LONDON (AP) — Allyson Felix finally won an individual Olympic gold medal, gliding home with her effortless stride to take the 200 meters and end the stranglehold of Veronica Campbell-Brown on the event.
Aries Merritt added to the perfect sprint night for the United States, dominating the 110-meter hurdles final ahead of compatriot Jason Richardson. Behind them, Cuba’s Dayron Robles, the 2008 champion, was smashing a hurdle in frustration after he pulled up lame with a right hamstring injury halfway through the race. In the heats, China’s Liu Xiang, the 2004 champion, also pulled out injured.
And making for a golden hour for the United States, Brittney Reese added the long jump title soon afterward to complete a triple for the Americans.
In a biggest race, loaded with gold medalists, American Felix was quickest out of the blocks, and once she had her smooth, elegant stride going, none of the power racers on her inside could come close.
Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce of Jamaica added silver to her 100 gold medal and Carmelita Jeter took bronze.
Campbell-Brown faded out of contention down the stretch and finished fourth, failing — just like pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva did the night before — to become the first woman in track and field to win three gold medals in the same individual event at three consecutive Olympics.
Sanya Richards-Ross, who was seeking a 200-400 double, fell back into fifth place but was happy that Felix finally got the Olympic gold medal after two silvers.
“She’s had a very good season and definitely deserves this moment,” Richards-Ross said. “She’s just like me, she’s wanted this for a very long time.”
It was a thrilling U.S. victory in the Jamaica-U.S. sprint rivalry. By the looks of it, though, Jamaica should prevail again in the men’s 200 on Thursday.
Usain Bolt is one victory away from becoming the first man to repeat as double Olympic sprint champion and reaching his ambition of becoming a “living legend” after he qualified for the 200 meter final.
On a balmy, clear Wednesday night, Bolt joked as he got into the blocks, laughed when as he crouched into the blocks and then sped away for a controlled race which he finished by almost jogging across the line. His win exuded as much confidence as his victory in the 100 on Sunday.
This time, too, everything is set for a direct duel with his training partner Yohan Blake, the silver medalist in the 100.
The 100 should have been the tough part for Bolt where his starting jitters have been an issue. The 200 is his preferred distance and it showed. He made a military-style salute when he was announced to the crowd, reggae music blaring in the background. After his race, he applauded another capacity crowd of 80,000 at the Olympic Stadium.
Wallace Spearmon was the only American through to the final, and France’s Christophe Lemaitre also advanced.
There is even talk of a Jamaican sweep, but Bolt had his doubts. “It’s going to be hard. As you can see, Yohan is ready. Wallace Spearmon is there.”
“There’s a lot of people there, who have come to spoil the party, “Bolt said. “So we’ll see.”
Blake had the fastest time with 20.01 seconds, compared with 20.18 for Bolt.
“It’s the 200 meters and we are both full speed tomorrow,” Blake said. “Anything can happen.”
After Thursday’s 200 final, Bolt still has the weekend relays coming up and even before his race Wednesday, he already was practicing the baton handoff with Blake, determined to get another trio of gold medals as he did at the 2008 Beijing Games.
It would be uncharted territory. Carl Lewis won the 100-200 double in 1984 but finished with silver in the 200 behind fellow-American Joe DeLoach in Seoul four years later. He won relay gold at the 1984 Los Angeles Games but the U.S. team failed to win a medal in 1988.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
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