seen nothing. It looks to me like they don’t work on starts in the Kersey camp.
Have you got a link to the race chris?