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OSTRAVA, Czech Republic - William Wynne (Kennesaw, Ga.) smashed the
world youth best in the 400hurdles and Team USA romped to four golds
Sunday on the final day of the 5th IAAF World Youth Championships.
The U.S. finished atop the medal table with 14, including an all-time
high of seven golds.
Wynne sprinted to the front down the backstretch and never relinquished
his lead on the way to a stunning 49.01, .85 seconds under the previous
record set by South Africa's Marnus Kritzinger in 1999. Reggie Wyatt
(Riverside, Calif.) completed the sweep with a 50.33 for silver.
"I was happy to finally run in warm weather," Wynne said. "All week it
has been cold. I also wasn't eating right earlier this week, and the
coaches straightened that out. Today I just wanted to run fast. It was
easier over these shorter hurdles (33 inches)."
Californian Julian Purvis (Oakland) also enjoyed shorter barriers than
she is used to in the girls' 100 hurdles, zipping to a 13.41 season best
to win the gold. Jasmin Stowers (Liberty, S.C.) was fourth at 13.70.
"This was for my sister (Ashton) today," Purvis said. "She didn't medal
like she wanted to and I wanted to do this for her. I was a little
nervous coming in because my start was shaky in the prelims, but I got
it fixed and had a better race. Anything can happen in a hurdles race,
and today was a very good day for me."
A pair of Texans anchored the medley relays to gold in dramatic fashion,
with Erica Alexander (Friendswood, Texas) splitting a lifetime best 52.1
on the girls' squad to team with Chalonda Goodman (Newnan, Ga.), Ashton
Purvis (Oakland, Calif.) and Ryann Krais (Eagleville, Pa.) and win in a
world youth leading 2:05.74. Team USA has never lost in the final of the
girls' medley relay at the WYC.
Alexander, the Texas state 5A 400 champ, had to run down Jamaica's
Latoya McDermott. She said, "I didn't want to go too early because I
wanted to save my energy for the last 100. I had the Jamaican girl in my
sights, and I knew she was a strong runner."
Danzell Fortson (Fort Worth, Texas), also a state 5A 400 gold medalist,
clocked 46.1 on his anchor carry to help his team of Isaiah Sweeney
(Missouri City, Texas), Kenneth Gilstrap (Lithonia, Ga.) and Wynne grab
the gold in 1:51.34, just .08 in front of a surprising Japanese quartet.
"I knew William (Wynne) was tired after his world record in the 400
hurdles," Fortson said. "When he was coming in and getting passed, I
knew I had to go and do what I do. I am known for my anchor legs on the
4x4."
Goodman won the team's other medal on the day with a 23.54 in the girls'
200, run into a 1.9 mps wind. The powerful Georgian had an abysmal
start, but stormed down the straight to pass Nivea Smith of the Bahamas.
"I knew that to have a chance to get in the top three, I would have to go hard," Goodman
said. "I saw I was behind and just started fighting to get up there. My
legs weren't really there, but this is such a great experience." Ashton
Purvis was fifth at 23.89.
Before helping the boys' medley relay to gold, Gilstrap picked up a
sixth-place finish in the 200 at 21.63. Earlier this week, he was the
bronze medalist in the 100.
One disappointing note came in the girls' 800, where world youth leader
Chanelle Price (Easton, Pa.) led for 600 meters before fading over the
final 150 and ending up seventh at 2:06.55. Blake Shaw (Houston, Texas)
ran a valiant 3:53.36 to take ninth in the boys' 1500.
Team USA's 14 total medals ( 7 gold, 4 silver, 3 bronze) matched the
second highest total ever. Kenya finished second in the medals race with
11, including six golds, and Russia had 10. The U.S. dominated the team
scoring with 146, ahead of Russia (99) and Kenya (91). Team USA had 28
top-eight performances in the meet.
For more information on Team USA at the World Youth Championships,
including links to full results, visit USATF.org.
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