Eight years ago, from lane one, Angelo Taylor made Olympic history, being the only guy to win the 400 meter intermediate hurdles from that lane. Now, in 2008, Angelo Taylor lead a US sweep in the 400 meter intermediate hurdles. Behind his gold medal and personal best performance of 47.25 was Kerron Clement and Bershawn Jackson, in that order. Here is how I saw the race:
Running a hard race from the start, Angelo Taylor made up the stagger on Bershawn Jackson before the 200 meter mark and just kept going. Kerron Clement, the World Champion from Osaka, was behind, but moved well over the third hundred meters, so that, as they hit the final straightaway, with Bershawn Jackson in tow and Danny McFarlane from Jamaica trailing.
Over the tenth hurdle, Kerron Clement chopped his stride, and the surging Angelo Taylor pounced, clearing the hurdle and going into his final sprint! Angelo Taylor was not going to be beat tonight and he ran the final meters, seemingly amazed that his long dream had come true, winning the gold medal and also setting a personal best of 47.25!
In the silver position was Kerron Clement, in 47.98 and in third was Bershawn Jackson in 48.06! Danny McFarlane, all of 35, and one of the toughest hurdlers in the world, ran 48.30 for his seasonal best.
At the end of the day, it is the details that plague elite athletes. After eight years, Angelo Taylor comes back to a sound and feeling he knows from Sydney, Australia. Now, it is 2008 and he is in Beijing, China.
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John Akii Bua, 1972… wait for it.
Yep, Lane one.