Eight medals and 2 American records for Team USA on day 2 in Doha

Eight medals and 2 American records for Team USA on day 2 in Doha

DOHA, Qatar - Team USA brought home eight medals, four of them gold, and captured two American records Saturday night at the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships, March 12-14, in the Aspire Dome in Doha, Qatar.

2008 World Indoor champion Lolo Jones made history tonight, becoming the first woman ever to claim back-to-back title in the 60m hurdles and setting an American record in the process. Jones burst out of the blocks at the gun and never looked back, storming down the tracks and over the hurdles to cross the finish line in a Championship record 7.72. Jones was so ecstatic upon crossing the finish line that she almost cleared one last hurdle, the sprint crash pad. It was Gail Devers' record of 7.74 from 2003 that Jones broke. Devers, herself a three-time World Indoor champion ('93, '97, '04), immediately emailed her congratulations to Lolo. 2010 USA Indoor champion Ginnie Powell finished fifth in 7.97.

2008 Olympic silver medalist Hyleas Fountain tied the American record in the women's pentathlon with her score of 4,753 points, finishing in fourth place. Fountain has personal bests in the 800m (2:21.02) and the shot put (14.06m/46-1.5). She had a season's best in the high jump (1.87m/6-1.5), finished the 60m hurdles in 8.20 and long jumped 6.46m/21-2.5.

Reigning World Outdoor champion Christian Cantwell became the first man ever to win three World Indoor shot put gold medals tonight. Cantwell shot into the lead with his first effort of 21.60m/70-10.5 but lost it in the fifth round when Andrei Mikhnevich (BLR) threw 21.68m/71-1.5. Cantwell responded on his last throw of the competition with an effort of 21.83m/71-7.5 and the Belarussian was unable to respond. Cantwell has now won the 2004, 2008 and 2010 World Indoor titles.

Team USA's first medals of the competition came from 2008 Olympic gold medalist Bryan Clay and 2009 World Outdoor champion Trey Hardee as they went 1-2 in the men's heptathlon, respectively. Clay captured his second-consecutive world indoor gold medal in the heptathlon with 6,204 points and Hardee brought home silver with 6,184. In the 60m hurdles, Hardee had the fastest time in 7.79 and Clay was second in 8.00 and they each cleared 5.00m/16-4.75 in the pole vault. Hardee ran the 1,000m in a personal best 2:47.76 and Clay finished in 2:50.28.

2009 World Outdoor 4x400m gold medalist Debbie Dunn won the first individual gold medal of her career in the women's 400m, crossing the line in 51.04. Dunn is only the third American ever to win the women's 400m at a World Indoor Championships and the first since Jearl Miles Clark in 1997.

2009 USA Outdoor champion Mike Rodgers claimed the silver medal in the men's 60m, finishing as the runner-up in 6.53 behind Great Britain's Dwain Chambers who ran a world-leading 6.48 for the win. 2010 USA Indoor runner-up Trell Kimmons took fourth in 6.59.

In the men's 400m, coming off the final turn it was the Bahamas' Chris Brown, Bershawn Jackson and Jamaal Torrance. But Ireland's David Gillick tried to make a move on the inside and clipped Jackson and Torrance. Brown finished as the winner in 45.96, Cuba's William Collazo moved up into second in 46.31 and Torrance claimed bronze in 46.43. Jackson, who originally finished sixth in 46.84, was elevated to fifth after Gillick was disqualified.

2005 World Outdoor silver medalist Chaunte Lowe claimed the bronze medal in the women's high jump with her clearance at 1.98m/6-6. Croatia's Blanka Vlasic successfully defended her title, clearing 2.00m/6-6.75 and Ruth Beitia (ESP) was second at 1.98m/6-6 but with fewer misses then Lowe.

In other action at the track, 2008 Olympian Derek Miles finished fourth in the men's pole vault after clearing 5.65m/18-6.5 and Garrett Heath finished seventh in the men's 1,500m final in 3:43.81. 2009 World Outdoor Championships marathoner Desiree Davila finished 10th in the women's 3,000m in 9:07.24.

This year's edition of the IAAF World Indoor Championships will be streamed LIVE on Universal Sports and replayed on TV each night at 6 p.m. ET. For more information, go to www.universalsports.com.

For more information on Team USA and the World Indoor Championships, visit www.usatf.org.
About USA Track & Field

USA Track & Field (USATF) is the National Governing Body for track and field, long-distance running and race walking in the United States. USATF encompasses the world's oldest organized sports, some of the most-watched events of Olympic broadcasts, the #1 high school and junior high school participatory sport and more than 30 million adult runners in the United States.

For more information on USATF, visit www.usatf.org