EUGENE, Ore. — If any event encapsulated the Olympic Track and Field Trials at Hayward Field last night, it was the final one, the men’s 200-meter dash. It included a big name who came through, missing superstars who didn’t and young surprises who could make this London-bound U.S. team one of the best in recent memory.
Wallace Spearmon blistered the straight for a 19.82, the best time in the world — for a moment, until Jamaicans Yohan Blake and Usain Bolt ran 19.80 and 19.83 in their own trials yesterday. But with history’s top two runners more than a half-second off their peaks, it showed Spearmon might be able to beat the unbeatable — and Team USA might even meet its lofty stated goal of 30 medals.
“Everybody expects Jamaica to be 1-2; with these guys we can go out and get 1-2-3,’’ Spearmon said of collegians Maurice Mitchell (20.14) and Isiah Young (20.16). “I’ve got these young thundercats up here. [Bolt and Blake] ran 19.8 — that’s something any of us can do. I’ve been fussing at them since we crossed the line, teaching them the way my elders taught me. The future is bright.’’
Spearmon, undefeated this year in the 200, has been fixated on redemption since a lane violation robbed him of bronze in Beijing. Even in a 200 bereft of Brooklyn-born Justin Gatlin, Tyson Gay and Walter Dix — the former pair scratched to focus on the 100, the latter injured — Spearmon gives the U.S. a golden hope.
“That’s something that’s been on my mind since ’08,” he said. “It’s hard enough to make an Olympic team, step on the line when you thought you had medal and be [halfway] into a victory lap. If I didn’t make the team this year, that would have been on my mind the rest of my life. To go back to have a second chance, to go back for redemption, I don’t take my second chances lightly,’’ he said.
Even when other big names faltered — like former world 400 hurdles champ Bershawn Jackson clipping a hurdle and finishing a disappointing fourth — there was Michael Tinsley to make up a five-meter gap and win in 48.33, pumping his chest as he crossed the line.
“I had so much energy inside, from the crowd, I just tried to wait until the gun went off and then let it all explode,’’ said Tinsley, third-fastest in the world this year. “I’m just really thankful. I’m just honored to be here on top today.’’
Leonel Manzano (3:35.75) outkicked 22-year-old Matthew Centrowitz (3:35.84) in the final straight to win a quick 1,500, with Andrew Wheating clocking a 3:36.68 to earn third. Wheating, 24, in the middle of the pack going into the last lap, made a huge surge to take the lead, but Manzano burst from the pack to win.
LaShinda Demus (53.98) won the women’s 400 hurdles ahead of Georgina Moline (54.33) and T’Rea Brown (54.88).
“Every U.S. championship is hard for me because I always have that fear,” said Demus, fourth in the ’08 trials, “ ‘What if you don’t make it like what happened in ’08?’ This … is more pressure because you can’t redeem yourself the next year. It’s way more pressure than the Olympic Games or world championship.’’
They’ve had enough breakthroughs, including Ashton Eaton’s decathlon world record, that a 30-medal haul seems feasible.
“We have an overall strong team, a world-record and some extraordinarily gifted athletes going to London,’’ said men’s coach Andy Valmon, a Flatbush native and Seton Hall All-American. “If we’re clicking on all cylinders, anything is possible. Giving them an opportunity to go out and do what they do best, that’s realistic.’’