American Record: Michael Johnson, 43.18
2007 U.S. Champion: Angelo Taylor, 44.05
2004 Olympic Trials Champion: Jeremy Wariner, 44.37
Top 5 Seed Times
1.) Jeremy Wariner, 43.45
2.) LaShawn Merritt, 43.96
3.) Angelo Taylor, 44.05
4.) Lionel Larry, 44.63
5.) Darold Williamson, 44.68
Jeremy Wariner and LaShawn Merritt’s seed times are sparkling, and also from last year. Wariner broke the 44-second barrier this season, running 43.98 five days after Merritt beat Wariner in their head-to-head matchup in Berlin on June 1, a confidence boost that could propel Merritt toward an Olympic berth and a possible Trials title.
Merritt’s time of 44.03 was close to his personal best, set at the 2007 world championships in Osaka, while Wariner hasn’t come within a half-second of his 43.45 run last year – although it was the third-fastest time in history. Both runners are near locks to make the U.S. contingent headed to Beijing.
Angelo Taylor is one of the most versatile runners, being a 2000 400m hurdles entrant in Sydney. He was the 2007 U.S. champion, but his fastest time this season (45.03) is almost a second slower than his personal best, 44.05, run last year.
Darold Williamson has Olympic experience winning gold on the 2004 4x400m team, but he and collegians Lionel Larry of Southern California and Jordan Boase of Washington should expect to stay home unless they run massive personal bests. For Larry and Boase, it’s great training for 2012.