Monday, July 2, 2012

Spearmon cruises in 200 with no controversy

Wallace Spearmon Jr., finishes first in the men's 200 meter final at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials Sunday, July 1, 2012, in Eugene, Ore. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Wallace Spearmon Jr., finishes first in the men's 200 meter final at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials Sunday, July 1, 2012, in Eugene, Ore. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Wallace Spearmon Jr., finishes first in the men's 200 meter final at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials Sunday, July 1, 2012, in Eugene, Ore. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Wallace Spearmon Jr., left, Isiah Young, second from left, and Maurice Mitchell, second from right, finish the men's 200 meter final at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials Sunday, July 1, 2012, in Eugene, Ore. Spearmon finished first, Mitchell came in second and Young finished third. Jeremy Dodson is at right. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Lashinda Demus hugs her sons Dontay, right, and Duaine after finishing first in the women's 400 meter hurdles at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials Sunday, July 1, 2012, in Eugene, Ore. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Lashinda Demus finishes first in the women's 400 meter hurdles at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials Sunday, July 1, 2012, in Eugene, Ore. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

(AP) ? With a Monday runoff in the women's 100 meters still looming over the U.S. track trials, Wallace Spearmon kept the men's 200 controversy-free with an easy victory.

Spearmon got off to a slow start, but recovered in time to win in 19.82 seconds Sunday at Hayward Field.

His victory ? and his chance for redemption at the London Games after losing the bronze medal to disqualification in Beijing ? was an expected finish to what should have been the conclusion to the trials.

Instead, Allyson Felix and Jeneba Tarmoh will run Monday afternoon to settle a third-place tie in the 100 for the final spot on the U.S. Olympic team.

Felix and Tarmoh finished in a dead heat for third in the 100 more than a week ago behind winner Carmelita Jeter and runner-up Tianna Madison, putting the team for the event in limbo. Track officials had no policy in place to resolve it but the next day devised a tiebreaker that included the options of a runoff or a coin flip.

The decision was put off eight days to allow Felix and Tarmoh to focus on Saturday's night 200, which Felix handily won. Tarmoh finished fifth.

On Sunday morning the athletes got together with track officials and decided on the Monday runoff.

USA Track and Field was criticized because there was no tiebreaking policy in the first place and because the matter lingered for so long. It certainly got most of the attention on Sunday as the trials wound to a close.

Wearing his sunglasses, Spearmon overcame his shaky start and finished the 200 well in front of runner-up Maurice Mitchell and Isiah Young.

The field was somewhat diluted when sprinters Justin Gatlin and Tyson Gay decided to pass on the 200 after securing spots on the Olympic team in the 100. And reigning Olympic 200 bronze medalist Walter Dix didn't run because of a lingering hamstring injury that was apparent in the 100.

Dix's only option for making it to London will be as a member of the 400 relay team.

In other events on Sunday, defending outdoor champion Lashinda Demus won the women's 400 hurdles in 53.98, and will be joined by runner-up Georganne Moline and third-place finisher T'Erea Brown on the Olympic team.

On the men's side, Michael Tinsley won the 400 hurdles in 48.33, besting reigning Olympic champion Angelo Taylor and defending Olympic silver medalist Kerron Clement.

Bershawn Jackson, the defending Olympic bronze medalist, fell into the finish but finished fourth.

Leo Manzano won the men's 1,500 in 3:35.75, followed by former Oregon Ducks teammates Matthew Centrowitz and Andrew Wheating.

Morgan Uceny won the women's 1,500 in 4:04.59, earning a place on the team with runner-up Shannon Rowbury and third-place finisher Jenny Simpson.

Simpson has the American record in the 3,000 steeplechase, but switched to the 1,500 and is the reigning world champion in the event.

Brittney Reese won her fifth straight U.S. title in the long jump with a leap of 23 feet, 5 1/2 inches. The two-time world champion will be joined in London by runner-up Chelsea Hayes and Janay DeLoach.

Brittany Borman won the javelin with a throw of 201-9. Kara Patterson was second at 196-2, but third-place finisher Kimberly Hamilton did not have the Olympic "A'' standard need to qualify for the games and the spot on the U.S. team went to fourth-place finisher Rachel Yurkovich.

Earlier in the day, Maria Michta won the 20,000-meter race walk in 1:34:53.33 for the lone spot on the team in the event, because no one had the "A'' standard.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-07-01-OLY-ATH-Track-Trials/id-91d234bef308478f9faa93be9851c005

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