Another 4-medal night for Team USA as 400m hurdlers, Simpson deliver --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

MOSCOW - Team USA’s 400m hurdles crew came through in intense competition, winning a combined three medals in the women’s and men’s races, while Jenny Simpson nearly pulled off a wire-to-wire win as she got silver in the women’s 1,500m at the IAAF World Track & Field Championships Thursday night at Luzhniki Olympic Stadium.

With three silvers and one bronze medal on the night, Team USA now has 14 medals (4 gold, 8 silver, 2 bronze) to top the medal charts, and continues to lead the point standings by 64 over Russia, 163-99.

Read the full recap of Thursday’s morning session here.

Americans take half of 400m hurdles medals
The women’s 400m hurdlers kicked off the medal haul, claiming silver and bronze. Olympic silver medalist and defending world champion Lashinda Demus (Los Angeles, Calif.) got out strong, leading the first 250 meters. Demus stretched for the tenth hurdle, but Czech’s Zuzana Hejnova took the lead coming into the home stretch making her move and extending the gap to win in a world-leading time of 52.83. Demus' training partner Dalilah Muhammad (Bayside, N.Y.) passed her just before the line to take the silver in 54.09, with Demus claiming bronze finishing in 54.27. It was an impressive finish for the youthful Muhammad and the still-recovering-from-injury Demus.

Olympic silver medalist Michael Tinsley was next on the track for the men’s 400m hurdles, where he battled Trinidad and Tobago’s Jehue Gordon, the 2010 World Junior champion. Tinsley (Round Rock, Texas) blasted from the blocks in lane 3 and was well in the lead over the first three hurdles. Gordon came back on him around the curve, and a battle was on in the homestretch. Gordon took the early advantage, but Tinsley seemed to inch ahead of Gordon with one stride left. That final stride made all the difference; however, and Gordon took the win as both men dove through the line, with Gordon clocking a world-leading 47.69 to Tinsley’s personal-best 47.70. Emir Bekric of Serbia was third in a national record 48.05; American Kerron Clement (Gainesville, Fla.) was eighth in 49.08.

Simpson runs strong
The women’s 1,500m was held at the start for more than 10 minutes while the men’s high jump competition concluded. After the gun finally sounded, Simpson (Boulder, Colo.) bolted to the lead, with 17-year-old Mary Cain (Bronxville, N.Y.) on her shoulder and then tucking in behind. Simpson led through 400m in 1:05.73, followed by Hellen Obiri of Kenya. Simpson continued to lead as Cain moved to midpack. Simpson continued towing the field through 800m in 2:13.92, this time with Abeba Aregawi of Sweden on her shoulder. Cain came through in 12th.

At the bell, it was Simpson in 3:03.78, with 1200m passed in 3:18.91. Aregawi took the lead at 1200m but Simpson fought back, along with Obiri. In the homestretch, Simpson came back on Aregawi, but the Swede held on to win in 4:02.67 to Simpson’s 4:02.99. Obiri came third in 4:03.86, with Cain 10th in 4:07.19.

Olympic silver medalist Erik Kynard (Toledo, Ohio) easily managed 2.20m/7-2.5 on his first attempt and was clear until 2.32m/7-7.25, where he needed two tries. Kynard went out at 2.35m/7-8.5 to finish out of the medals in fifth place in the greatest men’s high jump competition in world championships history. Bohdan Bondarenko of Ukraine won out in a duel with Mutaz Essa Barshim of Qatar, clearing a championships record 2.41m/7-10.75 to Barshim’s 2.38m/7-9.75. Derek Drouin of Canada was third with a national record 2.38.

American record holder Evan Jager (Portland, Ore.) ran with the lead pack throughout the men’s 3,000m steeplechase final, and went through the bell lap with a pack of five. He surged to challenge the top three down the backstretch and over the final water jump but couldn’t keep up with the Kenyan leaders over the final 100 and just missed out on fourth place at 8:08.67. His time is the third fastest ever by an American and the fastest at a world championships.

Moving to finals
The U.S. men ran to a world-leading time of 2:59.85 in the first round of the 4x400 relay.

James Harris (Lanett, Ala.) got Team USA off to an early lead and got the baton to David Verburg (Lynchburg, Va.) in the first position. Verburg held the lead until the final straight when Jarrin Solomon of Trinidad and Tobago pulled along side. Josh Mance (Los Angeles, Calif) bolted out of the exchange zone to gap the Trinidadians, but they once again pulled alongside Team USA on the homestretch. 19-year-old Arman Hall (Pembrook Pines, Fla.) ran one stride ahead of Deon Lendore of Trinidad through 300 meters, but coming down the homestretch, Hall opened a small lead to take the win, with Trinidad more than half a second behind in 3:00.48.

Three-time world champion and reigning Olympic champion Allyson Felix (Los Angeles, Calif.) ran an impressive 22.30 to win semifinal two, the fastest of all three sections. She will be joined in the final by Jeneba Tarmoh (San Jose, Calif.) who ran a season-best 22.70 from lane eight to take third in the first semifinal, and last year’s Diamond League champion Charonda Williams (Richmond, Calif.) who took third in the third semifinal at 22.80. Kimberlyn Duncan (Baton Rouge, La.) closed hard to place third in semifinal two at 22.91, but did not advance to the final

The World Championships boast nearly 50 hours of television coverage in the U.S. with broadcasts airing during all nine days of competition. View the complete broadcast schedule here.

For more information on Team USA at the IAAF World Championships, visit www.USATF.org. Live results and startlists are available at www.IAAF.org.

Read the full press release including Team USA quotes here.


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