AT&T USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships
| Date: | June 21-24, 2007 |
| Time: | Check day-by-day event schedule |
| Location: | IU Michael A. Carroll Track & Soccer Stadium 1001 W. New York Street Indianapolis, IN 46202 |
| Tickets: | Available for purchase online
at the event
website or by phone 800-HI-FIVES |
| TV: | Friday, June 22nd 8:00 - 9:00 p.m. ET, 
Saturday, June 23rd Sunday, June 24th |
Anybody's Game in Tyson men's 400H
Requiring the speed of a sprinter and the endurance of an 800-meter runner, the 400-meter hurdles is often considered the most taxing event on the track. The tax man doesn't have anything on America's best hurdles specialists, though. Team USA has a history of excelling in the event, and the crop of athletes who'll take to the track at the AT&T USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Mike Carroll Stadium is among the deepest ever.
Two-time defending U.S. champion and overall Visa Champion Kerron Clement and 2005 world champion Bershawn "Batman" Jackson have see-sawed for #1 status in the hurdles the last few years, but they are not alone. James Carter and Kenneth Ferguson are among several talented hurdlers who also will vie for the championship.
Clement burst on the scene in 2005 when he broke Michael Johnson's indoor world record in the 400 dash with a time of 44.57 seconds. Since then, his speed and pure talent have made him a world-record threat, even if at times his form suffers. At the 2005 USA Outdoor Championships, Clement was nothing short of stunning with his personal-best time of 47.24, which made him the first Visa Champion as the top performer of the Visa Championship Series.
It is Jackson, however, who has the world title, the #1 U.S. ranking, and the 2005 #1 world ranking to his credit. A former U.S. indoor 400m champion, Jackson stands 5-8 in contrast to Clement's 6-2. What he lacks in height, he makes up for in heart. With fantastic finishing speed, Jackson won his world title in a downpour in Helsinki, Finland, setting a personal best with his time of 47.30. He has finished as USA runner-up behind Clement the last two years, and you can be sure he is hungry for the win.
Don't look past Carter, the World Outdoor silver medalist and twice the fourth-place finisher at the Olympics who has a personal best of 47.43. More to the point, he's coming off a win at the Reebok Grand Prix on June 2. Young Kenneth Ferguson, the 2003 USA junior 110m hurdles and 400m hurdles champion, has made a name for himself this year, winning the adidas Track Classic with a personal-best time of 48.15. 2000 Olympic gold medalist Angelo Taylor is making a comeback as well.
FAST FACTS
World record: 46.78, Kevin Young, 1992
American record: 46.78, Kevin Young, 1992
Meet record: 47.03, Bryan Bronson, 1998
Time schedule: 1st round 5:25 p.m. Thursday; semifinals 7:45 p.m. Friday; final 2:18 p.m. Saturday
DID YOU KNOW? ...
* National Track & Field Hall of Famer Edwin Moses won 107 consecutive final races in the 400 hurdles from September 2, 1977 until June 4, 1987.
* When Jackson and Carter went 1-2 in the hurdles at the 2005 World Championships, it was the first time that happened since Moses and Danny Harris went 1-2 in 1987.
* Americans won every Olympic gold medal in the men's 400 hurdles from 1976 through 2000, except for the boycotted year of 1980.
* Athletes must negotiate 10 hurdles, set 36 inches high, during the race. They take anywhere from 12 to 15 strides between hurdles.
AT&T men's 200 takes center stage at AT&T USA Outdoor Champs
The 200 meters has gone from an event considered an afterthought to the most exciting event on the track. Luckily for fans, all the men behind the glam factor in the 200 will take the track at the 2007 AT&T USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, held June 21-22 at Mike Carroll Stadium on the campus of IUPUI.
Tyson Gay ended the 2006 season ranked #1 in the world in the 200, but Wallace Spearmon and Xavier Carter could also make a case for being #1. Throw in Walter Dix of Florida State and 400-meter ubermensch Jeremy Wariner, and the men's 200 promises to be a tinderbox of excitement.
Spearmon has perhaps the deepest credentials of the group and is considered the favorite by many. The 2005 World Championships silver medalist, Spearmon is the defending U.S. champion and reigning World Cup champion in this event. On September 28 of last year, he became the #3 performer of all-time with his 19.65 performance in Daegu, South Korea. Earlier in September, Tyson Gay had run 19.68, finishing the year tied with Frank Fredericks as the fifth-fastest man in history. Gay's 100-meter speed - he is #2 world-ranked and the defending U.S. champion in that event - makes him very dangerous in the half lap. Competitors must be eying his wind-aided 100m times of 9.76 (+2.2mps) and 9.78 (+2.5mps) and warily.
Carter won four events at the 2006 NCAA Championships - the 100, 400, 4x100 relay and 4x400 relay - then went on to lay down a time of 19.63 in the 200 at Lausanne, Switzerland, to become the second-fastest man in history, behind only Michael Johnson. Carter got a slow start to the 2007 season, but last week at the Nike Prefontaine Classic he ran down Spearmon and 100m world record holder Asafa Powell to win the 200.
In 2007, Dix added another record to his resume. Already the American junior record holder at 100 meters (10.06), Dix ran an eye-popping, collegiate-record time of 19.69 at the 2007 NCAA East Regional in Gainesville, Fla. He tacked on the NCAA titles in the 100 and 200 last weekend in Sacramento as well. At 5-9 and 190 pounds, Dix lacks the height and lankiness usually associated with 200-meter specialists, but his time and victories speak for themselves.
Speaking of tall and lanky, Olympic and world champion 400-meter runner Jeremy Wariner is in the field. As the defending world champion, he gets a bye into the World Championships in the 400, so he'll work on his 200-meter speed in Indy.
FAST FACTS
World record: 19.32, Michael Johnson, 1996
American record: 19.32, Michael Johnson, 1996
Meet record: 19.66, Michael Johnson, 1996
Time schedule: 1st round 4:30 p.m., Saturday; semifinals noon Sunday; final 2:20 p.m. Sunday
DID YOU KNOW? ...
* Team USA has won every men's 200 gold medal but one at the IAAF World Championships.
* Eight of the 10 fastest men of all time are Americans; four of the six fastest ever will compete here - Carter (#2), Spearmon (#3), Gay (#5) and Dix (#6).
* Spearmon's father, Wallace Spearmon Sr., was an All-American 200m runner and ran for Team USA in that event.
* Pietro Mennea of Italy owned the world record from 1979 until Michael Johnson broke it, first at the Olympic Trials and then at the Olympics, in 1996.
* Height is usually considered an advantage in the 200 because it helps runners negotiate the curve.