News and Notes, Volume 8, Number 44 – Fountain, Gay receive USOC honors – US Track & Field – NEWS

The U.S. Olympic Committee announced USA Track & Field's Hyleas Fountain and Tyson Gay as its June Athletes of the Month for their respective performances at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials.

 A 27-year-old resident of Dayton, Ohio, Fountain got the Olympic Trials off with a bang in the first event of the meet, the women's heptathlon 100m hurdles. Her time of 12.65, worth 1,178 points on scoring tables, broke three records: American record, heptathlon 100m hurdles (12.69, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, 1988, Seoul); Olympic Trials record, heptathlon 100m hurdles (12.71, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, 1988, Indianapolis); and USA National Championship record, heptathlon 100m hurdles (12.77, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, 1991, New York City).

    Fountain cleared 1.81m/5-11.25 in the high jump for 991 points (tied for 2nd), threw a personal-best 13.67m/44-10.25 in the shot put (772 points, 1st) and ran another personal best, 23.31 (1048 points, +1.3 mps) in the 200m to win that events as well. Fountain won the U.S. Olympic Team Trials women's heptathlon with a world-leading, personal best 6,667 points.

    On June 29, with a 4.1 meters-per-second wind behind him, world 100 and 200m champion Tyson Gay ran the fastest 100 meters ever by a human being, 9.68, to win the men's 100m Olympic Trials title at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.

    In the quarterfinal round on June 28, while in the blocks, Gay asked for the field to be called up. Standing up, he tore off his left hip number and cast it to the side. When the gun went off, so did Gay, driving through the entire race and finishing in 9.77 (+1.6mps) to break Maurice Greene's American record of 9.79 set in Athens in 1999, as well as Greene's Olympic Trials record of 9.91 from 2004.

    Richards, Wariner win in Stockholm

    Sanya Richards and Jeremy Wariner won their respective 400 meter races Tuesday at the DN Galan, a Super Grand Prix status meeting within the IAAF World Athletics Tour 2008, in Stockholm, Sweden.

    World ranked #1 in the 400m for the past three years, Richards cruised to victory in the women's 400m winning in 50.38 seconds. Two-time World Outdoor 200m champion Allyson Felix finished third in 50.88.

    Reigning Olympic champion Jeremy Wariner won his third consecutive race in the men's 400m, easing up at the line to finish in 44.29.

    In the men's 110m hurdles, 2008 Olympic Trials champion David Oliver finished as the runner-up in 13.04 to world record holder Dayron Robles of Cuba who won the competition in 12.91. Aries Merritt was third in 13.33 and two-time Olympic silver medalist Terrence Trammell was fourth in 13.35.

    Lauryn Williams, the 2004 Olympic silver medalist and two-time World Outdoor Championship medalist, controlled the women's 100m from start to finish to win in 11.10. 2008 Olympic Trials 200m third-place finisher Marshavet Hooker was second in 11.13.

    In other events, 2008 World Indoor champion Lolo Jones won her heat in the women's 100m hurdles in 12.64 and 2008 Olympic Trials champion Brittney Reese took second in the women's long jump with a leap of 6.80m/22-3.75.

    For more information and complete results on the 2008 DN Galan, visit www.iaaf.org.

 
Vicky Oddi
Communications Coordinator
Vicky.Oddi@usatf.org