Merritt and Richards Win and Qualify for Olympic Team!

A pin drop could have been heard before the gun went off in the men's 400-meters. At this point, everyone knows that LaShawn Merritt (44.00) beat Jeremy Wariner (44.20) in the head-to-head match up. After the race, I had a chance to speak about the race with track legend Michael Johnson, who is also Jeremy Wariner's agent.

MJ said that LaShawn Merritt is a beast and a force to be reckoned with in the 400-meters. He seemed to alude to the fact that being on top means beating challengers as they arise. The current 400-meter world recorder holder also said that at this point and up to this point, Jeremy is the better 400-meter runner. He thought the race strategy in which Jeremy did not get out was the issue in the race tonight.

Simply put: Jeremy has to put his race together in order to win because Merritt did not run a time that Wariner is incapable of running.

After her race, Sanya Richards was estatic about winning and qualifying for the Olympic team. You got the impression that placing fourth at the U.S. nationals last year is something that she has thought a lot about since that race. As we predicted, Mary Wineberg made the team, and veteran Dee Dee Trotter pulled out her mojo, even with an injured knee to make the team.

Tonight was a great night for track and field.

Read my full article as it appears on TheFinalSprint.com.

By Jay Hicks.