Olympics: Richards, Jones have disappointing finishes on the track

McClatchy Newspapers |

8/19/2008 - 8/20/08

BEIJING — "It's just so discouraging," Sanya Richards said after finishing third in the 400-meter race she has dominated all year. "It's almost like — I don't know. I don't want to say. It's just really hard."

Richards was leading the race throughout, doing most of her damage in the two turns. But at the start of the final straightaway, Richards lost control of the race. She was quickly caught and passed by Britain's Christine Ohuruogu, who won gold in 49.62, and Jamaica's Shericka Williams, who took silver. All the while, Richards, who held on for bronze in 49.93, looked stunned.

"At the 320 mark, my right hamstring grabbed me and I just couldn't move it anymore," Richards said. "I've never had anything like that happen. I was totally out of control on the straightaway. I was all over the lane, and Christine Ohuruogu was just really strong coming home."

Lolo Jones didn't have her hamstring to blame, just a high hurdle that felt taller than any she's ever leapt.

She had a healthy lead in the 100-meter hurdles when the bottom of her right, lead foot hit square on the face of the hurdle. Jones, who won the U.S. trials and ran the third-fastest time in Olympic history in the semifinal, finished seventh after her stumble, falling to the ground immediately in tears.

Fellow American Dawn Harper won gold in 12.54 seconds, as shocked in victory as Jones was in disastrous defeat.

"I crossed the line and it was very hard for me to pick myself back up," Jones said, tears pouring down and her voice breaking. "It took about 30 seconds. Today's hard. Tomorrow's going to be harder. But what can you do but try again?"

Also Tuesday, Americans LeShawn Merritt (44.12) and Jeremy Wariner (44.15) were 1-2 in qualifying for the 200 final.

American David Oliver led the way in 110 hurdles qualifying in 13.16 seconds, and the top U.S. woman in the 200, Allyson Felix, had the fourth-best time (22.74) in qualifying for the semifinals. Silver medalist in the 100, Sherone Simpson, led qualifiers with a 22.60.

In gymnastics, Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin won gold and silver, respectively, on the balance beam in individual event finals.

Johnson posted a score of 16.225 to take the gold, while Liukin claimed silver with a 16.025. The bronze medal was won by Cheng Fei of China with a 15.950.

Johnson's gold is the second in the event by an American, following Shannon Miller's at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. It marks the first time the U.S. has won two medals in the event.

Liukin has tied the record for most medals won by a U.S. women's gymnast at a single Olympic Games. Her five medals matches the feat first achieved by Mary Lou Retton and duplicated by Shannon Miller. Miller remains the top medal winner in U.S. women's gymnastics history with seven.

Jonathan Horton won the silver medal in the men's high bar in the gymnastics individual event finals. Horton scored a 16.175, only 0.025 behind the 16.200 scored by Zou Kai of China to take the gold. The bronze medal was won by Fabian Hambuechen of Germany with a 15.875.

The U.S. gymnastics team closes out the 2008 Olympic Games with a total of 10 medals won (two gold, six silver, two bronze), the fourth best medal haul at a single Olympic Games and the top total at an Olympic Games outside the United States. The most was 20 at the 1904 St. Louis Olympic Games, followed by the 16 each won at the 1932 and 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games.

In wrestling, Henry Cejudo won the men's 55 kg freestyle gold medal, beating Tomohiro Matsunaga of Japan at the China Agricultural University Gymnasium.

Cejudo came to the national team out of high school, rather than the more traditional path through college wrestling.

"This is what I said I was going to do," he said. "I feel like I am living the American dream. The U.S. is the land of opportunities, and I am glad to represent it.

"Coming out of a Mexican-American background, it feels so good. Not many Americans get to do something like this."

In the men's triathlon, Germany's Jan Frodeno kicked past Canada's Simon Whitfield in the final 100 meters to capture the gold.

Frodeno finished in 1 hour, 48 minutes, 53.28 seconds.

Whitfield, the 2000 Olympic champion, held on for silver in 1:48:58.47. New Zealand's Bevan Docherty bagged bronze in 1:49:05.59.

Three-time Olympian Hunter Kemper of Colorado Springs led the U.S. trio, placing seventh in 1:49:48.75. Jarrod Shoemaker of Sudbury, Mass., finished 18th (1:50:46.39) and Matty Reed of Boulder, Colo., took 32nd (1:52:30.44).