Posted: July 15, 2004

Athletics: Youth Movement at USA Olympic Trials

After four days of competition, the 2004 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Team appears to be reversing a trend of getting progressively older.

The current roster to date has an average age of 27.5 years –2 years younger than the average age of the team at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney.

Young stars like 20-year-old women Lauryn Williams (100 meters) and Chaunte Howard (high jump), 21-year-old Sheena Johnson (400m hurdles), and 22-year-old men Justin Gatlin (100 meters) and John Moffitt (long jump) already have earned Olympic berths in Sacramento. Yet to compete in final events July 15-18 are likely Olympians such as 19-year-old Sanya Richards in the women’s 400 meters and 21-year-old Alan Webb in the men’s 1,500 meters, among others.

Through the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, the average age of the Olympic Team in track & field had gotten progressively older, with the team in Sydney averaging more than 29 years old.

Junior Olympic athletes to compete at Olympic Trials; other exhibitions held

USA Track & Field athletes in the intermediate (ages 15-16) boys’ and girls’ divisions will compete in a special, 200-meter exhibition race July 17 at the Olympic Trials.

The Junior Olympic Region 14 Championships was the selection meet to choose the young athletes who will compete on Saturday.

“We had the opportunity to stage an exhibition youth race at the Olympic Trials and thought that competition was the best way to select the athletes,” said USATF National Youth Chair Bob Flint. “The timing of the area’s Regional Junior Olympic Championship was perfect, and it’s also a great opportunity for the area youth to say they ran on the same track as their heroes at the Olympic Trials.”

USA Track & Field’s Junior Olympic program is a series of competitions for athletes 18-and-under. It culminates this year with the national championships in Eugene, Ore., July 27-August 1.

Other exhibition races at the Olympic Trials include Special Olympics 100m races on Thursday, visually impaired 800m races Friday, amputee 100m races and masters 800m races on Saturday, and wheelchair 800m (women) and 1,500m (men) races on Sunday.

Support for the masters 800 meter races was provided by BENGAY, a USATF sponsor. For more information on the masters races, visit http://www.usatf.org/news/view.asp?DUID=USATF_2004_06_14_15_55_52

Cantwell nurses leg injury

Christian Cantwell has been diagnosed with a “hot spot” in his left shin and will not compete until next month, his agent, John Nubani, reports.

The 2004 world indoor champion, Cantwell placed fourth in the men’s shot put Saturday at the Olympic Trials and did not qualify for the Olympic Team after coming into the meet with the top four throws in the world in 2004. Cantwell returned home to Columbia, Mo., and underwent an MRI test on Monday.

Results received on Tuesday showed the hot spot, according to Nubani. (A hot spot indicates a bone that is under stress and which could fracture or break if it is exposed to further stress.) Cantwell has been instructed to rest his leg for 1-3 weeks. During that time, he will continue to lift weights and will train in a pool.

Cantwell will return to competition in early-to-mid August, Nubani said.

For a bio of Christian Cantwell, visit the Athlete Bios section of www.usatf.org.