Phillips follows in Jesse Owens' footsteps in Berlin

For Immediate Release
Saturday, August 22, 2009

Contact:
Tom Surber
USA Track & Field
Media Information Manager
317-713-4690; Tom.Surber@usatf.org


Phillips follows in Jesse Owens' footsteps in Berlin


BERLIN - Dwight Phillips won the men's world long jump title for the third time Saturday evening at the 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics at the 1936 Olympic Stadium in Berlin, Germany.


The 2004 Olympic gold medalist, Phillips (Snellville, Ga.) won the event with his second attempt leap of 8.54 meters/28 feet .75 inch. Phillips joins National Track & Field Hall of Famer Jesse Owens as winners of the men's long jump competitions at the two major international championship competitions ever held here. In addition to winning the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay at the 1936 Olympic Games, Owens won long jump gold medal in this stadium with a jump of 8.06m/26-5.50w.


Phillips received his gold medal from Jesse Owens' granddaughter Marlene Dortch. German 1936 Olympic long jump silver medalist Luz Long's granddaughter Julia-Vanessa Long awarded the silver medal to runner-up Godfrey Khotso Mokoena of South Africa (8.47m/27-9.50).

Phillips gave a hint of what was to come here in Berlin earlier this year when he easily won at the Nike Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Ore., when he soared to 8.74 meters/28 feet 8.25 inches, which is the top mark in the world this year. That effort tied him with Larry Myricks and Erick Walder for the eighth-best outdoor mark in history, and the trio are also tied as the #5 performers all time. It was the longest jump in the world since National Track & Field Hall of Famer Mike Powell set the world record in 1991.


Phillips' three world titles (2003, 2005, 2009) tie Ivan Pedroso (1997, 1999, 2001) of Cuba for the most wins ever at this event.


2008 Olympian and 2006 USA Outdoor champion Brian Johnson (Zachary, La.) finished ninth with a best leap of 7.86m/25-9.50.


Cosby places seventh in women's hammer throw final


2008 Olympian and two-time U.S. champion Jessica Cosby (Mission Hills, Calif.) finished seventh in the women's hammer throw final with a best toss of 72.17 meters/236 feet 9 inches. For Cosby it was a huge improvement over her 2007 world outdoor championships performance in Osaka, Japan, when she finished 14th in qualifying.


2008 Olympian and three-time U.S. Nationals runner-up Amber Campbell (Myrtle Beach, S.C.) finished 11th with her second round throw of 70.08m/229-11. Poland's 2008 Olympic finalist Anita Wlodarczyk won the gold medal with a world record toss of 77.96m/255-9, and German Betty Heidler won the silver medal and her countrymen and women's hearts with her German national record heave of 77.12m/253-0.


Women's 4x100m relay qualifying


2005 world outdoor 100m champion and two-time world outdoor 4x100m relay gold medalist Lauryn Williams (Miami, Fla.) ran a strong lead leg for Team USA in the first round of qualifying in the women's 4x100m relay.

2006 USA Junior 100m champion Alexandria Anderson (Austin, Tex.) received the baton from Williams and ran well down the backstretch. Anderson and 200m fourth-place finisher Muna Lee didn't connect on their first attempt to pass the baton from the second to third leg, but on their second pass attempt, Lee appeared to grasp it. As she turned to continue running, she fell to the track with what was later diagnosed as a left hamstring strain. As she was taken to the medical area to be evaluated by Team USA staff, Lee's teammates, including scheduled anchor leg Carmelita Jeter, followed her to the area as the team did not finish.


The Team USA lineup of Williams, Allyson Felix, Lee and Jeter on August 8 in Cottbus, Germany, had run the seventh-fastest time in history and 2009 world leader, 41.58. Marshevet Hooker had originally been scheduled to run the third leg in Saturday's first round, but an injury she suffered during the semifinals of the women's 200 led to Lee filling in. Felix was to replace Anderson in the final for an order in the final of Williams-Felix-Lee-Jeter.
Jamaica won Saturday's final in 42.06, for the third-fastest time of the year behind Team USA and their own semifinal performance of 41.88.


Team USA moves on to men's 4x400m relay final


Two-time NCAA Outdoor Champs runner-up Lionel Larry (Compton, Calif.) got the Team USA 4x400m relay squad off to a good start with his lead leg in the men's first heat of 4x400m relay qualifying.


Two-time world 400m hurdles champion Kerron Clement (Gainesville, Fla.) took the baton from Larry and kept Team USA at the front until he handed control of the race to 2008 Olympic and 2009 World Outdoor Championships 400m hurdles bronze medalist Bershawn Jackson (Champaign, Ill.).


Jackson held a slight lead at the end of his third leg and it was up to two-time Olympic Games 4x400m relay gold medalist Angelo Taylor (Decatur, Ga.) to do the rest. Taylor was up to the challenge as he brought the stick to the finish line first in 3:01.40. Team USA will compete in tomorrow's traditional final event of the Championships, the men's 4x400m relay.


Team USA women's 4x400m relay quartet advances


Team USA had an easy time of it in heat 1 of the women's 4x400m relay qualifying. 2009 USA Outdoor Championships runner-up Debbie Dunn (Norfolk, Va.) ran a strong lead leg and held the lead when she handed the baton to 2008 Olympic 4x400m relay gold medalist and 2007 world champs relay gold medalist Natasha Hastings (Los Angeles, Calif.).

Hastings continued to build the lead and Two-time world junior championships 4x400m relay gold medalist Jessica Beard (College Station, Tex.) maintained a sizeable advantage for Team USA.
2009 world 400m champion and 2008 Olympic bronze medalist Sanya Richards (Austin, Tex.) was not pressured as she completed the circuit and secured Team USA's win in 3:29.31


Women's 5,000m final


2007 world champs seventh-place finisher and three-time Olympian Jen Rhines (Mammoth Lakes, Calif.) finished in ninth place with her time of 15:11.63. For Rhines, it was her third appearance in a world outdoor championships final.
Men's pole vault final

2008 Olympic Games fourth-place finisher Derek Miles (Tea, S.D.) had three attempts at 5.50m/18-0.50 and failed to clear. In Miles' last appearance at a world outdoor championships final he finished tied for sixth at the 2003 championships in Paris.

Team USA men's marathon team places 13th

2004 Olympian Dan Browne (San Diego, Calif.) led the way for the U.S. men's marathon squad in the World Marathon Cup competition through the streets of Berlin.


Browne finished 24th in 2 hours 16 minutes 49 seconds, with Matt Gabrielson (Minneapolis, Minn.) finishing close behind in 2:18:41. Nate Jenkins (Lowell, Mass.) rounded out the Team USA scoring threesome by finishing 63rd in 2:32:16. Justin Young (Superior, Colo.) started the race but dropped out around the 30 km mark with a hip injury. Edwardo Torres (Boulder, Colo.) did not start due to an Achilles injury that flared up on Friday.


Kenya won the team title with a total time of 6:25:28, with Ethiopia second (6:32:26) and Japan third (6:41:05)
Team USA Medal Table - 2009 World Championships in Athletics


Gold (7)
Christian Cantwell (Columbia, Mo.), men's shot put, 22.03m/72-3.50
Sanya Richards (Austin, Tex.), women's 400 meters, 49.00
Kerron Clement (Gainesville, Fla.) men's 400m hurdles, 47.91
Trey Hardee (Austin, Tex.) men's decathlon, 8,790 points
Allyson Felix (Santa Clarita, Calif.) women's 200 meters, 22.02LaShawn Merritt (Suffolk, Va.) men's 400 meters (44.06)
Dwight Phillips (Snellville, Ga.) men's long jump (8.54 meters/28 feet .75 inch)

Silver (5)
Tyson Gay (Clermont, Fla.), men's 100 meters, 9.71
Chelsea Johnson (Los Angeles, Calif.), women's pole vault, 4.65m/15-3
Lashinda Demus (Palmdale, Calif.), women's 400m hurdles, 52.96
Terrence Trammell (Atlanta, Ga.), men's 110m hurdles, 13.15
Jeremy Wariner (Waco, Tex.), men's 400 meters, 44.60

Bronze (5)
Carmelita Jeter (Inglewood, Calif.) women's 100 meters, 10.90
Bershawn Jackson (Savoy, Ill.) men's 400m hurdles, 48.23
Bernard Lagat (Tucson, Ariz.) men's 1,500 meters, 3:36.20
Wallace Spearmon (College Station, Tex.) men's 200m, 19.85
David Payne (Covington, Ky.) men's 110m hurdles, 13.15
For complete results, quotes and Team USA reports, visit www.usatf.org.

Fans can watch Team USA on national television broadcasts on NBC and Versus, or online via live, daily Webcast at www.universalsports.com. For complete TV listings, visit http://www.usatf.org/events/2009/IAAFWorldOutdoorChampionships/mediaCoverage.asp.


For more information on Team USA at the World Outdoor Championships, visit http://www.usatf.org/events/2009/IAAFWorldOutdoorChampionships/.




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