Team USA ready to compete at World Championships in Berlin

08-04-2009

Contact:

Tom Surber

Media Information Manager

USA Track & Field

317-713-4690

 

INDIANAPOLIS - Reigning world champions Tyson Gay, Bernard Lagat, Allyson Felix, Jeremy Wariner, Kerron Clement, Michelle Perry, Reese Hoffa and Brad Walker will lead a potent Team USA roster at the 2009 IAAF World Outdoor Track & Field Championships. USA Track & Field on Tuesday announced the Team USA roster for the 12th edition of the Championships, which will be held August 15-23 in Berlin, Germany.

 

This will be the first time Team USA has returned to Berlin for a major international championship competition since the 1936 Olympic Games, where National Track & Field Hall of Famer Jesse Owens won gold medals in the 100m, 200m, 4x100m relay and long jump.

 

"These World Championships are special to us for many reasons," said USATF CEO Doug Logan. "It is Team USA's chance to come back strong in the post-Olympic year, and it is an opportunity to honor the incredible legacy of the great Jesse Owens. We feel our team roster will represent the United States well on both counts."

 

At the most recent World Outdoor Championships in 2007 in Osaka, Japan, Team USA tied the all-time World Championships record for gold medals with 14, matching its feat from 2005, and tied the American all-time medal tally at a World Outdoor Championships with 26. In Osaka, Team USA led a medal table in which a record 46 countries won medals. When Team USA last won 26 medals at a World Outdoor Championships in 1991, just 29 countries appeared on the medal table.

 

Team USA has dominated the 11 previous World Outdoor Championships with its overall total of 228 medals (110 gold, 60 silver, 38 bronze). Russia is in second place on the all-time medal table with 122 medals (33 gold, 51 silver, 38 bronze).

 

The highly accomplished 2009 Team USA squad consists of 20 Olympic medalists, 28 World Outdoor Championships medalists and 10 American record holders.

 

Reigning world champions include Tyson Gay, who will look to defend his world 100m and 200m titles from the 2007 Championships in Osaka, Japan. Gay won the 100m gold medal in 9.85 seconds and captured the world crown in the 200m by running 19.76. Gay's 200m performance bettered National Track & Field Hall of Famer Michael Johnson's World Outdoor Championships record of 19.79 set in 1995.

 

Gay posted the fastest 100m time in the world this year of 9.77 seconds with his win in Rome on July 10, and he also tops the world list in the 200m with his 19.58 clocking at the Reebok Grand Prix in New York on May 30, which is the third-fastest 200m in history.

 

Also looking to defend two world titles in Berlin will be two-time Olympic medalist Bernard Lagat, who became the first man ever to achieve the 1,500m/5,000m double at a World Outdoor Championships in Osaka. Lagat won the 1,500m in 3 minutes 34.77 seconds, and the 5,000m in 13:45.87.

 

Two-time Olympic 200m silver medalist Allyson Felix made history of her own in Osaka in becoming only the second woman ever to win three gold medals at a World Outdoor Championships. Felix, who won gold in the 4x100m and 4x400m relays, won the women's 200 meters in 21.81 seconds, giving her the greatest margin of victory (.53) in that event in World Championships history.

 

Other Americans looking to defend their Osaka individual world titles include 2008 Olympic Games silver medalist Kerron Clement in the men's 400m hurdles, American record holder Brad Walker in the men's pole vault, 2006 World Indoor champion Reese Hoffa in the men's shot put, and 2005 and 2007 women's 100m hurdles world champion Michelle Perry.

 

Team USA members who are the current world leaders in their events include Tyson Gay (M100m, 9.77 & 200m, 19.58), 2008 Olympic gold medalist LaShawn Merritt (M400m, 44.50), Andra Manson (MHJ - 2.35m/7-8.50), 2004 Olympic gold medalist and two-time World Outdoor champion Dwight Phillips (MLJ - 8.74m/28-8.25); Sanya Richards (W400m - 49.23), Lashinda Demus (W400mH - 52.63), Brittney Reese (WLJ - 7.06m/23-2) and 2008 Olympic gold medalist Stephanie Brown Trafton (WDT - 66.21m/217-2).

 

NBC, Versus to broadcast meet

 

The 2009 World Championships will be broadcast in the United States daily on NBC and Versus. The broadcast schedule is as follows. All times Eastern; subject to change; check local listings.

 

August 15: 1:00 - 3:00 p.m. NBC

 

August 16: 2:00 - 4:00 p.m. NBC

 

August 17: 1:00 - 4:00 p.m. Versus

 

August 18: 1:00 - 3:00 p.m. Versus

 

August 19: 1:30 - 4:00 p.m. Versus

 

August 20: 1:30 - 3:30 p.m. Versus

 

August 21: 1:30 - 3:30 p.m. Versus

 

August 22: 1:00 - 3:00 p.m. NBC

 

August 23: 2:00 - 4:00 p.m. NBC

 

The full Team USA roster by event is listed below.

 

Men's Roster by event - As of 8/4

 

100m: *Tyson Gay (Clermont, Fla.); Michael Rodgers (Round Rock, Texas); Darvis Patton (Grand Prairie, Texas); Monzavous "Rae" Edwards (Kansas City, Kan.)

 

200m: *Tyson Gay (Clermont, Fla.); Shawn Crawford (Los Angeles, Calif.); Charles Clark (Virginia Beach, Va.); Wallace Spearmon (College Station, Texas)

 

400m: *Jeremy Wariner (Waco, Texas); LaShawn Merritt (Suffolk, Va.); Gil Roberts (Oklahoma City, Okla.); Lionel Larry (Compton, Calif.)

 

800m: Nick Symmonds (Springfield, Ore.); Khadevis Robinson (Santa Monica, Calif.); Ryan Brown (Seattle, Wash.)

 

1500m: *Bernard Lagat (Tucson, Ariz.); Lopez Lomong (Colorado Springs, Colo.); Leonel Manzano (Austin, Texas); Dorian Ulrey (Port Byron, Ill.)

 

3000m Steeplechase: Josh McAdams (Cordova, Tenn.); Dan Huling (Geneva, Ill.); Kyle Alcorn (Fresno, Calif.)

 

5000m: *Bernard Lagat (Tucson, Ariz.); Matt Tegenkamp (Portland, Ore.); Chris Solinsky (Madison, Wis.); Evan Jager (Beaverton, Ore.)

 

10,000m: Galen Rupp (Portland, Ore.); Dathan Ritzenhein (Eugene, Ore.); Tim Nelson (Redding, Calif.)

 

Marathon: Dan Browne (San Diego, Calif.); Nate Jenkins (Lowell, Mass.); Justin Young (Superior, Colo.); Matt Gabrielson (Minneapolis, Minn.); Edwardo Torres (Boulder, Colo.)

 

110m hurdles: David Payne (Covington, Ky.); Terrence Trammell (Atlanta, Ga.); Aries Merritt (Bryan, Texas)

 

400m hurdles: *Kerron Clement (Los Angeles); Bershawn Jackson (Savoy, Ill.); Johnny Dutch (Clayton, N.C.); Angelo Taylor (Atlanta, Ga.)

 

High Jump: Tora Harris (Chula Vista, Calif.); Andra Manson (Austin, Texas); Keith Moffatt (Atlanta, Ga.)

 

Pole Vault: *Brad Walker (Mountlake Terrace, Wash.); Jeremy Scott (Brookland, Ark.); Derek Miles (Tea, S.D.); Toby Stevenson (Chula Vista, Calif.)

 

Long Jump: *Dwight Phillips (Snellville, Ga.); Brian Johnson (Zachary, La.); Miguel Pate (St. Francisville, La.)

 

Triple Jump: Brandon Roulhac (Tallahassee, Fla.); Walter Davis (Baton Rouge, La.); Kenta Bell (Decatur, Ga.)

 

Shot Put: *Reese Hoffa (Athens, Ga.); Christian Cantwell (Columbia, Mo.); Dan Taylor (Mesa, Ariz.); Adam Nelson (Charlottesville, Va.)

 

Discus Throw: Casey Malone (Ft. Collins, Colo.); Jarred Rome (Chula Vista, Calif.); Ian Waltz (Chula Vista, Calif.)

 

Hammer Throw: A.G. Kruger (Ashland, Ohio); Thomas Freeman (Westbury, N.Y.); Mike Mai (Santa Clara, Calif.)

 

Javelin Throw: Chris Hill (Athens, Ga.); Mike Hazle (Chula Vista, Calif.); Sean Furey (San Diego, Calif.)

 

Decathlon: Trey Hardee (Austin, Texas); Ashton Eaton (Eugene, Ore.); Jake Arnold (Tucson, Ariz.)

 

4x100m Relay pool: Tyson Gay (Lexington, Ky.); Michael Rodgers (Round Rock, Texas); Darvis Patton (Grand Prairie, Texas); Monzavous "Rae" Edwards (Kansas City, Kan.); Travis Padgett (Marietta, Ga.); Shawn Crawford (Los Angeles); Terrence Trammell (Atlanta, Ga.); Wallace Spearmon (College Station, Texas)

 

4x400m Relay Pool: Jeremy Wariner (Waco, Texas); LaShawn Merritt (Suffolk, Va.); Gil Roberts (Oklahoma City, Okla.); Lionel Larry (Compton, Calif.); David Neville (Valencia, Calif.); Kerron Clement (Los Angeles); Bershawn Jackson (Savoy, Ill.); Angelo Taylor (Atlanta, Ga.)

 

*Denotes IAAF Wildcard as defending world champion

 

Women's Roster by event - As of 8/4

 

100m: Carmelita Jeter (Inglewood, Calif.); Muna Lee (College Station, Texas); Lauryn Williams (Miami, Fla.)

 

200m: *Allyson Felix (Los Angeles); Muna Lee (College Station, Texas); Marshevet Hooker (Pflugerville, Texas); Charonda Williams (Richmond, Calif.)

 

400m: Sanya Richards (Austin, Texas); Debbie Dunn (Norfolk, Va.); Jessica Beard (Euclid, Ohio)

 

800m: Hazel Clark (Knoxville, Tenn.); Geena Gall (Ann Arbor, Mich.); Maggie Vessey (Soquel, Calif.)

 

1500m: Shannon Rowbury (San Francisco, Calif.) Christin Wurth-Thomas (Springdale, Ark.); Anna Willard (Mammoth Lakes, Calif.)

 

3000m Steeplechase: Jenny Barringer (Boulder, Colo.); Bridget Franek (Hiram, Ohio); Lindsey Anderson (South Ogden, Utah)

 

5000m: Jen Rhines (Mammoth Lakes, Calif.); Julie Culley (Arlington, Va.)

 

10,000m: Amy Yoder Begley (Beaverton, Ore.); Shalane Flanagan (Pittsboro, N.C.); Katie McGregor (St. Louis Park, Minn.)

 

Marathon: Kara Goucher (Portland, Ore.); Desiree Davila (Rochester Hills, Mich.); Paige Higgins (Flagstaff, Ariz.); Zoila Gomez (Alamosa, Colo.); Tera Moody (Colorado Springs, Colo.)

 

100m hurdles: *Michelle Perry (Santa Clarita, Calif.); Dawn Harper (Los. Angeles, Calif.); Ginnie Powell (Los Angeles, Calif.); Damu Cherry (Winter Garden, Fla.)

 

400m hurdles: Lashinda Demus (Palmdale, Calif.); Sheena Tosta (Chula Vista, Calif.); Tiffany Ross-Williams (Kissimmee, Fla.)

 

20km race walk: Teresa Vaill (Gainesville, Fla.)

 

High Jump: Chaunte Howard (Snellville, Ga.); Amy Acuff (Isleton, Calif.); Sharon Day (Costa Mesa, Calif.)

 

Pole Vault: Jenn Stuczynski (Churchville, N.Y.); Chelsea Johnson (Atascadero, Calif.); Stacy Dragila (Chula Vista, Calif.)

 

Long Jump: Brittany Reese (Gulfport, Miss.); Brianna Glenn (Chula Vista, Calif.); Funmi Jimoh (Stanford, Texas)

 

Triple Jump: Shakeema Welsch (Charlotte, N.C.); Erica McLain (Menlo Park, Calif.); Shani Marks (Brooklyn Park, Minn.)

 

Shot Put: Michelle Carter (Ovilla, Texas); Jillian Camarena (Tucson, Ariz.); Kristin Heaston (Opelika, Ala.)

 

Discus Throw: Stephanie Brown Trafton (Galt, Calif.); Aretha Thurmond (Opelika, Ala.); Becky Breisch (Chula Vista, Calif.)

 

Hammer Throw: Jessica Cosby (Mission Hills, Calif.); Amber Campbell (Myrtle Beach, S.C.); Erin Gilreath (Munice, Ind.)

 

Javelin Throw: Kara Patterson (West Lafayette, Ind.); Rachel Yurkovich (Eugene, Ore.)

 

Heptathlon: Diana Pickler (Sachse, Texas); Sharon Day (Costa, Mesa, Calif.); Bettie Wade (Northville, Mich.)

 

4x100m Relay Pool: Carmelita Jeter (Inglewood, Calif.); Muna Lee (College Station, Texas); Lauryn Williams (Miami, Fla.); Alexandria Anderson (Austin, Texas); Jessica Young (Fort Worth, Texas); Shalonda Solomon (Inglewood, Calif.); Marshevet Hooker (Pflugerville, Texas); Charonda Williams (Richmond, Calif.); Allyson Felix (Los Angeles)

 

4x400m Relay Pool: Sanya Richards (Austin, Texas); Debbie Dunn (Norfolk Va.); Jessica Beard (Euclid, Ohio); Natasha Hastings (Los Angeles); Lashinda Demus (Palmdale, Calif.); Allyson Felix (Los Angeles)

 

*Denotes IAAF Wildcard as defending world championFor more information on Team USA at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin, visit: www.iaaf.org.