From left: Kerron Clement, Bershawn Jackson and Angelo Taylor compete in the men's 400m hurdles final of the US Track and Field Olympic Trials two months ago in Eugene, Oregon. [Agencies] |
World champion Kerron Clement on Saturday predicted an American clean sweep in today's 400m hurdles final. The 23-year-old eased home in his semi-final after teammates Angelo Taylor, the 2000 Olympic champion, and Bershawn Jackson, the 2005 world champion, had finished first and second in their own semis.
Taylor topped the event, finishing at 47.94sec, his best performance so far this year. He was the only one to run under 48 sec. Jackson came in at 48.02, cutting short his 2008 personal best of 48.15. Clement finished at 48.28 but he is the world champion with a time of 47.79sec, which he ran in Jamaica on May 3.
The current world record is 46.78, set by compatriot Kevin Young at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
An American 1-2-3 in the final tonight would be the fifth time the sweep has been accomplished, and always by the Americans. The last time was in 1960 when Glenn Davis won his second successive Olympic title.
"A clean sweep? It's going to happen," said Clement. "I just won't tell you in which order."
"It's definitely a possibility. I have confidence in it. I'm feeling pretty well and really excited that I'm running fast.
"The plan was to train through the trials to peak at the Olympics.
"Bershawn beat me at the trials. That's cool. Second place doesn't really matter in the trials. What matters is the Olympics and what happens there."
Jackson, who went out in the semi-finals of the 2007 World Championships, also said that the chances of a clean sweep were high.
"I have only run two bad races in my career and one of them was the Olympic trials final," where he finished second to Clement with Taylor third. "We have a chance of a cleansweep, we are a strong team here.
"There's nothing to worry about. I've trained all year. I want to have fun and stay relaxed," Jackson said.
"My main objective is to be on the podium and bring home a medal."
South African hurdler LJ van Zyl, third in Taylor's semi, admitted that the non-Americans would need to turn in remarkable performances if they were to have any chance of causing a shock.
"We will all have to go under 48sec or the Americans will kill us," said the 23-year-old Commonwealth Games and African Games champion whose personal best is 48.05sec.
Other finalists are from Jamaica, Poland and Greece. Jamaican Danny McFarlane, runner-up at the Athens Games, entered the final at 48.33 seconds.
Agencies