LaShawn Merritt (born June 27, 1986) is an American track and field athlete who competes in sprinting events, specializing in the 400 metres. He is a former Olympic champion over the distance and his personal best of 43.65 seconds makes him the ninth fastest of all time.
He was a successful junior athlete and won the 400 m gold at the 2004 World Junior Championships in Athletics, as well as setting two world junior records in the relays. He became part of the American 4×400 meter relay team and helped win the event at the 2006 IAAF World Indoor Championships. He established himself individually in 2007 by winning a silver medal in the 400 m at the 2007 World Championships.
He came out on top of a rivalry with Jeremy Wariner in 2008 by winning in the 2008 Olympic final in a personal best time, and by a record margin of 0.99 secs. He also broke the Olympic record in the relay with the American team, recording the second fastest time ever. Merritt established himself as the World Champion with a win at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics in the 400 m and the 4×400 m relay.
Merritt is a native of Portsmouth, Virginia where he graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School. LaShawn spent one year as a college athlete at East Carolina University, signing an endorsement contract with Nike during his first season of indoor track, making him no longer eligible to compete in an NCAA event. He then transferred to Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. He studied business administration at Norfolk State University also located in Norfolk. [2] [3]
Merritt came to prominence as a junior athlete at the 2004 World Junior Championships in Athletics. He took the gold medal in the 400 meters race and set two junior world records as part of the American 4×100 and 4×400 meter relay teams. [4] He took part in the 2005 World Championships in Athletics, his first major senior championship, and acted as the relay substitute for the men's 4×400 m. He helped the team win their heat and was substituted for Jeremy Wariner for the final, where the American team won the gold medal. [5]
He broke into the senior ranks in 2006, and was selected for the 4×400 m relay team for the 2006 IAAF World Indoor Championships. Along with Tyree Washington, Milton Campbell and Wallace Spearmon, he won the World Indoor title in the event. Outdoors, he improved his best to 44.14 seconds for a bronze medal at the 2006 IAAF World Athletics Final and was selected to represent the United States at the 2006 IAAF World Cup, at which he won the 400 m competition.
Prior to the 400 m final at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics in Osaka, Merritt stated his intent to beat all-comers. He achieved his first sub-44 second run, finishing in 43.96, and beat 2000 Olympic champion Angelo Taylor to the line. However, this was not enough to beat the reigning World and Olympic champion Jeremy Wariner, who was half a second ahead. Nevertheless, the silver medal was Merritt's first at a global championships over the 400 m. [6] He again formed part of the United States' 4×400 meter relay team and, with fellow individual medallists Wariner and Taylor among the team, the American's eased to victory some three and a half seconds ahead of the Bahamians. [7] With Wariner absent from the field, Merritt won the gold medal at the 2007 IAAF World Athletics Final.
Merritt's 2008 season was distinguished by a considerable rivalry with Wariner, who had won the 400 m at every major global championship since 2004. The 2008 IAAF Golden League provided the venue for many of their duels. [8] He scored his first major win over Wariner in a close affair at the Internationales Stadionfest in Berlin. [9] He confirmed his Olympic place a month later by winning at the 2008 United States Olympic Trials, again defeating the reigning Olympic champion Wariner. [10] Later in July at the Golden Gala meeting, Wariner responded by edging a win in the 400 m by just 0.01 seconds. [11] At the Meeting Gaz de France in Paris, the last Golden League competition before the Olympics, Wariner seemed to have the momentum behind him after a win in 43.86 seconds. [12]
Merritt won the 400 m at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. A close race between Merritt and Wariner was expected, [13] though it ultimately ended in a rout. The 0.99-second margin between Merritt's first-place finish and Wariner's second-place finish was the largest in an Olympic 400 m final. [14] His time of 43.75, a new personal best, made him the fifth fastest 400 m runner on the all-time lists, still two places behind Wariner, who is third on the all-time list of fastest runners. [15] He teamed up with Wariner, Angelo Taylor and 400 m bronze medallist David Neville for the men's 4 × 400 m relay. The team defeated the Olympic record mark which had stood since the 1992 Barcelona Olympics by running a time of 2:55.39, the second fastest in the history of the event. [16]
Weeks after the Olympics, he lost to Wariner by a large margin at the Weltklasse Zürich, although Wariner's winning time of 43.82 seconds was still slower than Merritt's Olympic winning run. [17] Merritt secured his fourth win over Wariner that season at the 2008 IAAF World Athletics Final. Although the two had both beaten each other that season, Merritt had won all the most important races, ending the season as the Olympic and American champion over 400 m as well as taking home the World Athletics Final payday. He opted to miss out on the 2009 indoor season to focus on improving his running and technique. [8]
With Wariner already qualified for the World Championships as the defending champion, Merritt won the 400 m at the 2009 US Championships somewhat uncontested, equalling his own world leading time of 44.50 seconds. At the 2009 World Championships in Athletics, in Berlin, he went on to win the 400 m in a world-leading time of 44.06 seconds, once again beating Wariner. [18] [19]
On 22 April 2010 it was revealed he had failed three drugs tests and as a result he accepted a provisional suspension. [20] He claimed that the failed drug tests resulted from his use of an over-the-counter penis enlargement product, ExtenZe. [21] Merritt stated that he had not read the small print to check the ingredients of the product, which contains the banned steroid dehydroepiandrosterone. He accepted a two-year ban for the infraction and stated that he had made a "foolish, immature and egotistical mistake...Any penalty I may receive for my action will not overshadow the embarrassment and humiliation I feel". [20]
After his two-year ban was reduced to 21 months, LaShawn Merritt finished second at the Stockholm meeting of the Diamond League [22] series with a time of 44.74. He received a berth to the 2011 World Championships in Daegu, South Korea due to him being the 2009 World Champion for the 400 meters. At the 2011 World Championships, he set a world leading time of 44.35. He eventually won the silver medal behind teenager Kirani James of Grenada, having led most of the race, but went on to run the final leg of the United States' gold medal winning 4 × 400 m relay team having been in third place coming out of the final bend.
Merritt was the number one qualifier at the 2012 Olympic Trials. Two weeks before the track and field events at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Merritt tweaked his hamstring in the Herculis meet in Monaco. [23] As a result of this injury he pulled up in a qualifying heat of the 400m at the London Olympics and did not finish. [24]
Merritt qualified once again onto the US team for the 400 meters at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. He ran a very quick time of 43.85 but only managed to win the bronze medal behind defending Olympic champion, Kirani James of Grenada, who won the silver medal with a time of 43.76, and Wayde van Niekerk of South Africa, who won the gold medal with a new world record time of 43.03.
Merritt announced his retirement following the 2017 World Championships in Athletics.
Event | Time (sec) | Venue | Date |
---|---|---|---|
100 metres | 10.56 | Lynchburg, Virginia, United States | March 31, 2007 |
200 metres | 19.74 | Eugene, Oregon, United States | July 8, 2016 |
300 metres | 31.23 | Kingston, Jamaica, Jamaica | June 11, 2016 |
400 metres | 43.65 | Beijing, China | August 26, 2015 |
Indoor events | |||
60 metres | 6.68 | Lynchburg, Virginia, United States | February 18, 2006 |
200 metres | 20.40 | Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States | February 12, 2005 |
300 metres | 31.94 | Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States | February 10, 2006 |
400 metres | 44.93 | Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States | February 11, 2005 |
500 metres | 1:01.39 | New York City, New York, United States | February 10, 2012 |
Merritt is one of only six men in history to have broken 20 seconds for the 200 metres and 44 seconds for the 400 metres, the other men being Michael Johnson, Isaac Makwala, Wayde Van Niekerk, Michael Norman, and Fred Kerley.
His personal best of 43.65 seconds for the 400 metres, set in Beijing on 26 August 2015, is the fastest non-winning time in history.
Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2004 | World Junior Championships | Grosseto, Italy | 1st | 400 m | 45.25 |
1st | 4 × 100 m relay | 38.66 WJR | |||
1st | 4 × 400 m relay | 3:01.09 WJR | |||
2005 | World Championships | Helsinki, Finland | 1st | 4 × 400 m relay | 3:00.48 (heats) |
2006 | World Indoor Championships | Moscow, Russia | 1st | 4 × 400 m relay | 3:03.24 |
World Athletics Final | Stuttgart, Germany | 3rd | 400 m | 44.14 | |
World Cup | Athens, Greece | 1st | 400 m | 44.54 | |
1st | 4 × 400 m relay | 3:00.11 | |||
2007 | World Championships | Osaka, Japan | 2nd | 400 m | 43.96 PB |
1st | 4 × 400 m relay | 2:55.56 | |||
World Athletics Final | Stuttgart, Germany | 1st | 400 m | 44.58 | |
2008 | Olympic Games | Beijing, China | 1st | 400 m | 43.75 PB |
1st | 4 × 400 m relay | 2:55.39 | |||
2009 | World Championships | Berlin, Germany | 1st | 400 m | 44.06 |
1st | 4 × 400 m relay | 2:57.86 | |||
World Athletics Final | Thessaloniki, Greece | 1st | 400 m | 44.93 | |
2011 | World Championships | Daegu, South Korea | 2nd | 400 m | 44.63 |
1st | 4 × 400 m relay | 2:59.31 | |||
2012 | Olympic Games | London, United Kingdom | — | 400 m | DNF |
2013 | World Championships | Moscow, Russia | 1st | 400 m | 43.74 PB |
1st | 4 × 400 m relay | 2:58.71 | |||
2014 | IAAF World Relays | Nassau, Bahamas | 1st | 4 × 400 m relay | 2:57.25 |
2015 | IAAF World Relays | Nassau, Bahamas | 1st | 4 × 400 m relay | 2:58.43 |
World Championships | Beijing, China | 2nd | 400 m | 43.65 PB | |
1st | 4 × 400 m relay | 2:57.82 | |||
2016 | Olympic Games | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | 3rd | 400 m | 43.85 |
1st | 4 × 400 m relay | 2:57.30 | |||
2017 | IAAF World Relays | Nassau, Bahamas | 1st | 4 × 400 m relay | 3:02.13 |
World Championships | London, United Kingdom | 20th (sf) | 400 m | 45.52 |
The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is one lap around the track. Runners start in staggered positions and race in separate lanes for the entire course. In many countries, athletes previously competed in the 440-yard dash (402.336 m)—which is a quarter of a mile and was referred to as the 'quarter-mile'—instead of the 400 m (437.445 yards), though this distance is now obsolete.
Jeremy Matthew Wariner is a retired American track athlete specializing in the 400 meters. He has won four Olympic medals and six World Championships medals. He is the fourth fastest competitor in the history of the 400 m event with a personal best of 43.45 seconds, behind Wayde van Niekerk, Michael Johnson and Butch Reynolds and the fifth fastest all-time mark when he set it in 2007.
Angelo F. Taylor is an American track and field athlete, winner of 400-meter hurdles at the 2000 and 2008 Summer Olympics. His personal record for the hurdles event is 47.25 seconds. His time puts him in a tie with Félix Sánchez for the #14 performer of all time. Sánchez also won two Olympic gold medals, in 2004 between Taylor's two golds and 2012, immediately following. Taylor also has a 400-meter dash best of 44.05 seconds, ranking him as the #25 performer of all time, superior to any other athlete who has made a serious effort in the 400 metres hurdles. He won the bronze medal in the 400 m at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics.
Kerron Stephon Clement is a Trinidadian-born American track and field athlete who competes in the 400-meter hurdles and 400-meter sprint. He held the indoor world record in the 400-meter sprint, having broken Michael Johnson's mark in 2005.
Harry Lee Reynolds Jr., commonly known as Butch Reynolds, is an American former track and field athlete who competed in the 400 meter dash. He held the world record for the event for 11 years 9 days with his personal best time of 43.29 seconds set in 1988. That year, he was the silver medalist at the 1988 Seoul Olympics and a relay gold medalist. He was falsely accused and banned for drug use for two years by the IAAF; until The United States Supreme Court ruled in favor of Reynolds due to an apparent drug testing procedural flaw. Reynolds was awarded $27.3 million dollars due to the false accusation damages, but he never received the money.
David Gillick is an Irish international track and field athlete. He began his education in Our Lady's Boys School and attended St Benildus College secondary school in Kilmacud. He studied at Dublin Institute of Technology before moving to Loughborough University in the United Kingdom to train as a full-time athlete with coach Nick Dakin. Gillick specialises in the 400 metres and he won the European Indoor Championship in 2005 and 2007, as well as the Irish National Outdoor Championship in 2006 and 2007. He set the Irish Indoor record of 45.52 seconds in the 2007 final. The time also beat the Irish outdoor record of 45.58 and was within the Olympic 'A' qualifying standard for the 2008 Games. On 4 July 2009 he ran 44.77 seconds in a race in Madrid to set a new national record. He is also the 2009 Irish national 200 m champion.
The men's 4 × 400 metres relay event at the 2008 Summer Olympics took place on 22 and 23 August at the Beijing National Stadium.
The men's 400 metres at the 2008 Summer Olympics took place on 18–21 August at the Beijing National Stadium. Fifty-five athletes from 40 nations competed.
David Neville is an American sprinter who specializes in the 400 meters and two-time medalist in the Summer Olympics. A native of Merrillville, Indiana, Neville became the first individual track and field medalist out of Indiana University since Willie May won silver in the 110-meter hurdles in 1960.
The men's 400 metres at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Olympic Stadium on 18, 19 and 21 August.
The men's 4 × 400 metres relay at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Olympic Stadium on August 22 and August 23.
Ryan Wilson is an American track and field athlete who specializes in the 110 meters hurdles. He is a previous national champion after winning at the 2013 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, and the current national silver medal holder at the 2014 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. He was the 2003 NCAA champion in the event and won four hurdles titles in the Pacific-10 Conference. He was the bronze medalist at the 2008 IAAF World Athletics Final and was the runner-up at the 2010 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. His personal best time of 13.02 seconds, set in 2007 at the Reebok Grand Prix, ranks him within the top twenty fastest of all time in the event.
The men's 400 metres competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom, was held at the Olympic Stadium on 4–6 August. Forty-nine athletes from 38 nations competed. The event was won by Kirani James of Grenada, earning the country its first Olympic medal. Luguelín Santos's silver was the Dominican Republic's first medal in the men's 400 metres. Lalonde Gordon's bronze was Trinidad and Tobago's first medal in the event since 1964.
Luguelín Miguel Santos Aquino is a Dominican sprinter, who specialises in the 400 m. He was the silver medallist in the event at the 2012 London Olympics at the age of eighteen. His personal best is 44.11 seconds.
Tony McQuay is an American track and field athlete who specializes in the 400 meters. He is a member of the 2012 and 2016 United States Olympic teams, winning a silver medal in the 4 × 400 m relay in 2012 and a gold in the same event in 2016. He is also a two time World Champion in this event.
David Verburg is an American track and field athlete who specializes in the 400 meters. He holds gold medals in the 4 × 400 m relay from the 2016 Olympics; the 2013 and 2015 World Championships; and the 2014 Indoor World Championships.
Kyle Clemons is an American track and field sprinter who competed collegiately for the Kansas Jayhawks and specializes in the 400-meter dash. He was the 2014 champion at the USA Indoor Track and Field Championships and won a bronze medal at the 2014 IAAF World Indoor Championships. His personal best for the event is 44.79.
The men's 400 metres event at the 2016 Summer Olympics took place between 12 and 14 August at the Olympic Stadium. Fifty-three athletes from 35 nations competed. The event was won by Wayde van Niekerk of South Africa, the nation's second gold medal in the men's 400 metres. Kirani James of Grenada and LaShawn Merritt of the United States became the sixth and seventh men to win two medals in the event, but Michael Johnson remained the only man with two gold medals.
The 400 metres at the World Championships in Athletics has been contested by both men and women since the inaugural edition in 1983. It is the second most prestigious title in the discipline after the 400 metres at the Olympics. The competition format typically has two or three qualifying rounds leading to a final between eight athletes.
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