Breaux Greer, the eight-time United States champion in the Javelin, is out at the U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials. After a throw of 220 feet, six inches, he failed to make the field for the finals. Greer is also the current American record holder in the event, but after battling injuries for months, he’s just happy to get some time off. On the disappointment of not making the finals, Greer said that he didn’t mind, saying he needed to heal.
“To be honest, I’m actually relieved. I can go home. I don’t need the stress for the next month and a half.”
His record throw of 299-06 in June of 2007 was seven meters off the world record held by Jan Zelezny of the Czech Republic. Greer also set the Hayward Field record in the javelin, throwing a distance of 279-07 meters in 2001.
There were four events that held qualifying heats in the eighth day of Olympic qualifying at the United States Track and Field Trials. The men’s javelin throw was first, quickly followed by the men’s 200-meter run, the men’s triple jump and the men’s semifinal in the 1,500 meter run.
In the first flight of throwers in the javelin, Barry Krammes beat runner-up Brian Chaput with a throw of 259-01. Krammes’ first throw of the night was good enough for a place in the finals, which take place Sunday, July 6, at 4:15 p.m. The second flight saw Christopher Hill throw 255-00, beating out Mike Hazle, the 2007 USA runner-up by seven feet.
Krammes was riding high after the personal-best throw, saying that his experience at these trials is something he can take back home with him.
“I am a teacher back home and I took a semester off so that I could teach my students one thing and that is that dreams are possible,” he said. “I am so close right now.”
Immediately following the javelin was the men’s 200-meter. Tyson Gay, who ran the fastest 100-meter ever recorded earlier in the week, highlighted a star-studded field that included the 2004 Olympic gold medalist Shawn Crawford, five-time NCAA champion Walter Dix, and two-time NCAA 200m runner-up Xavier Carter.
Crawford won the first heat in a time of 20.18 seconds, the fastest on the day. The second heat was won by Gay in 20.43. Bernard Williams ran the fastest in the third heat, at 20.65 seconds, followed by Walter Dix in the fourth heat at 20.65 and Spearmon in the fifth heat at 20.81.
The quarterfinal will take place today at 11:50 a.m.
Crawford was confident in his response to his first heat win, saying that he did what he needed to do to get to the next round.
“It went good and I advanced,” he said. “I won my heat and made it into the next round.”
Gay was also fine with his race. He said that after four days of rest the race was a good way to shake the cobwebs out.
In the triple jump, three-time U.S. Outdoor Champion Walter Davis posted the furthest distance, jumping 55 feet, three inches. Davis’ jump was closely contested by the 2006 NCAA triple jump champion Rafeeq Curry, who jumped a distance of 54-10.
Davis was fine with his jump, he was just happy he made it to the finals on Sunday.
“I had a couple where I mis-timed my jump, but I’ll take 16.80 (meters) for today. On Sunday, I just want to get the W. All I need is the W, so that I can go home, train and get ready for Beijing.”
The final of the triple jump will be held today at 4:00 p.m.
The last preliminary of the night was the men’s 1,500 meters, featuring Bernard Lagat, who already won the 2008 Trials 5,000 meter race. Lagat currently owns the American record in the event at a time of 3:29.30, and he owns a silver medal in the event at the 2004 Olympics in Athens.
In the first heat, Lagat held off sixth seed Rob Meyers to win in a time of 3:43.83, and ex-Stanford runner Gabriel Jennings beat out Lopez Lomong at 3:40.07 in the second heat. Lagat’s time was good enough for ninth best on the night, but because he won his heat, he punched his ticket to the finals on Sunday night.
Bernard was happy with his race, saying that he was just trying to run fast in preparation for the finals.
“It went all right today. I wanted to run strong the last 200 meters and I think I ran the last 300 really hard. Really, I just wanted to conserve enough to run fast and strong at the end. I am always good at the semifinals because that is really the beginning of the finals. I just wanted to run good today and I am glad that I did.”