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Howard's Oliver hurdles to Olympic berth
Howard University alum David Oliver set a Hayward Track record, running to a winning time of 12.95 seconds in
the 110 meter hurdles Sunday at
the U.S. Olympic Trials to earn a berth to the XXIX
Summer Games in Beijing, China in August.
"I really don't know what happened," Oliver said after the race. "The gun went off and I just started running. I haven't seen the replay even and I don't even know where I was at."
Oliver, one of the favorites to win the event, had the best mark of the quarterfinals at 13.07 and was the top seed in the first of two semifinals.
His most impressive showing was in the semifinal race, where he crossed the line .01 of a second under the American record, in 12.89. But he was aided in that race by an illegal wind of 3.2mps. It was the fourth-fastest time ever run under any conditions. Terrence Trammell won the second semifinal in 13.08 (+2.0mps).
Oliver sped to a time of 13.24 seconds to post the best mark in the first round.
"I just wanted to make the top-three in the
finals," Oliver added. "I am just happy that I was able to
do that and get the win."
Oliver has posted three of the world's top five times in the event this season, including 12.95 seconds in May. That's second to the world record of 12.87 run by Dayron Robles. He also won the U.S. indoor title in February before posting his sub-13 time in Doha, Qatar.
Though slow out of the blocks in the final, Oliver rallied past Trammell, the two-time Olympic silver medalist, defending Olympic Trials champion and 2007 World Outdoor silver medalist, to win the hurdles final. Trammell was second in 13.00 and World Outdoor bronze medalist David Payne third in 13.25.
Payne was the beneficiary of an untimely fall by former
St. Augustine's hurdler Anwar Moore, who was in third but
fell over the final hurdle and finished eighth in 16.64.
© 2008 Azeez Communications, Inc.