by Larry EderJune 27 to July 6 gave us one of the best US Olympic Trials in my lifetime. The presentation, in my mind was superb and the athletes are what I would have picked in most events! Here is the official release from USATF and watch for some of my comments on the team coming in the next few days…I am a bit behind, my apologies, as I have an ear infection and am doing anti biotics and happy pills for pain.…
INDIANAPOLIS – An experienced American team featuring 15 Olympic medalists, 31 World Outdoor Championships medalists and 11 individual outdoor American record holders will represent the United States in track & field competition at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China.
USA Track & Field and the U.S. Olympic Committee on Monday announced a 126-athlete track & field squad that will be led by multi-time medalists Allyson Felix, Lauryn Williams, Sanya Richards, Bernard Lagat, Tyson Gay, Adam Nelson, Bryan Clay and Jeremy Wariner.
Defending individual Olympic medalists include 2004 gold medalists Shawn Crawford (M200) and Jeremy Wariner (M400) and silver medalists Lauryn Williams (W100), Allyson Felix (W200m), Bryan Clay (MDecathlon), Adam Nelson (MSP), Terrence Trammell (M110mH) and Bernard Lagat (M1,500 while competing for Kenya). Team USA won a total of 25 medals, eight of them gold, at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. It was the highest U.S. medal tally at an Olympics since the 1992 Games in Barcelona.
Team USA is coming off an incredibly successful showing at the 2007 World Outdoor Championships in Osaka, Japan, as well, where they won 26 medals, 14 of them gold. That showing tied the World Championships record for gold medals – Team USA also won 14 in 2005, in Helsinki – and tied the Team USA record for medal count at a World Outdoors.
“This Olympic Team is one of our strongest ever, with more medal-winning experience in a wider range of events, from sprints to distances and field events, than we’ve had in many decades,” said USATF President/Acting CEO Bill Roe. “While it would take an incredible performance to match our medal counts of recent championships, we certainly feel that this team has what it takes to again top the medal tables.”
Of the 11 American record holders on the roster, eight have set their ARs in 2007 or 2008, including Tyson Gay, Shalane Flanagan, Kim Kreiner, Breaux Greer, Jenn Stuczynski, Brad Walker, Anna Willardand Suzy Powell-Roos.
The Team USA coaching staffs will be led by head coaches Jeanette Bolden (women) and Bubba Thornton (men); head managers are Rich Torrellas (women) and James Li (men).
For more information on Team USA at the Olympic Games, visit http://www.usatf.org/events/2008/OlympicGames/
Team USA Track & Field Olympic Roster – Women
100m: Muna Lee (College Station, Texas); Torri Edwards (Irvine, Calif.); Lauryn Williams (Miami, Fla.)
200m: Allyson Felix (Los Angeles); Muna Lee (College Station, Texas); Marshevet Hooker (Pfugerville, Texas)
400m: Sanya Richards (Austin, Texas); Mary Wineberg (Cincinnati, Ohio); Dee Dee Trotter (Knoxville, Tenn.)
800m: Hazel Clark (Knoxville, Tenn.); Alice Schmidt (Chula Vista, Calif.); Nicole Teter (Eugene, Ore.)
1,500m: Shannon Rowbury (San Francisco); Erin Donohue (Haddonfield, N.J.); Christin Wurth-Thomas (Springdale, Ark.)
5,000m: Kara Goucher (Portland, Ore.); Jennifer Rhines (Mammoth Lakes, Calif.); Shalane Flanagan (Pittsboro, N.C.)
10,000m: Shalane Flanagan (Pittsboro, N.C.); Kara Goucher (Portland, Ore.); Amy Begley (Beaverton, Ore.)
Marathon: Deena Kastor (Mammoth Lakes, Calif.); Magdalena Lewy Boulet (Oakland, Calif.); Blake Russell (Pacific Grove, Calif.)
3,000m Steeplechase: Anna Willard (Ann Arbor, Mich.); Lindsey Anderson (Ogden, Utah); Jennifer Barringer (Boulder, Colo.)
100m hurdles: Lolo Jones (Baton Rouge, La.); Damu Cherry (Winter Garden, Fla.); Dawn Harper (Los Angeles)
400m hurdles: Tiffany Ross-Williams (Kissimmee, Fla.); Queen Harrison (Mechanicsville, Va.); Sheena Tosta (Chula Vista, Calif.)
20 km race walk: Joanne Dow (Manchester, N.H.)
Heptathlon: Hyleas Fountain (Kettering, Ohio); Jacquelyn Johnson (Tempe, Ariz.); Diana Pickler (Sachse, Texas)
High Jump: Chaunte Howard (Snellville, Ga.); Amy Acuff (Isleton, Calif.); Sharon Day (Costa Mesa, Calif.)
Pole Vault: Jennifer Stuczynski (Churchville, N.Y.); April Steiner (Springdale, Ark.); Erica Bartolina (Hammond, La.)
Long Jump: Brittney Reese (University, Miss.); Grace Upshaw (Los Altos Hills, Calif.); Funmi Jimoh (Stafford, Texas)
Triple Jump: Shani Marks (Brooklyn Park, Minn.); Erica McLain (Plano, Texas)
Shot Put: Michelle Carter (Ovilla, Texas); Kristin Heaston (Opelika, Ala.); Jillian Camarena (Tucson, Ariz.)
Discus: Aretha Thurmond (Federal Way, Wash.) Suzy Powell-Roos (Modesto, Calif.); Stephanie Trafton Brown (Galt, Calif.)
Hammer Throw: Jessica Cosby (Mission Hills, Calif.); Amber Campbell (Myrtle Beach, S.C.); Loree Smith (Eugene, Ore.)
Javelin Throw: Kara Patterson (West Lafayette, Ind.); Kim Kreiner (Fresno, Calif.)
4x100m relay pool: Muna Lee (College Station, Texas); Torri Edwards (Irvine, Calif.); Lauryn Williams (Miami, Fla.); Angela Williams (Ontario, Calif.); Mechelle Lewis (Cary, N.C.); LaShaunte’a Moore (Fayetteville, Ark.); plus anyone already on the roster in an individual event
4x400m relay pool: Sanya Richards (Austin, Texas); Mary Wineberg (Cincinnati, Ohio); Dee Dee Trotter (Knoxville, Tenn.); Monique Henderson (Chula Vista, Calif.); Natasha Hastings (Clermont, Fla.); Ebonie Floyd (Fresno, Texas); anyone already on the roster in an individual event
Team USA Track & Field Olympic Roster – Men
100m: Tyson Gay (Clermont, Fla.); Walter Dix (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.), Darvis Patton (Ft. Worth, Texas)
200m: Walter Dix (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.); Shawn Crawford (Los Angeles); Wallace Spearmon (Fayetteville, Ark.)
400m: LaShawn Merritt (Suffolk, Va.); Jeremy Wariner (Waco, Texas); David Neville (Valencia, Calif.)
800m: Nick Symmonds (Springfield, Ore.); Andrew Wheating (Eugene, Ore.); Christian Smith (Eugene, Ore.)
1,500m: Bernard Lagat (Tucson, Ariz.); Lopez Lomong (Colorado Springs, Colo.); Leonel Manzano (Austin, Texas)
5,000m: Bernard Lagat (Tucson, Ariz.); Matt Tegenkamp (Madison, Wis.); Ian Dobson (Mammoth Lakes, Calif.)
10,000m: Abdi Abdirahman (Tucson, Ariz.); Galen Rupp (Portland, Ore.); Jorge Torres (Boulder, Colo.)
Marathon: Ryan Hall (Palo Alto, Calif.); Dathan Ritzenhein (Eugene, Ore.); Brian Sell (Rochester Hills, Mich.
3,000m Steeplechase: Anthony Famiglietti (Knoxville, Tenn.); William Nelson (Longmont, Colo.); Joshua McAdams (Orem, Utah)
110m hurdles: David Oliver (Kissimmee, Fla.); Terrence Trammell (Atlanta, Ga.); David Payne (Hampton, Va.)
400m hurdles: Bershawn Jackson (Raleigh, N.C.); Kerron Clement (Gainesville, Fla.); Angelo Taylor (Decatur, Ga.)
20 km race walk: Kevin Eastler (Aurora, Colo.)
50 km race walk: Philip Dunn (San Diego, Calif.)
Decathlon: Bryan Clay (Glendora Calif.); Trey Hardee (Austin, Texas); Tom Pappas (Manhattan, Kan.)
High Jump: Jesse Williams (Eugene, Ore.); Andra Manson (Austin, Texas); Dustin Jonas (Lincoln, Neb.)
Pole Vault: Derek Miles (Tea, S.D.); Jeff Hartwig (Jonesboro, Ark.); Brad Walker (Mountlake Terrace, Wash.)
Long Jump: Trevell Quinley (Chula Vista, Calif.); Brian Johnson (Baton Rouge, La.); Miguel Pate (St. Francisville, La.)
Triple Jump: Aarik Wilson (Lawrence, Kan.); Kenta Bell (Decatur, Ga.); Rafeeq Curry (Tallahassee, Fla.)
Shot Put: Reese Hoffa (Athens, Ga.); Christian Cantwell (Columbia, Mo.); Adam Nelson (Charlottesville, Va.)
Discus: IanWaltz (Chula Vista, Calif.); Michael Robertson (Beebe, Ark.); Casey Malone (Fort Collins, Colo.)
Hammer Throw: A.G. Kruger (Ashland, Ohio)
Javelin Throw: Leigh Smith (Destrehan, La.); Mike Hazle (Chula Vista, Calif.); Breaux Greer* (Scottsdale, Ariz.)
4x100m relay pool: Tyson Gay (Clermont, Fla.); Walter Dix (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.), Darvis Patton (Ft. Worth, Texas), Travis Padgett (Shelby, N.C.); Rodney Martin (Raleigh, N.C.); Leroy Dixon (Los Angeles); plus anyone already on the roster in an individual event
4x400m relay pool: LaShawn Merritt (Suffolk, Va.); Jeremy Wariner (Waco, Texas); David Neville (Valencia, Calif.); Reggie Witherspoon (Baltimore, Md.); Calvin Smith (Gainesville, Fla.); Darold Williamson (Waco, Texas); plus anyone already on the roster in an individual event
* USATF rules enable the track & field chair to allow the selection of an injured athlete who competed in the Olympic Trials but did not final, and who has reached the A standard, as long as another athlete is not displaced from the team.
Olympic medalists
Lauryn Williams (silver, 2004 W100m)
Allyson Felix (silver, 2004 W200m)
Deena Kastor (bronze, 2004 WMarathon)
Sanya Richards (gold, 2004 W4x400m)
Dee Dee Trotter (gold, 2004 W4x400m)
Monique Henderson (gold, 2004 W4x400m)
Shawn Crawford (gold, 2004 M200)
Jeremy Wariner (gold, 2004 M400, M4x400m)
Bernard Lagat (silver, 2004 M1,5000; bronze, 2000 M1,500, both for Kenya)
Terrence Trammell (silver, 2004 and 2000 M110mH)
Angelo Taylor (gold, 2000 M400mH)
Bryan Clay (silver, 2004 MDecathlon)
Adam Nelson (silver, 2000 and 2004 MSP)
Darold Williamson (gold, 2004 4x400m)
Darvis Patton (silver, 2004 M4x100m)
World Championships medalists
Allyson Felix (gold, 2005 and 2007 W200m; gold, 2007 W4x100m and 4x400m)
Lauryn Williams (gold, 2005 W100m; silver, 2007 W100m; gold, 2007 W4x100m)
Torri Edwards (gold, 2003 W100m; gold, 2007 W4x100m; silver, 2003 W200m; silver, 2003 W4x100)
Chaunte Howard (silver, 2005 WHJ)
Kara Goucher (bronze, 2007 W10,000m)
Angela Williams (gold, 2001 W4x100m; silver, 2003 W4x100m)
Sanya Richards (gold, 2003 and 2007 W4x400m)
Dee Dee Trotter (gold, 2003 and 2007 W4x00m)
Natasha Hastings (gold, 2007 W4x400m)
Mechelle Lewis (gold, 2007 W4x100m)
Bernard Lagat (gold, 2007 M1,500m and 5,000m; silver, 2001 M1,500m)
Tyson Gay (gold, 2007 M100, 200 and 4×100)
Adam Nelson (gold, 2005 MSP; silver, 2001, ’03 and ’07 MSP)
Jeremy Wariner (gold, 2005 and 2007 M400m and 4x400m)
Brad Walker (gold, 2007 MPV; silver, 2005 MPV)
Reese Hoffa (gold, 2007 MSP)
Kerron Clement (gold, 2007 M400mH)
Bershawn Jackson (gold, 2005 M400mH)
Bryan Clay (gold, 2005 MDecathlon)
Tom Pappas (gold, 2003 MDecathlon)
Terrence Trammell (silver, 2003 and 2007 M110mH)
Wallace Spearmon (silver, 2005 M200m; bronze, 2007 M200m; gold, 2007 M4x100)
LaShawn Merritt (silver, 2007 M400m; gold, 2007 M4x400m)
Darvis Patton (silver, 2003 M200m; gold, 2003 and 2007 M4x100m)
Angelo Taylor (bronze, 2007 M400m; gold, 1999 and 2007 M4x400m)
David Payne (bronze, 2007 M110mH)
Breaux Greer (bronze, 2007 MJT)
Shawn Crawford (bronze, 2001 M200m)
Darold Williamson (gold, 2005 and 2007 M4x400m)
Leroy Martin (gold, 2007 M4x100m)
Rodney Martin (gold, 2007 4x100m)
Individual American record holders
Sanya Richards (W400m)
Anna Willard (WSteeplecase
Shalane Flanagan (W5,000m and 10,000m)
Deena Kastor (WMarathon)
Jenn Stuczynski (WPV)
Suzy Powell-Roos (WDT)
Kim Kreiner (WJT)
Tyson Gay (M100m)
Bernard Lagat (M1,500m)
Breaux Greer (MJT)
Brad Walker (MPV)
NOTABLES:
– Amy Acuff is the most experienced Olympian on the roster, this being her fourth Olympic Team. Adam Nelson is the most experienced male Olympian for team USA. The two-time medalist has made his third Olympic Team. Bernard Lagat is a three-time Olympian but this is his first time representing the U.S.
– Angelo Taylor won the first World Championships medal on the current roster, winning gold in 1999 in the 4x400m relay. He won gold in the 4×400 and bronze in the 400 eight years later, in Osaka.
– Taylor (gold, 400mH), Adam Nelson (silver, MSP), Terrence Trammell (silver, M110mH) and Bernard Lagat (bronze, M1,500m for Kenya) are the earliest Olympic medalists, first making the medal stand in Sydney in 2000.
– Angela Williams is the earliest women’s medal-winner, winning 4x100m gold at the 2001 Worlds.
– Nelson has won a medal at every Olympic Games and World Outdoor Championships since 2000. (Silver in the 2000 and 2004 Olympics; gold at 2005 Worlds and silver in ’01, ’03 and ’07)
– At age 40, Jeff Hartwig qualified for his second Olympic Team and first Olympic roster in 12 years. He was second at the 1996 Olympic Trials and 11th at the Games in Atlanta but no-heighted at the Trials in 2000 and 2004. Hartwig will be 41 in September and is the oldest member of the men’s team.
– At age 44, Joanne Dow is the oldest member of the team, male or female.
– Women’s 400m hurdler Queen Harrison, 19, is the youngest member of the team, while men’s 800m runner Andrew Wheating, 20, is the youngest male.
