Athlete Quotes - Day 5 (Tuesday 8/7)

Men's 110m Hurdles quarterfinals

Allen Johnson: "I advanced easy, that was my goal. I just came out here and exerted the least amount of energy possible and won my heat. That was important to get a good lane draw for tomorrow."

"This is where I began to make a statement that I'm not done. If I'm fortunate enough to medal here and hopefully win, then go on and still try to do some more things - the world record is still a goal of mine. Even if it doesn't come this year, I still feel like I have a few more years where I can still get it, win some more titles."

Dawane Wallace: "That race felt real good. I ran hard through the seventh hurdle and then I just shut it down, so I'm in real good shape. I didn't get the best start, but I just relied on my training and just focused in and when I felt like I had it, I just stopped running."

Terrence Trammell: "It felt good. I hadn't hurdles in about two weeks, so I'm a little rusty. I know there are a few things I need to work on. I feel fresh and ready to go. (On grazing nearly every hurdle): That comes from not competing for a little while."

Men's 200m quarterfinal

Shawn Crawford: "I had a hard day today. Two rounds of the 200. I've got to keep my legs fresh, come back here and look as good tomorrow as I did today. I feel great. I wanted to get in the top two to get a good lane in the semifinal. I ran 20.19 slowing down."

Kevin Little: "If not physically, mentally I am (in the best shape he's ever been). I feel physically great. Today was a very successful day for me. Now I just need to focus on my semis. It's going to be very competitive tomorrow. The turn sets my race up for me. I need to, if not be in the lead, be within striking distance of the lead runner. Today I ran two good turns, so tomorrow I can't have any mistakes. I feel good about things. I accomplished what I wanted today. But I realize it's going to be a very difficult task."

Ramon Clay: "My left hamstring was bothering me in my warmup. I didn't think it was that big of a deal, I thought it was more dehydration than anything. It's just really frustrating. I get here to the Worlds, I'm in great shape, then something like this happens. I felt it (coming off the turn). I thought it was going to be all right. Then about 40 meters, 50 meters left, it went. It felt like a pop - popping your knuckle. It's the reason I haven't been here (at Worlds before): injuries, injuries, injuries. It's just something I have to get over."

Women's 10,000m final

Deena Drossin: "It was a tough day. I think everyone who gets at the starting line of a World Championship has high expectations. I did give it my best effort out there. I couldn't have asked for anything more. There was a lot of pushing around in the pack, which causes you to lose your cadence and your rhythm. There was a lot of pushing and shoving. That made it a tough race. The pace was so slow, I was waiting for a move. But by the time it came, I was so bruised up that I just couldn't go anymore. I expected to do a little better. I gave it my best out there, so I'm not disappointed."

Jen Rhines: " I just didn't have a good day. I ran as tough as I could, but I felt flat from the beginning, and when the race picked up, I couldn't go with it. It was a slow pace, and it didn't feel easy."

Men's Decathlon final

Kip Janvrin: "I felt like a boxer out there, I had 10 rounds and each one, I got knocked down. I'm proud I stayed in it. It would have been easy to quit after things were just going real average, but my 5-year old and my 3-year old are here and I didn't want to be a quitter on the track. I take pride in finishing what I start, although it wasn't pretty, it was fun competing against these guys."

"Well I've always told myself as long as I was qualifying for the U.S. Champs, I'm gonna go do it. I've got a good tradition going at the Drake Relays, so as long as my body is healthy and my wife lets me go, I'll keep doing it cause I'm having fun."

Phil McMullen: "It was a fantastic experience. It's my first real big international competition and it's a big change. I have in my focus the Olympics in 2004 and everything and forward will be linked to that one goal and to represent the United States on the Olympic stand."

Women's Hammer final

Melissa Price: "It was pretty bad. I really don't have any excuses for how I did. I had a bad day, it just happened to be on the day of the finals of the World Championships."

"Coming into the final, I was already happy with myself for making the final. I didn't feel as pressured as I normally do and I was a little more relaxed, which probably was a bad thing for me."

"I kinda just came into this meet preparing for the qualifying round, not actually thinking I would make the final, which took me by surprise. I wasn't as prepared as I should have been. I've just got to learn from it and make up for it in the future."

Women's long jump final

Jenny Adams: "I'm frustrated. I couldn't get on the board, and I'm disappointed and feel really bad that I couldn't represent the United States a little better. I'm just going to use it as a positive, and I'm going to come back Thursday (in the 100 hurdles) with a little more ammunition than I had. And I think I'm going to come back with a little more experience, because now I kind of know what it's like. Right now, I'm just focused on the hurdles. I am SO ready to hurdle, so I can redeem myself. I'm SO confident in the hurdles. I'm SO excited. I have a lot of energy, a lot of enthusiasm going into this race - probably more than I had before, and I'm just ready to run. I'm going out to the track right now to work on my hurdles."

"Coming in here, I knew I was capable of jumping very well. I really believed in myself. It didn't happen, but it's OK. I'm not going to be down about it. I'm going to pick myself up and continue to fight.

TUESDAY AM QUOTES - TEAM USA

Men's 200m 1st Round

Shawn Crawford - "This is an experience for me, I'm happy to be here. This is my first world championships. It's an honor, to be running with the best in the world."

Ramon Clay - "I just wanted to execute from the blocks to get the jitters out. Trevor (Graham) my coach said don't do anything else, regardless of who pulls up or what's going on within the race, just run your race and execute the turn. I feel good. Its good to get the jitters out and get the first day underway."

Kevin Little - "The starter didn't even let me get set, he just called the set position real fast, so when I rushed up, I twitched and that's pretty unusual for me, but I wasn't worried, I just stayed in the blocks."

"I felt pretty relaxed in the last 80 meters, I tried to get a feel as to where everybody else was so I could conserve some energy. Its not important how fast you run right now."

Men's 400m hurdles 1st Round

Calvin Davis - "The last couple of weeks have been real tough on me. My grandfather passed away as soon as I came back from Europe (about 2 1/2 weeks ago). I kinda had to cut into my training a little bit and I just wasn't able to keep up a good training session up to the championships. I'm a bit rusty now. It just wasn't there today, I'm just flat."

James Carter - "I've had a toe injury since June and I reaggrevated it about two weeks ago and so I've been trying to rehabbing it and get better. I can make it around this track and I'm not gonna have any excuses."

On injuring his toe... "I was trying to answer the phone and I snapped down off the step and missed the step."

Angelo Taylor - "I just wasn't feeling good, my sinuses were acting up real bad. This morning waking up, I didn't feel too hot and before my race I was feeling like I had to throw up."

"My steps are all off. I got to the first hurdle to fast and then I ran the first five or six hurdles with the wrong knee bent. It was just a terrible race for me."

"I'm ready to run. I've just gotta make a couple of adjustments. Go to the hotel and get some rest."

Men's Pole Vault Qualifying

Tim Mack : "My day started a little rough. Getting started so early in the morning, I started on some small poles on the first two bars. Changed poles and started to feel better. After that I hit a groove. I'm feeling pretty good now."

Nick Hysong: "Once I got things going, 5.70m was a real easy jump. The pole was small, so I was probably ready for a big jump today and hopefully a big jump on Thursday (in the final)."

"I had confidence coming in here, it just took a little while for it to surface today."

"My coach wanted me to take long break because last season I went for about 10 or 11 months straight competing. (Hysong did not start training until the day after Millrose Games in February.) Mentally, he wanted me to take some time off. Physically, he wanted me to take some time off so I'd be able to come back and train real hard and prepare. We wanted to focus on competing well in the second half of the European season, which is the World Championships and then Zurich and Brussells and then the Goodwill Games."

Russ Buller: "Its pretty frustrating. (Technical problems with the standards being off). I felt a little in between dead and alive. I just need a little bit more experience under my belt. I had a real good week of practice last week, that's why I'm a little disappointed. (Russ now trains with Tim Mack and Lawrence Johnson in Knoxville, TN)."