entertainment - Express

12 | EXPRESS | 08.09.2012 | THURSDAY
Gold Rush
Felix’s victory in the 200 meters leads
a string of 3-straight wins for the U.S.
No more heartbreak for Allyson
Felix. No more silver, either.
Denied twice on the world’s
biggest stage, Felix won the Olympic
gold medal she’s been yearning
for, taking the 200 meters
Wednesday night to fi ll the last,
and biggest, hole in her otherwise
stellar résumé.
Felix won the race in 21.88 seconds,
topping Jamaica’s Shelly-
Ann Fraser-Pryce, who won the
100 four nights earlier, by 0.21
second. American Carmelita Jeter
added bronze to go with her silver
in the 100 meters.
One more spot back was
Jamaica’s Veronica Campbell-
Brown, who defeated Felix in the
Athens and Beijing Games and
was trying to become the first
woman to win the same individual
track and fi eld event in three
consecutive Olympics.
Instead, the Americans were
the ones celebrating three straight,
their own 15 minutes of fame: Felix,
followed quickly by Aries Merritt in
the 110 hurdles and Brittney Reese
in the long jump.
“Track and fi eld is the best sport
for Americans,” said Jason Richardson,
who fi nished second to Merritt
in the hurdles as part of a sevenmedal
day at the track for the United
States. “We are always aware of
what the medal count is. I know
track and fi eld can close that, let the
world know the Americans are the
best track and fi eld country.”
Felix won easily, leaving nothing
to chance — or a coin fl ip —
as she burst ahead of Fraser-Pryce
with 40 meters to go.
Her win over Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce
in the 200 meters was a thrilling U.S.
victory in the Jamaica-U.S. sprint rivalry.
American Carmelita Jeter took bronze.
The two-time world champion
became only the second U.S.
woman‚ after Jackie Joyner-
Kersee in 1988, to win the long
jump with a leap of 7.12 meters.
He led a 1-2 finish for the United
States in the Olympic
110-meter hurdles, winning
in 12.92 seconds. Jason
Richardson, the world
champion, was second in 13.04.
MATT DUNHAM/AP
JULIAN FINNEY/GETTY IMAGES
Sarat Attar, wearing a white headscarf,
green long-sleeved shirt and
black leggings, became the first
Saudi woman to compete in Olympic
athletics. She finished her heat
in 2 minutes, 44.95 seconds — more
than 40 seconds behind the fastest
qualifier — and didn’t advance. (AP)
It was the third-place tie in 100meter
qualifying at U.S. trials earlier
this summer that hovered over
Felix’s run-up to these Olympics —
forcing her to defend herself off the
track for the fi rst time in an otherwise-pristine
career.
Her tie with Jeneba Tarmoh for
the third and fi nal spot in the 100
forced USA Track and Field offi -
cials to scramble for a solution. One
possibility was a coin fl ip; instead,
they settled on a run-off. But Tarmoh
begged off. Felix, never a serious
medal contender for the 100,
had to defend her decision not to
give up the spot, and she went on
to fi nish fi fth.
The three heats in the Olympic
100, she said, were the perfect
tune-up for the race she really
wanted to win.
“Everyone just expected me to
give up this spot, because I think
lots of people ... know me and they
know that I’m seen as this very nice
girl,” Felix said with a chuckle a
few days before the start of track
and fi eld in London. “But it’s not
just about me.”
On this night, though, it was.
Twice before, Felix came into the
Olympics on even footing, or even
a slight favorite, against Campbell-
Brown. Both times, the American
ended up disappointed — and the
last time in Beijing, choking back
tears, she called it “deja vu, and
not in a good way.”
This time, there would be no
regrets. EDDIE PELLS (AP)