Posted: June 27, 2005

Athletics: Athlete Quotes, USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships: Day Four

Open Men's 400 Meter Hurdles:

Kerron Clement (Nike), 47.24

"I'm confident I can go under my PR. I came here this morning and I was really focused. My coach told me what I needed to do and I listened to him. I gave it my full effort. At World Championships I am planning to do my best again. I charged every hurdle today. That's what I have to do to win every race. It was a perfect race. Next year I plan to run the 200 and occasionally the 4."

Bershawn Jackson (Nike), 47.80

"Lane 1 is a tough lane to run in. It's tight on the inside. Too many people can't survive Lane 1. I worked hard to stay in the race and thank God I made it. I was running as fast as I could."

James Carter (Nike), 48.03

"Last time I qualified for the World's; I got hurt prior to the meet. I made it to the semifinals. I'd like to make it to the finals. I'm looking to get on the podium. Time doesn't matter. All that matters is finishing 1, 2 or 3."

Open Women's 100 Meter Hurdles (-0.7 wind):

Michelle Perry (Nike) 12.66

"I just went out and I wanted to run a smart race. I was pressing each hurdle. I felt Joanna (Hayes) hit me in the arm, but it comes with the territory. I'm not giving up the heptathlon, just that the hurdles took off this year. I felt better yesterday. I expected a lot today based on yesterday. My legs did not feel that fresh today. We (Michelle and her coaches) made a decision to go out with the hurdles and not do the heptathlon. The schedule didn't allow me to do both. Bobby (Kersee) said go ahead, have fun and run the hurdles."

Joanna Hayes (Nike) 12.77

"I have to go home and recoup. I didn't get out at all. This is not going to break me. I've been here before. Last year was closer and no one cares about the Trials. I plan on getting a gold medal. I plan on being ready for the Worlds."

Open Women's 200 Meters (0.3 wind):

Allyson Felix (adidas) 22.13

"Sub-22 is definitely the plan at Worlds. I have a lot to work on and hopefully that will all come together in the next month. My trainings have been focused on strength on a 400 meter base. We haven't gotten to the speed work yet so I'm excited to go back home and focus on that aspect of my race. Because I usually have trouble the first part of the race, I wanted to go out and attack that and come home strong."

LaTasha Colander (Nike) 3rd, 22.34

"I'm versatile and I go with my heart. This year we strategized to make the World team in the 200 meters."

Open Women's Triple Jump

Erica McLain (Stanford), 45-11.75

"Hitting the junior record, that was cool, but it wasn't really my goal. My goal was meeting the A standard. I didn't even have the B standard coming in. But I knew if I hit the B then I had to win and it created extra pressure. But the fact that I hit the B and won the competition made me excited and I cried. I didn't know what else to do. Going in I felt like I didn't do enough speed work and my coach stepped back and let me do my own thing. He left it up to me and I'm glad he did because I'm proud of my results."

Open Men's 200 Meters (wind, -0.9)

Justin Gatlin (Nike) 20.04

"The weekend has really turned around for me. I feel like I'm back in my zone...like in College ... doubling and dominating. I want to make sure that the name Justin Gatlin is well known in the sprints. I had a spark of inspiration this year after the Olympic Games where so many people didn't expect me to win, so I set out this year to focus on both the 100 and 200 and I want to dominate every race I'm in. Yesterday was an exhausting day, I felt cramping in my arms and thighs after the 100. I had to make sure that I did a lot of stretching and hydrating today. The field was stacked; every competitor out there is capable of taking a race on any day."

Tyson Gay (adidas), 2nd, 20.06

"I didn't know whether I had caught Shawn at the end, but I was just happy making the team. My coach and I had a strategy to run only the 200 here instead of doubling, but when I saw how all the young guys did so well in the 100 I might have liked to have run that, but I'm just glad to be on the team."

Shawn Crawford (Nike) 3rd, 20.12

"Lane 9 was not a problem, I love lane 9. What was a problem was not feeling ready to perform at my best. This whole meet was a disaster for me, but hey, I made the team. #1, I lost both of my races, and I hate losing. #2, the times really sucked. I know that if I'm healthy, then I would run the times I should be running. Both of my feet (metatarsal swelling) have been injured since the fall, the left is worse then the right."

Open Men's 800 Meters:

Khadevis Robinson (Nike), 1:45.27

"It feels great to win it. It's been a long five years since my last title and I've been second for the last three years. I couldn't really tell that the other runners were not on my shoulder, but I figured if I'm feeling it so are they. I tightened up a little over the last 100 because I started hearing the crowd and the announcer. I could've picked up another second if I'd have just relaxed. I've been training really well. I opened up the year in the low 145's and I have a lot of confidence. I'm working with Johnny Gray, analyzing all of his best races, and now it's time for me to start taking the risks to get to the next level. Last year I was consistent on 144's and now I've to take the risk of hitting the 600 mark in 1:15 so I can get consistent in the 1:43's. I expected to win here. But I need to continue to work hard so I can run better in Europe. I'm in my comfort zone in the US and there's a lot of other factors to competing in Europe.

Open Women's 800 Meters:

Hazel Clark, 1:59.74

"I was really excited going into the race and I knew I wanted to go wire to wire, so I took it out in the beginning and things went my way. I'm just so excited right now. I'm excited for World's. I've been training with Treniere (Clement) and we've been pushing each other hard in practice. She's helping me on my 800 speed, and I'm helping her with her 1500 speed. I'm in the best shape right now and I know that World's is going to be exciting.

Open Men's 20,000 Meter Race Walk

Tim Seaman, New York Athletic Club, winner, 1:26:41.36

On race walking on a track:

"Mentally it was very tough to do 20K on the track. So it's a matter of staying focused as long as possible."

Weather conditions:

"It was OK. It got a little warm toward the end, but nothing like it's been in the past in Sacramento. It's much hotter and other places are much, much hotter. It helped that we started a little bit early and "June gloom" definitely helps up here."

Looking forward to Helsinki:

"Maybe. Maybe. I'll try. I'm not sure yet. Mentally I'm very tired. I didn't get much of a break after Athens. I'll have to talk it over and we'll see."

Open Women's 3,000 Meter Steeplechase

Elizabeth Jackson (Nike), 9:39.78

"This is really exciting for me. I've had a rough year; year and a half. My strategy was to go out and stay with the leaders. In the second half of the race, which is my strong point, I was able to go hard."

Lisa Galaviz (unattached), 9:40.58, second

"I wanted to make the world team. I didn't care if it hurt or not. I just wanted to qualify for the team. When I tried out for the World cross county team, they took the top six and I finished seventh."

Open Women's Heptathlon, Hyleas Fountain (Nike), 6208

"I felt confident going into the 800 even though my lead was only 21 points. I had a lot of energy and I knew if I stayed on her shoulder (Virginia Miller) I could win the competition. This weekend started off a little down, last month I had a 6500 in Austria, so yesterday wasn't going that well, but I was in the thick of the competition. Last night I thought a lot about what I needed to do and I got ready to take care of each event today. Although last year was a disappointment (4th in Trials), I really felt good about getting experience at that level and I was ready to bounce back this year and work hard on each event and go after it. I'm looking forward to Helsinki. The level of competition is totally different and I've competed well in Europe before."

Open Men's High Jump, Matt Hemingway (adidas), 7-5.25

"I felt good. I felt like I could jump high. The old way (old technique) I couldn't make the adjustment. My goal for the World Championships is to win and to set an American record. That will be place to do it. I am out there to jump and jump to win."

Open Men's Shot Put

Christian Cantwell (Nike) 71-0

"Today it went better than Olympic Trials. I'm grateful to make the team. You could have mixed and matched it a dozen different ways. I watched the Games on TV with a bunch of buddies. I felt we could have swept it had things been a little different. I think we can win Worlds and I hope we do win it ... then we'll get four people in it. There's always talk of a sweep but it never happens. We'll just get all of us into the finals and see what happens. After the Trials I took six months off. In training I've been throwing much better. I'm just starting to hit stride and I think I can get a PR in the next couple weeks."

Adam Nelson (Medivox Rx) 70-07.25

"I tried to come up with some creative way to find sponsorship. I sold sponsorship on e-bay that included four TV appearances and one personal appearance. I had 10,000 people visit the e-bay site and over a 100 bids. I was expecting a much larger throw today and in 6 weeks I'll be expecting a larger throw again. Everything is fine. This is the first month. Timing is everything in the shot and my injuries seem to heal in time for the big meets."

John Godina (adidas) 68-10.50

"I thought I'd have a little bit better day today. My first 2 throws weren't very good, but I've been around the block in my 450 years of competing and I knew I'd get one in. There's always a sense of panic and it depends on how you deal with it."

Junior Men's 10,000 Meter Race Walk, Zachary Pollinger, New Jersey Striders, winner, 45:29.10

On technical aspect of his race:

"I'm pretty happy with my race today. The main goal was to qualify for Pan Am Juniors and that I was legal and had a good race and was out in front. I didn't worry too much about time. I started slowing in the middle of the race and then I just tried to keep consistent kilometers. I'm satisfied with my race."

Weather conditions:

"I was hoping that the weather would hold out a little better and I could go for a PR. But it turned out a little hotter than I expected."

On going to Pan Ams:

"I've been training all year and I'm going to stick to the workouts and schedule I've been doing. It's been going pretty good so far, so I'll just continue it through the rest of the season. We have a Pan Am Club for race walking so this (Pan Am Juniors) is a little bit of a rematch. I got 9th in that race (Club) and I'm hoping to beat a couple of the people in front of me. I'm very excited."

Junior Men's Triple Jump

Kenny Hall, 53-9.25 (Tara HS, Baton Rouge, attending Hines Community College this fall)

"I feel great. Before this meet my coach and I sat down and had a plan to jump 54+. I haven't been able to train too much because my coach also coaches are Univ. of New Orleans. But I'm definitely peaking for Pan Ams. I'm going to do what I can do at Pan Ams, but the plan is to go 56 or 57."

Junior Men's Decathlon

Michael Bingham (Wake Forest) 7042 points

"It was a great competition although I was not really on my "A" game in most of the events. That's the great thing about the decathlon ... you can come back. I was pleased with my 100 and 400 meter time. But this wind and this heat is something that I'm not used to. Overall, this has been a great experience, especially since I had some injuries at NCAA's (strained hip flexor)."

Masters, Men's 110 meter hurdles

Willie Gault, unattached, 13.87 (+2.7 wind)

"This is my second race of the year. I've been concentrating on sprinting this year.

If I could've run in the Open yesterday I would have. I always want to run against someone who is faster. I train everyday with Leonard Scott and Maurice Greene. I love track and field. There is no other pure sport like it and I'm a huge fan of the sport ... not for money or fame, just for the love of the sport." (Gault is 44 years old.)