Only one step now remains for Jeremy Wariner of the US in his quest to assume the 400m Olympic mantle of Michael Johnson. Wearing his trademark sunglasses, the protégé of Clyde Hart - the coach who guided Johnson throughout his career - again controlled his semifinal race from start to finish.
Cruising in overdrive on the final straightaway, Wariner again found no need to apply full gas to his finish. Shutting down just before the finish line in the first semifinal race, he posted a 44.87, his seventh time under forty-five seconds this year, a slate bettered by no other runner this season.
With only 100 metres gone, Wariner had made up the lane stagger on Lewis Banda of Zimbabwe, running just to his outside, and by the halfway point he was being challenged only by France’s Leslie Djhone.
Behind Wariner’s finish, Michael Blackwood managed to run a strong second half, and the Jamaican pipped Djhone right at the wire, 45.00 to 45.01, as both advanced. It was Wariner’s fast pace as much as anything else which kept the tempo brisk and was significant in putting the French runner in the final as the only non-North American.
Alleyne Francique of Grenada, the runner closest to Wariner on this year’s statistical list, advanced but only barely. The reigning World Indoor champion ran hard for the first 200 metres of the third and last semifinal section, but he tired noticeably on the homestretch. That allowed Brandon Simpson of Jamaica, running in lane eight, the opportunity to streak home as a winner in 44.97, just ahead of another fast closer, Otis Harris of the US (44.99).
In third, Francique’s 45.08 clocking was the second of two time qualifiers to gain admission to the final.
Bahamian runner Chris Brown of Bahamas had tried to use Francique’s formula in the previous semifinal, but with less success. Brown streaked to a substantial advantage over the first 200m, but like Francique, he had misjudged his resources. Derrick Brew of the US pounced on the fading Brown with less than fifty metres remaining to win in 45.05, as Davian Clarke’s 45.27 ensured that a third Jamaican will go up against three Americans in the final. Brown, for all of his early efforts, took third in a non-qualifying 45.31.
EG
