Heavy medal haul for Team USA

Heavy medal haul for Team USA
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DOHA, Qatar - Nine medals and two American records. Team USA brought the team medal count to 17 Sunday night to win the medal table at the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships in the Aspire Dome in Doha, Qatar.

Six years after first winning the men's 3,000m at a World Indoor Championships, Bernard Lagat won his second world indoor 3,000m title. Sitting mid-pack through most of the race, Lagat and defending champion Tariku Bekele (ETH) surged ahead of the group with three laps to go. Just before the bell, Lagat kicked again, opening up a 10m lead and leaving Bekele in his dust to win the gold medal in 7:37.97. 2008 Olympian Galen Rupp, who had sat in the back for much of the race, closed strong at the end to finish fifth in a personal best 7:42.40.

Two-time World Indoor champion Terrence Trammell had the race of his life tonight in the men's 60m hurdles and still did not come away with the gold. Clearing the final hurdle, it looked like Trammell had it. Instead he added another silver medal to his collection of two Olympic and three World Outdoor silver medals when he tied the American record, crossing the line in 7.36. 2008 Olympic bronze medalist David Oliver added another bronze to his collection after running a personal best 7.44. Reigning Olympic champion Dayron Robles (CUB) was the winner in a championship record 7.34.

Reigning World Outdoor champion Brittney Reese added another gold medal to her collection when she won the women's long jump. Opening up with a competition-leading leap of 6.70m/21-11.75, that mark held up throughout the competition and was enough to capture the title. It was the shortest winning mark in world indoor history.

Leading wire-to-wire, Team USA won their first-ever gold in the women's 4x400m relay at a World Indoor Championships in American record fashion, ending Russia's dominating eight-win streak. Running her fourth 400m in three days, World Indoor champion Debbie Dunn ran the lead off leg in 51.25 before handing off to DeeDee Trotter (52.55). Natasha Hastings (52.57) had third-leg duty before handing off to Allyson Felix. Russia was picking up speed on the final leg, but Felix was able to hold them off, closing in a blistering 50.87 to cross the line in 3:27.34. Russia finished second in 3:27.44.

Team USA dominated the men's 4x400m, claiming their third-consecutive gold medal in the event. The quartet of Jamaal Torrance, Greg Nixon, Tavaris Tate and Bershawn Jackson easily won the 4x400m in 3:03.40, over three seconds ahead of runner-up Belgium (3:06.94).

Two-time World Outdoor bronze medalist Carmelita Jeter won her third career bronze medal in the women's 60m. Jeter, who was out in lane 7, finished third in 7.05. Two-time Olympic 200m champion Veronica Campbell-Brown (JAM) claimed the gold in a personal best 7.00 and LaVerne Jones-Ferrette (ISV) was the runner-up in 7.03.

In the women's 800m, Alysia Johnson took the early lead from the gun and led for the first 500m, before being passed by Great Britain's Jenny Meadows. Johnson worked hard to maintain contact and was able to hold on to finish third in a personal best 1:59.60. Anna Pierce, one of the pre-race favorites, raced from the back of the pack before surging over the final 150m. It was too late though to move in to medal contention, and Pierce settled for fourth in an indoor personal best 2:00.53.

2008 Olympian Dusty Jonas won the first major medal of his career with his third-place finish in the men's high jump. Jonas cleared 2.31m/7-7 to bring home the bronze. 2010 USA Indoor champion Jesse Williams finished fifth with 2.28m/7-5.75.

In the women's 1,500m final, 2008 Olympian Erin Donohue ran a hard-fought race. Sitting mid-pack at the half-way point, Donohue moved into second with 2.5 laps to go. But the pace proved too much and Donohue couldn't hold on, finishing sixth in 4:09.59. 2009 NCAA Indoor champion Sarah Bowman finished ninth in 4:10.72. It was an indoor personal best for both.

For more information on Team USA and the 2010 IAAF 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