Posted: August 29, 2004

Athletics: 2 golds, 1 silver push Team USA medal count to 24

ATHENS – Adding two golds and one bronze medal in relay action, Team USA raised its Olympic track & field medal total to 24 Saturday night at Olympic Stadium. With the men’s marathon still to come on Sunday, the 2004 Olympic Games are already the most successful for USA on the track since the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

Team USA swept the men’s and women’s 4x400m relays Saturday night in impressive style. The men’s team of 400m silver medalist Otis Harris (Columbia, S.C.), bronze medalist Derrick Brew (Baton Rouge, La.), gold medalist Jeremy Wariner (Waco, Texas), and Wariner’s Baylor teammate and NCAA champion relay anchor Darold Williamson (Waco, Texas) made a demonstration sport of the relay. They were so far ahead that a single camera could not keep both the U.S. and the chase group in the same shot. Team USA finished in 2:55.91, just fractions off the Olympic record of 2:55.74, owned by the U.S. team in 1992. Australia was second in 3:00.60, with Nigeria third in 3:00.90.

U.S. women also were never threatened in the 4x400m relay. Dee Dee Trotter (Knoxville, Tenn.), Monique Henderson (Bonita, Calif.); Sanya Richards (Austin, Texas) and Monique Hennagan (Stockbridge, Ga.) ran 3:19.01 to win over Russia in 3:20.16 and Jamaica in 3:22.00.

The men’s 4x100m relay was a far less smooth-running affair, but the Americans still came away with the silver. A somewhat shaky handoff from 200m gold medalist Shawn Crawford (Raleigh, N.C.) to 100m gold medalist Justin Gatlin (Raleigh, N.C.) was followed by a near-fatal handoff from Gatlin to Coby Miller (Pasadena, Calif.). Miller, the fourth-place finisher in the 100m at the Olympic Trials, had to drastically slow down at the end of the exchange zone to avoid being disqualified.

Miller regained speed and handed off to 2000 100m medalist Maurice Greene (Granada Hills, Calif.) for the anchor leg, with Greene in third place behind Great Britain and Nigeria. Greene pulled away from Nigeria’s Deji Aliu, then made up ground on Britain’s Mark Lewis-Francis. Greene ran out of real estate, barely missing the gold medal as Great Britain finished in 38.07 to USA’s 38.08. Nigeria was third in 38.28.

Amy Acuff (Austin, Texas) placed fourth in the women’s high jump in a dramatic, four-woman competition for the top 3 spots. With just one miss in the competition, at 1.96m/6-5, Acuff sat in third place after clearing 1.99m/6-6.25 on her first attempt. Yelena Slesarenko of Russia and Hestrie Cloete of South Africa were tied for the lead, with no misses through 1.99. Viktoriya Styopina of Ukraine was in fourth after making 1.99 on her third try.

When all three of her competitors cleared 2.02m/6-7.5 on their first attempts, Acuff chose to pass at the height – which would have exceeded her personal best by a centimeter – and again joined the competition at 2.04m/6-8.25. Slesarenko was the only woman to clear, giving her the gold medal. Cloete was second at 2.02 and Styopina third at the same height. Slesarenko went on to make an Olympic record 2.06m/6-9.

Breaux Greer’s Olympics came to a heartbreaking end in the men’s javelin throw. Competing for months with a torn ACL in his left knee – his plant leg when he throws – Greer (Athens, Ga.) threw 74.36m/243-11 on his first throw as he leg crumpled beneath him. The knee held up no better on his next two throws, which were fouls, and Greer placed 12th. He could only watch as Andreas Thorkildsen of Norway won the competition with a personal-best throw of 86.50m/283-9. The winning throw was two-and-a-half feet shorter than the 87.25m/286-3 Greer had thrown in Thursday’s qualifying round.

Tim Broe (Ann Arbor, Mich.) placed 11th in the men’s 5,000m in 13:33.06. Morocco’s Hicham El Guerrouj won the race in 13:24.39 to win his second gold of the Games.

Olympic competition concludes Sunday with the men’s marathon. Competing for Team USA will be Olympic Trials champion Alan Culpepper (Lafayette, Colo.), 10,000m American record holder Meb Keflezighi (Mammoth Lakes, Calif.) and Dan Browne (Beaverton, Ore.) who earlier competed in the 10,000 meters.

For complete results, visit IAAF.org.

Team USA 2004 Olympic track & field medal count - Total Medals: 24

Note: Highest Olympic medal tally since 1992 Olympic Games (30)

 Gold (8)

Men’s 4x400m relay: Otis Harris (22, Columbia, S.C.); Derrick Brew (26, Baton Rouge, La.); Jeremy Wariner (20, Waco, Texas); Darold Williamson (21, Waco, Texas), 8/28
Women’s 4x400m relay: Dee Dee Trotter (21, Knoxville, Tenn.); Monique Henderson (21, Bonita, Calif.); Sanya Richards (19, Austin, Texas); Monique Hennagan (28, Stockbridge, Ga.), 8/28
Tim Mack, 31, Knoxville, Tenn., MPV, 8/27
Dwight Phillips, 26, Mesa, Ariz., MLJ, 8/26/
Shawn Crawford, 26, Raleigh, N.C., M200m, 8/26
Joanna Hayes, 27, Los Angeles, W100mH, 8/24
Jeremy Wariner, 20, Waco, Texas, M400m, 8/23
Justin Gatlin, 22, Raleigh, N.C., M100m, 8/22

Silver (11)

Men’s 4x100m relay: Shawn Crawford (26, Raleigh, N.C.); Justin Gatlin (22, Raleigh, N.C.); Coby Miller (27, Pasadena, Calif.); Maurice Greene (30, Granada Hills, Calif.)
Toby Stevenson, 27, Chula Vista, Calif., MPV, 8/27
Terrence Trammell, 25, Ellenwood, Ga., M110m hurdles 8/27
John Moffitt, 23, Baton Rouge, La., MLJ, 8/26
Bernard Williams, 26, Gainesville, Fla., M200m, 8/26
Allyson Felix, 19, Santa Clarita, Calif., W200m, 8/25
Bryan Clay, 24, Azusa, Calif., MDecathlon, 8/24
Otis Harris, 22, Columbia, S.C., M400m, 8/23
Matt Hemingway, 31, Littleton, Colo., MHJ, 8/22
Lauryn Williams, 20, Miami, Fla., W100m, 8/21
Adam Nelson, 29, Athens, Ga., MSP, 8/18
 
Bronze (5)

Justin Gatlin, 22, Raleigh, N.C., M200m, 8/26
Melissa Morrison, 33, Columbia, S.C., W100mH, 8/24
Derrick Brew, 26, Baton Rouge, La., M400m, 8/23
Deena Kastor, 31, Mammoth Lakes, Calif., WMarathon, 8/22
Maurice Greene, 30, Granada Hills, Calif., M100m, 8/22