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US hopes Olympic rivals will be singing America's tune
2008-07-07
EUGENE, Oregon (AFP) - US Olympic men's track and field coach Bubba Thornton won't predict how many medals his squad will win at next month's Beijing Olympics, but he will be listening for the sound of American gold. US athletes won 26 medals at last year's world championships and 25 medals in track and field at the 2004 Athens Olympics so there should be quite a few renditions of "The Star-Spangled Banner" played at Beijing medal ceremonies. "I've never talked about numbers. It's one of those pressures you don't need," Thornton said. "I hope they have heard our national anthem enough that they are humming it when they leave." The last spots on the US athletics squad were claimed on Sunday's final day of the US Olympic Track and Field Trials, completing a formidable lineup to challenge the world's top talent at the Bird's Nest Stadium in Beijing. "The team has come in and raised the bar. What an exciting group," Thornton said. "There's no doubt this will be a very strong team. They believe in the magic they've been able to capture here and they're going to take it to Beijing." If the US team is to beat the hosts in the overall medal count, maximizing American success in athletics will be pivotal. "This will be our best Olympic Games," US women's athletics coach Jeanette Bolden predicted. "This turned out to be a great Olympic trials. We had a lot of fantastic performances. We want to win as many medals as we can. It's going to be sweet winning a lot of medals no matter where we are." World champion Tyson Gay had the meet's most electrifying run, a wind-aided 100-meter finals win in 9.68 seconds, the fastest 100 ever clocked under any conditions. A sprained left hamstring sent Gay sprawling to the track in the second round of the 200, dooming his dream of a 100-200 double repeat at Beijing after he won both at last year's worlds in Osaka. Allyson Felix, the world 200 champion, was also thwarted in her 100-200 bid, winning the 200 but missing with a fifth-place finish in the 100. Unheralded Muna Lee, the women's 100 winner, and Walter Dix, a three-time US men's college 200 champion who was the 200 champion and 100 runner-up, will instead be the ones attempting for a golden sprint double at Beijing. "I like being the underdog for the most part," Lee said. "I guess maybe I won't be that any more." Bernard Lagat will attempt a 1,500 and 5,000 double after winning both at the trials and at last year's worlds. He took 1,500 bronze in 2000 and silver in 2004 at 1,500 while running for Kenya but makes his US Olympic debut. "This is truly a dream come true. All my journey has been successful," Lagat said. "At 33, I feel like I'm a new runner in the 1,500." Jeremy Wariner, the reigning world and Olympic 400 champion, lost to LaShawn Merritt in the trials final while defending 200 Olympic champion Shawn Crawford was edged by Dix at the line. "A lot of athletes don't have to run four rounds in each event" to qualify for Beijing, Dix said. "I feel like I'm a step ahead." Jamaican-born 400 star Sanya Richards will chase the gold that has eluded her while Lolo Jones, the world indoor hurdles champion who owns the best 100 hurdles time in the world this year, takes her chance at a title as well. David Oliver, whose mother Brenda was a 1980s US hurdler, won the 110 hurdles and clocked a wind-aided fourth-best time under any conditions to beat Terrence Trammell, a two-time Olympic runner-up and 2007 world runner-up. Defending Olympic 110 hurdles champion Liu Xiang of China will be the crowd favorite at Beijing but Trammell welcomes the challenge. "Going over there, it's going to be exciting," Trammell said. "I feed off all the electricity. I will act like they are cheering for me when they are cheering for him. (Beating Liu) is the plan. That's why I'm going."
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