Barringer sets AR, Richards moves to 400m final in tough night at Bird’s Nest – US Track & Field – NEWS

BEIJING – A Jamaican juggernaut and some challenging qualifying rounds made for a rough Sunday night for Team USA at the "Bird's Nest" National Stadium. But Jenny Barringer broke the American record in the steeplechase, and key favorites Sanya Richards and Lolo Jones advanced successfully through their rounds to offer future medal hopes.

Jamaican sweep

With three athletes each from the United States and Jamaica in the final of the women's 100, it was the Caribbean nation that came out with a sweep, the first time any country has accomplished the feat in the women's sprint.

Shelly-Ann Fraser ran away from the field to win in 10.78, with Sherone Simpson second in 10.98 and Kerron Stewart third in the same time. Although there appeared to be a headwind most of the night, the official wind reading was 0.0, and Fraser's time was the second-fastest ever at the Olympics, behind only Florence Griffith-Joyner's 10.62. America's top big-meet performer, 2004 silver medalist Lauryn Williams (Miami, Fla.), nearly snuck in for third but ended fourth in 11.03, with Olympic Trials champion Muna Lee (College Station, Texas) fifth in 11.07. 2003 world champion Torri Edwards (Irvine, Calif.) finished eighth in 11.20, having thought she false started and never being able to recover from her initial hesitation.

In the semifinals earlier in the night, Lee and Williams had gone 2-3 in heat 1, in 11.06 and 11.10, respectively, while Edwards was second in heat 2 in 11.18.

Barringer AR

Jenny Barringer (Boulder, Colo.) lowered her own American record in the women's 3,000m steeplechase, the first time the event has been contested on the Olympic stage. Running a stride ahead of teammate Anna Willard (Ann Arbor, Mich.) for most of the race, Barringer finished in 9:22.26 to break her own AR of 9:22.70, set July 20 in Heusden, Belgium. Willard was 10th in 9:25.63 in a race won in world-record time by Gulnara Galkina-Samitova. The Russian lowered her own WR, becoming the first woman to break 9 minutes with her winning time of 8:58.81. Eunice Jepkorir of Kenya was second in 9:07.41, with Ekaterina Vokova of Russia third in 9:07.64.

The other distance event of the night, the men's 10,000m final, saw the Olympic record fell at the hands of world record holder Kenenisa Bekele, while Galen Rupp (Portland, Ore.) was the top-finishing American. The 2004 gold medalist, Bekele sprinted away from countryman Sileshi Sihine and Micah Kogo of Kenya to break his own Olympic record of 27:05.10. Sunday night, he crossed the line in 27:01.17, followed by Sihine in 27:02.77 and Kogo third in 27:04.11. Running through the early laps in 25th, Rupp moved up to 13th in 27:36.99. Olympic Trials champion Abdi Abdirahman (Tucson, Ariz.) was 15th in 27:52.53 and Jorge Torres (Boulder, Colo.) was 25th in 28:13.93.

Richards moves to finals

Sanya Richards (Austin, Texas) had the fastest time of Sunday's three-heat semifinals in the women's 400, winning heat two in a brisk 49.90 seconds. Running with an aggravated left knee injury, Dee Dee Trotter was seventh in heat 3 in 51.87 and Mary Wineberg (Cincinnati, Ohio) was fifth in the first semi in 51.13 as neither advanced.

Men's 1,500 casualties

The men's 1,500m semifinal saw another world champion miss the final by one spot. With the top 5 finishers in each of two heats, plus the next two fastest times advancing to the final, 2007 world champ Bernard Lagat (Tucson, Ariz.) missed the cut by just .02 seconds. Lagat placed sixth in heat 2 in 3:37.79, with the last runner in making it at 3:37.77. Lagat had moved from 10th to 6th on the final lap, but it wasn't enough.

Delegation flagbearer Lopez Lomong (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and Olympic Trials runner-up Leonel Manzano (Austin, Texas) also saw their Olympic journey end in the semifinals. Lomong was 12th in the first semi in 3:41.00, a time identical to what he ran to finish third make the Olympic Team at the Olympic Trials in Eugene, while Manzano was 12th in the second heat in 3:50.33.

Jones, Ross-Williams make semis

In the opening, quarterfinal round of the women's 100m hurdles, World Indoor champion Lolo Jones (Baton Rouge, La.) won heat 4 in 12.71, Dawn Harper (Los Angeles) was second in heat 5 in 12.73, and Damu Cherry (Winter Garden, Fla.) was third in heat 2 in 12.92 to advance to Monday's semifinals.

In the women's 400 hurdles, Olympic Trials champion Tiffany Ross Williams (Kissimmee, Fla.) won heat 1 in 55.51 to automatically advance to Monday's semifinal round. Queen Harrison (Mechanicsville, Va.) was fourth in heat 3 in 56.12, and Sheena Johnson Tosta (Chula Vista, Calif.) was fifth in the second heat in 56.12 to qualify on time.

The men's high jump failed to produce a finalist for Team USA. Andra Manson (Austin, Texas) cleared a height that would have made the final, 2.25m/7-4.25, but he had misses at 2.15m/7-0.5 and 2.20m/7-2.5, and those misses kept him from the final, finishing one place out of the qualifying at 13th. Jesse Williams (Eugene, Ore.) cleared 2.25 on his third attempt but also had too many misses, and Dusty Jonas had a top clearance of 2.20m.

For more information on Team USA at the Olympic Games, including athlete quotes, event schedule, TV schedule and complete results, visit www.usatf.org

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Team USA medal table, 2008 Olympic Games

Silver

Christian Cantwell, men's shot put

Bronze

Shalane Flanagan, women's 10,000m

Hyleas Fountain, women's heptathlon

Walter Dix, men's 100m

Jill Geer
Director of Communications
Jill.Geer@usatf.org