Contact: Jill M. Geer
Director of Communications
At the USATF Xerox Media Center: 780-821-4130
http://www.usatf.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, August 8, 2001
Buford Bailey fourth, Setliff fifth for Team USA
EDMONTON - Tonja Buford-Bailey was fourth in the women's 400m hurdles and
Adam Setliff finished fifth in the men's discuss to turn in the top Team USA
performances in Wednesday's finals at the World Track & Field Championships.
Buford-Bailey made a furious charge in the final stretch of the women's 400m
hurdles final and missed a bronze medal by .04 seconds, finishing in 54.55.
Nezha Bidouane of Morocco won in a world-leading time of 53.34 seconds, with
Yuliya Nosova of Russia second in 54.27 and Daimi Pernia of Cuba third in
54.51. American Sandra Glover was 8th in 57.42.
Setliff matched his fifth-place Olympic finish in the men's discus, throwing
66.55m/218-4. Lars Riedel of Germany won his fourth world title with a
championship record of 69.72m/228-9. Vergilijus Alkena of Lithuania was
second at 69.40/227-8 and Michael Mollenbeck of Germany was third at
67.61/221-9.
For their performances, Buford-Bailey and Setliff were named Xerox Athletes
of the Day.
In the men's high jump final, Charles Austin cleared 2.20m/7-2.5, then passed
at 2.25m/7-4.5. He missed on his three attempts at 2.30m/7-6.5 - missing
narrowly on his first two tries - to finish in a tie for 10th place.
Germany's Martin Buss won with a world-leading jump of 2.36m (7-8.75), with
Russians Yaroslav Rybakov of and Vyacheslav Voronin second and third,
respectively, at 2.33m/7-7.75.
Tim Broe was 11th in the men's 3,000m steeplechase in a time of 8:23.07.
Reuben Kosgei of Kenya won in 8:15.16, with Ali Ezzine of Morocco second in
8:16.21 and Bernard Barmasi of Kenya third in 8:16.59.
In the men's 10,000, Alan Culpepper was 18th (28:18.44), Abdi Abdirahman
fought sideaches and was 19th (28:34.38) and Meb Keflezighi finished 23rd
(28:44.48). The Americans ran with the leaders through the 5k point of the
race, but when the surging began, they could not hold on. Charles Kamathi of
Kenya (27:53.25) outkicked the Ethiopian trio of Assefa Mezgebu (27:53.97),
Olympic and world champion Haile Gebrselassie (27:54.41) and Yibeltal Admassu
(27:55.24) for the win.
Kevin Little and Shawn Crawford advanced to Thursday's final of the men's
200m, with Little placing second in his semifinal in a season-best time of
20.13, and Crawford finishing third in his heat in 20.21.
Kelli White (22.65), Marion Jones (22.70) and LaTasha Jenkins (22.82) won
their quarterfinal heats of the women's 200m, and defending world champion
Inger Miller was fourth in her heat in a season's best time of 22.98 to
advance to Thursday's semifinals. White and Jones ran the second- and
third-fastest times of the quarterfinals.
Two-time world champion Allen Johnson and Dawane Wallace moved on to
Thursday's final in the 110m hurdles. Johnson looked strong winning his
semifinal in 13.27, while Wallace worked out the kinks to place third in his
semi and qualify on time in 13.41. Olympic silver medalist Terrence Trammell
gave the fifth hurdle a good knock, then crashed the sixth hurdle and
finished third in his heat in 13.44, missing the final by one one-hundredth
of a second. Trammell began closing over the last hurdle, but Dudley Dorival
of Haiti held him off at the tape in 13.43.
Team USA's men's 400m hurdlers came close but missed qualifying for the
final. Olympic gold medalist Angelo Taylor was third in his race before
hitting the last hurdle with his trail leg, holding on to finish fourth in
49.23. 1996 Olympic bronze medalist Calvin Davis moved up in the latter
stages of his race and was fourth in 48.99, and James Davis was fifth in the
third semi in 49.38. The top two from each race and the next two fastest
times made the final; Davis was the fastest non-qualifier.
In women's triple jump qualifying, World Indoor bronze medalist Tiombe Hurd
was 13th, one spot shy of qualifying for the final, with a mark of
13.96m/45-9.75. Yuliana Perez was 18th in qualifying at 13.69/44-11.
For complete Team USA quotes, visit www.usatf.org. For complete results,
visit www.iaaf.org
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