Team USA Superlatives, 2009 IAAF World Championships in Athletics

For Immediate Release
Sunday, August 23, 2009

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


Team USA Superlatives, 2009 IAAF World Championships in Athletics

Notable accomplishments by Team USA athletes at the 2009 IAAF World Championships in Athletics in Berlin:


-Team USA won more gold medals than any other country (10)...2nd place Jamaica (7)

-Team USA won more medals than any other country (22)...2nd place Jamaica (13)


-Team USA dominated the placing table with 231 points...2nd place Russia (154)


-Tyson Gay posts American record in 100 meters: 9.71 seconds (third-fastest time ever).


-Dwight Phillips won his third world outdoor title in the men's long jump, tying Ivan Pedroso of Cuba for the most wins ever at this event.


-Trey Hardee improved his personal best by 256 points in winning the decathlon gold medal with 8,790 points, making him the #3 American all time in that event.


-Team USA is now the only nation to have three separate athletes win gold in the men's shot put in three consecutive years: Adam Nelson (2005), Reese Hoffa (2007), Christian Cantwell (2009).


- Michelle Carter's sixth-place finish in the women's shot put is the highest by an American since Connie Price-Smith finished fifth in 1997.


-Amy Yoder Begley's sixth-place finish in the women's 10,000m in 31:13.78 is the fastest time ever by an American at a World Outdoor Championships.

-Jenny Barringer bettered her own American record in the 3,000m steeplechase final in 9:12.50, which improved upon her previous standard by nearly 10 seconds. Her fifth-place finish is the highest ever by an American at a World Championships.


-Dathan Ritzenhein's time of 27:22:28 is the best ever by an American in the 10,000m at a World Outdoor Championships. His sixth-place finish is also the best ever by an American.

-For the first time in World Championships history, three U.S. men: Bernard Lagat, Lopez Lomong and Leonel Manzano qualified for the men's 1,500m final. The last time three American men appeared in an Olympic 1,500m final was 1968 (Jim Ryun, Tom Von Ruden, Marty Liquori).

-Kerron Clement joined National Track & Field Hall of Famer Edwin Moses (1983, 1987) and Felix Sanchez of the Dominican Republic (2001, 2003) as the only men ever to win the world 400m hurdles title twice. All three accomplished the feat in consecutive years.

-Rachel Yurkovich became the first American woman to qualify for the women's javelin final at a World Championships since Karin Smith finished 10th in 1983.


-These championships mark the first time ever that Team USA has placed three women (Christin Wurth-Thomas, Shannon Rowbury & Anna Willard) in a World Outdoor Championships 1,500m final.

- Nick Symmonds is the first American to make the men's 800m final at a world outdoor championships since Rich Kenah won the bronze medal and Mark Everett finished eighth in 1997.

-Allyson Felix won her third consecutive women's world 200m title, more than anyone in history.


-Stephanie Brown Trafton and Aretha Thurmond qualified for the women's discus final. It was the first time two Americans competed in that final since 2001.

-Kara Goucher's 10th place finish in the women's marathon is the highest for an American since Linda Somers placed seventh in 1995.


-Team USA women's fifth place finish in the World Marathon Cup at the World Outdoor Championships is its best finish ever. Team USA finished sixth in 1999, 2005 & 2007.


- For the first time ever, three U.S. women (Rowbury, Wurth-Thomas, Willard) finished in the top ten in the women's 1,500 meters.

-Shannon Rowbury's bronze medal win in the women's 1,500m final is the highest finish by an American since Regina Jacobs won the silver medal in 1999.

-Team USA's gold medal winning women's 4x400m relay squad of Debbie Dunn, Allyson Felix, Lashinda Demus and Sanya Richards posted the fastest time in the world since 1993 (3:17.83). It is the sixth-fastest time ever.


-Brittney Reese's win in the women's long jump is the first by an American at the World Outdoor Championships since Tianna Madison won gold at Helsinki in 2005.


-Team USA's gold medal winning 4x400m relay quartet of Angelo Taylor, Jeremy Wariner, Kerron Clement and LaShawn Merritt posted the fastest time in the world this year of 2:57.86.

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




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