His Time Has Come
by Eric Everett
If you ask LaShawn how he feels about his chances in Beijing, he'll tell you without hesitation that he has a vision, and it ends with him winning gold.
That's what he told the Virginian-Pilot in a feature article that ran this past Sunday.
“The Olympics is the biggest stage in track and field...Four years ago, I won gold at the World Junior Championships in Italy,” he said. “Four years later, I believe I can do the same thing on the pro level.”
PRAISE FROM AN UNLIKELY SOURCE
Evidently, Clyde Hart -- Jeremy Wariner's former coach -- thinks that LaShawn's time may have come as well.
“If I was still coaching Jeremy, which I’m not, LaShawn would be the one that I would be the most concerned about, without a doubt...I think what he does have is that marvelous speed, and that’s a major thing you have to be concerned about.”
AN ASTOUNDING RISE
The article, by reporter Larry Rubama, detailed LaShawn's incredible arrival on the track and field scene. He was a senior in high school when he literally burst onto the national radar:
Merritt blossomed into a national-caliber runner. At the Group AAA state meet, he won the 100 in a meet-record time of 10.47.
He also took the 400 at the national outdoor track and field championships in a stunning 45.38 seconds. That smashed the meet record by 36/hundredths of a second and ended up being the fastest high school time in the nation for 2004.
Merritt was surprised some doubted his ability coming into the meet, even though he had posted a 45.8 time earlier in the season.
“When I got there everyone was saying, 'Who is this guy,’” Merritt recalled. “They were talking about every other runner except me. But I learned the first step to being successful is believing you can do it. And I believed I could do it.”
RELATED STORIES
Portsmouth's Merritt sets sights on glory in Beijing (Virginian-Pilot, Aug. 3, 2008)
http://hamptonroads.com/2008/08/portsmouth%E2%80%99s-merritt-sets-sights...
Delicious
Digg
Facebook
Newsvine
Reddit
Google
Yahoo
