by RBR Admin
Oliver, Wilson go 1-2 in 110m Hurdles at World Championships
8/12/2013
MOSCOW — David Oliver and Ryan Wilson made a 1-2 statement for Team USA in the men’s 110m hurdles while Carmelita Jeter claimed bronze in the women’s 100m Monday night at the IAAF World Outdoor Championships at Luzhniki Stadium.
Team USA maintains its lead in the medal table with six (3 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze), and still dominates the team scoring with 92 points, 50 ahead of second place Jamaica.
The World Championships boast nearly 50 hours of television coverage in the U.S. with broadcasts airing during all nine days of competition. View the complete broadcast schedule here.
Oliver (Clermont, Fla.) ran a dominant race from the gun to capture his first international title with a world-leading 13.00. 2013 USA Outdoor champion Wilson (Los Angeles, Calif.) grabbed silver in his first international appearance at age 32 in a time of 13.13. Defending world champion Jason Richardson (Los Angeles, Calif.) stumbled off the final hurdle, falling from third to fourth in 13.27, while world record holder Aries Merritt (Bryan, Texas), coming back from injury, was sixth at 13.31.
In the women’s 100m, reigning world champion Jeter (Los Angeles, Calif.) had raced very little in 2013 due to injury. In Moscow, she overcame a slow start, and by mid-race she pulled alongside her quick-starting training partner English Gardner (Vorhees, N.J.). Two-time Olympic gold medalist Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce of Jamaica took the win in a world-leading time of 10.71, with Murielle Ahouri second in 10.93 and Jeter third just .01 back, in 10.94. In her first world Championships, national champion Gardner finished in fourth in 10.97. Alexandria Anderson (Austin, Texas) took seventh in 11.10, while Octavius Freeman (Lake Wales, Fla.) was eighth in 11.16.
American record holder Michelle Carter (Dallas, Texas) was in medal position, sitting third heading into the final round of throwing thanks to her second-round mark of 19.94m/65-5. A sixth-round throw by Christina Schwanitz vaulted the German to second, pushing Carter off of the podium. Tia Brooks (Grand Rapids, Mich.) had a best of 18.09m/59-4.25 on her first attempt to finish eighth in an event won for the fourth time in a row by New Zealand’s Valerie Adams.
Brad Walker (Mountlake Terrace, Wash.) took fourth in the men’s pole vault. Walker made second-attempt clearances at 5.65m/18-6.5 and 5.75m/18-19.25, and went over 5.82m/19-1 on his first try.
Natasha Hastings (Atlanta, Ga.) and Francena McCorory (Hampton, Va.) came off the final turn of the women’s 400m final in position to medal, but faded in the last 100 meters. Hastings, the 2012 World Indoor bronze medalist, finished fifth in a time of 50.30 and McCorory, who won Olympic gold in London in the 4x400m, finished sixth in 50.68.
LaShawn Merritt (Suffolk, Va.) and Tony McQuay (Gainesville, Fla.) both advanced to Tuesday night’s final of the men’s 400m. McQuay ran a 44.66 season best to finish second in the first semi, while Merritt cruised through the line at 44.60 to win semi final two. Nineteen-year-old Arman Hall (Gainesville, Fla.) did not advance after finishing fifth at 45.54 in the third semifinal.
In evening competition of the women’s heptathlon, Sharon Day (Los Angeles, Calif.) threw 14.35m/47-1 on her first attempt in the shot put to put her within 37 points of the lead, then ran 24.28 in the 200m to finish the first day of the women’s heptathlon with 3836 points. Day is in third place and only 72 points off her PR pace from the U.S. Championships in June. She sits one point behind Dafne Schippers of Holland and leader Ganna Melnichenko (3912) from the Ukraine.
Bettie Wade’s (Manhattan, Kan.) mark of 12.79m/41-11.5 in the shot put put her in 15th place after three events with 2692 points, and she went on to win her 200m heat in 24.87 to move to 3591 points and maintain her place. Erica Bougard (Byhalia, Miss.) threw a personal best of 11.27m/36-11.75 in the shot put, and at the end of the day was ranked 20th with 3539 points after clocking 24.59 in the 200.
For more information on Team USA at the IAAF World Championships, visit www.USATF.org. Live results and startlists are available at www.IAAF.org.
Team USA Quotes – Monday, August 12
David Oliver, men’s 110m hurdles final
“It’s been a lot of hard work, and just coming up short and dealing with injuries and all of that kind of stuff. A lot of changes had to be made, we made them, and now I can sit back with my team and celebrate that we are World Champions. I tore the calf in ’09, but last year at the trials between the semis and the finals, it just locked up and then there was nothing I could do…I just try to turn negatives into positives, that’s kind of what I do. Every race is always dedicated to my mom. She is my biggest supporter and my backbone. She taught me everything I know, and for them not to be able to compete in the ’80 games. And she is here in the stadium, so there is just nothing better. I just love sharing those moments with her, she’s the most important person.”
Ryan Wilson, men’s 110m final
“No one thought I could do this, I don’t think. I just listened to so many people talking about ‘congratulations on making your first team. I guess, yeah, that was my first team.’ I’m so, so happy. So maybe next year if I win USA’s it won’t be a surprise. I just wanted to clear aries really fast. I was just truckin’ out there. Since you can’t feel much of the race unless the people up there are next to you. It’s kind of nice (being in lane 8) because you can just focus on your race. You don’t get distracted. There were a lot of missed opportunities throughout the race. I felt like I should be dipping with D.O. [David Oliver] at the line. But, so basically it was 6-8 seconds of disappointment, followed by 10-15 minutes of proud excitement.”
Jason Richardson, men’s 110m hurdles final
I was going so fast. I turned on the Nas boosters, the jet fuel, the Mario Cart mushrooms, I did whatever it took to get back in it. I made a great boost of speed and my hurdle technique just couldn’t support it and I clipped it (the last hurdle.) I missed out on the podium. I give my utmost respect to first, second and third. I’m 27 and I have time to do it again. David’s in his 30s and its his first championships so that give me hope that I can get it right another year.
Aries Merritt, men’s 110m hurdles final
“Obviously in a hurdle race, if you hit hurdles you don’t win. Last year was the perfect year. I didn’t hit any hurdles, I was flawless. This time I made mistakes and I’m not the champion. That’s pretty much how it boils down. I’m not really disappointed. I’m happy that I could walk away from that race injury-free. Obviously, the semifinal was a huge scare. I had to expend so much energy, because I literally thought someone false started. So I sat in the blocks thinking they were going to shoot the gun twice. I expended way too much energy in the semifinal to run myself into the final. The guys who got it done here deserve all the credit and the utmost respect.”
Carmelita Jeter, women’s 100m final
“I’m pleased, of course I wanted to come and retain my title, but I wasn’t 100 percent to do that, and in order to run against these women, you have to be 100 percent to get to that finish line first. Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce ran a great race. I was just happy that I was even able to compete in the race, and I fought to that line to get a medal. I had to get a medal. I could not leave here without a medal. I don’t care how bad this quad was. I’m just extremely happy right now. This medal means
a lot because if you knew how hard it was for me to get here, you would know that was a battle….We all know me being there was something nobody thought of. They didn’t think I’d be in the final, they didn’t think I’d be in the first round, they didn’t think I’d be in the second round. One thing you have to know about me is I’ve got heart, and my heart outweighs my talent.”
English Gardner, women’s 100m final
“I cannot tell you how excited I am. How overwhelmed I am by this. I can learn so much more, I’m young. I just turned 21, I have so many years ahead of me. For me to come out here on my first time and take fourth place by just a tenth of a second its incredible to me.”
Octavius Freeman, women’s 100m final
“I didn’t go through all my transitions like I thought I should have. Overall I’m happy with being here. I can’t ask for anything more than that.”
Alexandria Anderson, women’s 100m final
“it was a tough loss. Just being here having gone through the rounds was a great experience. No words can express how I’m feeling right now.”
Michelle Carter, women’s shot put final
“Everything happens for a reason. This was my best series ever. I’ve never had such far throws back-to-back-to-back, so I know I still have some work to do. I’m happy I’m pleased with today.”
Tia Brooks, women’s shot put final
“I just made it to the top 8 at my first World Championships. Words cannot describe how happy I am. I didn’t throw how I had hoped. I felt ready in warmups, I mean the adrenaline was flowing. I just couldn’t get my technique together.”
Natasha Hastings, women’s 400m final
“I tried to emulate what I did in my first two rounds in terms of getting out well. I knew the rest of the group had a very strong finish so I had to make sure they didn’t get ahead of me. I like to take it out strong, I like to be in front. I came around the turn and thought I was in a good position. Just coming home, they just had more than me.”
Francena McCorory, women’s 400m final
“I feel like I gave it my all, I’m just really disappointed.”
Bettie Wade, women’s heptathlon day one
“It’s been a long day. My events, nothing went spectacularly, and a couple of things went quite below what I expected. But I’m having fun. I’m at worlds, so I’m making sure I am enjoying the competition, and I am really excited to come back and kick some butt tomorrow”.
Sharon Day, women’s heptathlon day one
“I had solid marks all the way through. I was really happy with my hurdle race, I felt like after half way through on the fourth or fifth hurdle I just started accelerating, so hurdles went really well. In the other three events of the day I was kind of average, but solid. I’m happy with where I’m at right now, and I’m going to come back tomorrow and work really hard to make sure I’m on top.”
Erica Bougard, women’s heptathlon day one
“It is going okay, but it’s not my best performance, but they are so much better. They have so much more experience. I’m still pretty new to this, so I have time to improve. I’m just trying to learn and I’ll be even more prepared next time.”
Tony McQuay, 400m semifinal
“I wish I could have finished a little stronger, but that is just preparation. Overall I felt good. I just know I have to go home, execute my race properly the next time and just concentrate on my finish. It was a good result, my time should hold strong. It is a world championship, so you have to expect a good competition.”
Arman Hall, 400m semifinal
“It feels great to make it on this team and support my country, represent my family and a great name, and represent my school, the University of Florida. To be honest, I wish I could have made it to the final. I knew a lot of 19-year-olds that did it and were successful, like Steve Lewis, Kirani James and Santos. I wish I could have been part of that group. But now I’ll go back to Gainesville, train harder, think about what I need to do and just keep living.”
LaShawn Merritt, 400m semifinal
“I felt good. I was smooth, kind of controlled it, and didn’t have to run too fast. 44.6 – I’ll take that. The body feels good and strong. I’ll go back and recover, get some great sleep, get some food and get ready for tomorrow.”
Katie Branham
Marketing & Communications Manager
USA Track & Field
317.713.4672
