OLYMPICS NOTEBOOK: AS USUAL, U.S. CAN CALL ON SPEED DIAL AMERICANS RULE THE SPRINTS, BUT FALTER ELSEWHERE.Byline: Paul Oberjuerge Staff Writer ATHENS, Greece - Day 1 in the stadium, and the U.S. track and field team already was living its typical Olympic experience: Looking good in the dashes, looking shaky almost everywhere else. Even without four of the sprint planet's leading ladies, the U.S. got all three of its entrants in the women's 100 meters to the semifinals. That would be UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX product Gail Devers Yolanda Gail Devers (born November 19, 1966 in Seattle, Washington, USA) is a three-time Olympic 100 m champion in athletics for the US Olympic Team. Devers grew up near National City, CA and graduated from Sweetwater High School in National City, CA. , Lauryn Williams Lauryn Williams (born September 11, 1983 in Rochester, Pennsylvania) is a track and field sprint athlete, competing internationally for the United States. Williams was born and raised in suburban Pittsburgh and attended the University of Miami. and LaTasha Colander LaTasha Colander (born August 23, 1976 in Portsmouth, Virginia) is a track and field sprint athlete, competing internationally for United States. She is a 2004 Olympic Trials 100 m Champion; 2000 Olympic 4x400 m gold medalist; Two-time U.S. . The men's 400 trio advanced with even greater ease, and two of the three American entrants in the women's 800, practically a sprint these days, moved on. U.S. athletes were shut out in the day's two finals, the 20-kilometer walk and the women's 10,000, and failed to survive preliminaries in the men's 1,500 (rising star Alan Webb Alan Webb is the name of:
Athletic event in which a hammer is thrown for distance. The hammer consists of a 16-lb (7.26-kg) metal ball attached to a spring steel wire handle that measures not more than 4 ft (1.2 m) in length. . U.S. Trials champion Melvin Lister bombed out of the triple jump, but Kenta Bell Kenta Bell (born March 16, 1977) is an American track and field athlete who competes mainly in the triple jump. He won this event at the 2001 Universiade and the 2003 national championship. Bell has also finished third in two IAAF World Athletics Finals. and Walter Davis Walter Davis may refer to:
Hemingway achieved his olympic silver medal standing in the high jump by clearing a distance of 2. qualified for the high jump final. After four events of the heptathlon heptathlon: see under decathlon. heptathlon Women's athletics competition. Contestants take part in seven different track-and-field events: 100-m hurdles, shot put, high jump, long jump, javelin throw, and 200- and 800-m runs. , Quartz Hills High alum Michelle Perry was within striking distance of a medal with 3,721 points, good for seventh place. In the women's sprints, the U.S. is moving ahead without Thousand Oaks' Marion Jones, Kelli White, Chryste Gaines and USC's Torri Edwards - all former world or Olympic champions. All four are in some sort of doping doping, in electronics: see semiconductor. Altering the electrical conductivity of a semiconductor material, such as silicon, by chemically combining it with foreign elements. trouble. Jones, still under investigation, failed to qualify in the 100 or 200. White and Edwards are serving suspensions, and Gaines has been charged of using illegal substances. Williams cruised to victory in her second-round heat, and Colander also easily advanced. Devers, 37 and a two-time gold-medalist in the 100, had the closest of calls, taking the final spot in the 16-woman semifinals by .01 seconds. Her time of 11.31 was good only for fourth place in her heat, but that was the 16th-best time overall. Jeremy Wariner and Derrick Brew won their 400 heats, and Otis Harris was second in his as all three advanced to the semifinals. Wariner, a revelation this year when he won the U.S. Trials in a 2004 world-best of 44.37, eased up to win in 45.56. ``I could have gone under 45 if I wanted to,'' he said, ``but I need to save my legs because I got two more rounds to go.'' Wariner, 20, runs at Baylor, the same school that produced superstar 400 runner Michael Johnson, who often advises Wariner. Jearl Miles Clark and Nicole Teter moved on in the 800. Perry, the former UCLA hurdles standout, was the No. 3 heptathlon qualifier at the trials, but she outshone veterans Sheila Burrell (UCLA) and Tiffany Lott Hogan through four events. Perry said she is battling a groin injury that slowed her in the 200, but she is satisfied with her position heading into the second day. ``The heptathlon is about chasing points and notpeople,'' she said. ``I'm a little behind where I want to be in the points, but I'm excited about where I am as an athlete.'' The day's biggest disappointment was in the 1,500, where Webb, 21, seemed ready to make a statement on track's greatest stage but ran a banged-around 3:41.25, the 25th-best time - and only 24 reached the semifinals. Charlie Gruber and Grant Robison were even slower. The U.S. has failed to medal in the 1,500 since Jim Ryun's silver in 1968 and hasn't won gold since 1908. Marla Runyan of Camarillo missed the final 15 in the women's 5,000 by three slots. The legally blind runner ran 15:24.88. Paul Oberjuerge, (909) 386-3865 paul.oberjuerge(at)sbsun.com CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Michelle Perry had the fastest 200-meter time in the heptathlon Friday. The Quartz Hill High and UCLA product is seventh after four events. Rusty Kennedy/Associated Press |
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