Athlete Quotes - Day 4 (Monday 8/6)

Women's pole vault final

Stacy Dragila: "It was a great competition. I knew being over in Europe for five meets, competing against Svetlana and Monika, I knew it was going to come down to some serious bars today. I'm just lucky to stay one step ahead of everybody again."

On awaiting Feofanova's final attempt at 4.82: "I was really nervous. I was more bitter at myself for not making it. It was real close. It's too bad I didn't have better attempts on my first and second attempt. I went back and sat on the bench, and I was just angry at myself. I wasn't going to clap (as Feofanova ran up for her final attempt), and then I thought no, I'm going to clap her down the runway because she has jumped awesome all day, and if she makes it, she is the true champion today. Fortunately, she didn't make it. I just couldn't believe the competition we went through, so I ran down, gave her a hug, and I told her you've got to run the victory lap with me. This was just awesome."

On the standards at 4.55: "I didn't really notice that my standards were wrong, my coach noticed it. I thought, just shake it off, go down there, make your second attempt and be done with it. So that's the way I went about it, then five jumps later they came back and said 'we really screwed up.' "

"It was more of a mental game than a physical game, definitely, today. I'm just glad I was there."

Mary Sauer: "It didn't go quite as planned, but it was definitely a good experience for me to be here. Hopefully I'll learn from my mistakes. I think my problem was not committing to my jumps. I'm a little fatigued and I just have to learn how to do the qualifying and the final. I was extremely blessed just to be here."

Women's 100m final

Marion Jones: "Well, I'm disappointed, to say the least. I've won so many races, but no excuses here. Zhana ran a very good race, and today she was a better sprinter. My hat goes off to her, and I will take her hand and congratulate her on a very good race. I was happy with my start, but the middle of the race, I felt I broke down a little bit. I felt good in the middle of the rounds. She surprised me in the semis, inched me out a little bit. I thought that in between the races I got a little rest, and my legs were feeling sharp. That represents a 10.85, but 10.82 is an amazing time, and today, she deserves the win."

"I haven't lost since '97, so of course I didn't come out here expecting to lose. It's asport where it happens sometime. Yeah, I'm disappointed, and I'm sure there will be a lot of people out there going yeah, yeah, she finally got beat. But now it's time for me to go home, regroup and get ready for the 200."

"10.85 is nothing to be disappointed about. I guess I spoiled a lot of people, including myself, running all the 10.7's and the 10.6's. But I came out here to win. I'm sure I'm going to go home and think over this race about 5,000 times in my mind and probably not get a lot of sleep, and come out here in the 200 and kick butt."

Chryste Gaines: "I was too far away from them. I just couldn't tell what was going on. I ran well for being out by myself. I think it was a technically sound race, I was just too many lanes over from the heat of the competition. I couldn't really feel the rest of the field. I'm pleased."

Kelli White: "It's a big shock (Jones' loss). I mean, we're all good and everybody has their day. I felt OK. When I looked at it again on the monitor, my legs weren't turning over as fast as they should have been. I felt good, I felt really good."

Men's 400m final

Antonio Pettigrew: "I just didn't have it. I got out slow. I don't know, I just had a bad day. I came on at the end, trying to get a medal. It didn't happen, so I've got to get ready for the relay once again. I make no excuses. It was a good race. The guys ran well, and they deserve to go to the podium."

Men's Triple Jump Final

Walter Davis: "It went all right. I wish I could have medaled, but I'm pleased with this, and I had a whole collegiate season, so I'm cool with that. Coming out fifth, I like it. Hopefully next time, I'll be on the medal stand."

Men's Decathlon

Bryan Clay: "It's been a good day. I didn't do as well as I would have like to. Coming off of two meets where I've been PR'ing every meet, it's kind of hard to come out and have an average day. I can't be mad, I ran my second-fastest time in the quarter."

Kip Janvrin: "Well I came out flat today. I'm not sure why. I just felt like I couldn't get on track. I ran an OK 400, but the first four events, I was just running a quick set, it felt like. I'm not sure what's going on there. I guess I'm not old enough and have had enough experience (laughter). But I'm going to give it my all and see what happens tomorrow."

Phil McMullen: "It's not the best I've ever had with my performances, but competing here for the United States is a phenomenal thing. It's been fantastic. I'm not too far off of my personal-best pace, so it's a good day. Day 2 is my stronger day. I usually score about 200 more points on the second day than the first day."

Women's 400m hurdles semifinals

Tonja Buford-Bailey: "I ran for the lane (in the final). I have a day off, that's why I didn't care if I (expended a lot of energy). You never know. I didn't want to take the chance on getting a bad lane. ... I think I was on some kind of mission. It was a big disappointment last year (at the Olympics), not making it out of the first round."

Sandra Glover: "The first half, I had some trouble on (hurdles) 2 and 3. It kind of took me out of it a little. But that's OK, I'll just do my best in the final."

Brenda Taylor: "I got out reasonably well, I was just a little bit sluggish. I don't know - I crossed the finish line yesterday in 56.2, and I felt I could run at least a second faster. Now I get to cheer on my teammates, so this is one of the best times of my life."

Women's hammer qualifying

Melissa Price: "It was OK. I threw pretty well on my first throw. I was hoping to progress on my next two. I wasn't quite able to do it. Things are looking pretty good. This is my first major, major international meet, so I'm pretty happy with how I did. This is only my fourth year throwing and my first World championships. It was actually my goal to make the final and throw a PR. If I do that, I'll be really happy."

Anna Norgren: "I had some good warmup throws and I fouled my first throw. I didn't quite put it together. I tried to look at it like another meet and to do exactly what I did to get here. It didn't quite work out."

Dawn Ellerbe: "I don't know what it is. I just had a bad day."

Men's Steeplechase 1st round

Tim Broe: "I'll say it was rough. It was one of those days that was a struggle the whole way, so I'm proud of myself that I fought. I very easily could have thrown in the towel. I'm fortunate that I've got another shot on Wednesday. Hopefully I'll feel a little better."

Tom Chorny: "There's a lot of stop and go, stop and go, especially when you're tight in a pack like that. It's really hard to be efficient, and I think that's one of the keys to my races, is my efficiency. In U.S. races, I can usually stay in the clear and run more efficiently between hurdles. These guys are just strong. I know that I need a lot more physical strength. That's something I'll work on next year."

Anthony Famiglietti: "I couldn't tell if it was fast or slow in the beginning. I didn't think they'd take off at 2,000m, but they did. I just continued on whatever pace we started at. I couldn't break free of it. I was real nervous. I tried to control it, but I couldn't help it. Now I understand how hard it is to come out here and compete at this level. These guys are the best in the world. I had a world record holder in my race."

Women's 100m semifinal

Chryste Gaines: "I had a bad start. I'm going to correct it in the final."

Angela Williams: I got a horrible start. Once I saw I was behind, I thought, 'I blew it.' These women are extremely quick. I can say they've all run times way faster than me. So I knew the key for me to get in (to the final) was going to be my start. I don't know if I lost focus because of the two jumps (false starts). But for some reason I just wasn't sharp."

Men's 5000m qualifying

Adam Goucher: "It felt really good. It was just so slow, and I don't understand why in championship races, why the second heat always goes so slow. I decided that I'm not gonna panic, I'll run as hard as they want to run and I'm confident in my last mile. It came down to like the last 800 and I was fresh and I just went. The last 100 I knew I was going to advance, so I decided to shut it down and that's what I did. I have three days to rest and it's good to get in here and shake out any bugs in my legs, and I got them moving so I'm pretty psyched. I think it's safe to say, knock on wood, that I'm 100% physically. I'm really excited because as good a shape as I'm in right now, which is probably the best shape of my life, I know I can be in better shape. The future is going to be fun, it's going to be exciting and there's going to be some records going down. It's just a matter of when."

Nick Rogers: "I've been sick the last couple days. Not really sick, but I felt something coming on when I was getting off the plane when I got here. I've tried to keep a straight head about it, but there's only so much you can do when you're sick. I have congestion in my nose and in my lungs and a sore throat. I felt like I was in 13:25 shape. I had some good training and ran some decent races in Europe, nothing spectacular. This is a big disappointment. I really wanted to make the final. Last year at the (Olympic) Games I was overcooked, and this time I feel I'm under-prepared. I don't know."

Men's discus qualifying

Adam Setliff: "A tough day. Go figure, sometimes it's la-la land out there. I had no idea what was going on, so I'll try to forget about it and move on. It's a combination of my technique being very bad, and physically being in the twilight zone. I can't really explain it, and I doubt my coach can either. What do you do? You just move on."

Andy Bloom: "It was horrible, terrible. Is that enough bad adjectives? It's been one of those years, too many injuries. I've had a bad back, a bad hip, a bad shoulder and a bulging disc in my neck. It's just been a pile of injuries since last June. My technique was horrible and I couldn't get my right foot to turn. I kept throwing off the disc and it was nose-diving. 56 meters is an atrocity. I'll come back next year and get healthy. Once I get healthy it's all gonna be alright and I'm gonna do some good things."

John Godina: "It was bad. I just gotta figure out how to get it together between the two throws. I keyed in for a few days for that shot and had to take yesterday off because I'm so tired, and I didn't really get into that discus groove. I felt when I was warming up that I was bringing things over from the shot, and that's not a good thing at a competition at this level. That's the way it goes sometimes. It would be a lot better for me if I had a couple more days between events. It's harder than people think it is, I'll tell you that. It's hard to be too disappointed after the shot, but I'm fairly disappointed."

Women's 400m semifinals

Monique Hennagan: "I felt good. I expended too much energy on the last curve. If I had taken it easy a little bit ... I didn't have anything left. I believe that made all the difference, because I felt good about my race until that last curve. The weakest point has been that curve."

Demetria Washington: "I felt pretty good. It's my first World Championships. I'm happy to have made it to the semifinals, and I PR'd today. I'm just happy to be here. It would have been nice to make it to the finals, but knowing that I PR'd and gave it my all, I'm happy with that."

Michelle Collins: "I just didn't have it the last 50. I felt very fatigued the last 50 and I just could not turn over. I was barely holding on. I just didn't have it today."