First in Lausanne
by Eric Everett
With a little sleep and some adjustment to the time zone, LaShawn returned to his triumphant ways on Tuesday night, winning the 400 meters at the Athletissima Grand Prix in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Virginia's best turned in the third-fastest time of his career, 43.98 seconds, in the win. His American teammate and Beijing 400 meter hurdles champion, Angelo Taylor, finished in second with a time of 44.38.
As the Guardian wrote:
Jet-lag was clearly out of the way for some of the stars of Beijing. On Friday night in Zurich, LaShawn Merritt, the Olympic 400m champion, was beaten by his US team-mate Jeremy Wariner. But here Merritt was so commanding that he took control along the back straight and came easing into the final 120m with an impressive lead. He won in 43.98sec, 0.23sec outside his winning mark in Beijing.
It was LaShawn's last race of the season, and as he explained to IAAF.org, he was happy to finish with a win:
“I am closing up my season here, so I really wanted to finish with a victory,” said Merritt. “The track is fast, the atmosphere was great.”
Watch the race here below, courtesy of YouTube.com:
RELATED STORIES
Lausanne: IAAF World Athletics Tour (IAAF.org, Sept. 2, 2008)
http://www.iaaf.org/GP08/news/kind=100/newsid=47464.html
Powell threatens Bolt's 100m record (Guardian, Sept. 2, 2008)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2008/sep/03/athletics.asafapowell
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