LaShawn Merritt (born June 27, 1986) is an American sprinter who specializes in the 400 meters. [edit] Biography 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 is currently enrolled at Old Dominion University in Norfolk,Virginia.[1] [edit] Career 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.[2] Merritt claimed the 400 m silver medal at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics in Osaka. He also won his first gold medal in a major tournament with the 4×400 meter relay team. Merritt won the 400 m at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. A close race between Merritt and Jeremy Wariner was expected,[3] 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.[4] His time of 43.75 makes him the fifth fastest 400 m runner in history.[5] He won the 400 m at the 2009 US Championships, equalling his own world leading time of 44.50 seconds. At the 2009 World Championships in Athletics, in Berlin, Merritt went on to win the 400 m in a world-leading time of 44.06 seconds, once again beating Wariner.[6][7] [edit] Achievements | Year | Tournament | Venue | Result | Event | | 2004 | World Junior Championships | Grosseto, Italy | 1st | 400 m | | 1st | 4x100 m relay | | 1st | 4x400 m relay | | 2006 | World Indoor Championships | Moscow, Russia | 1st | 4x400 m relay | | World Athletics Final | Stuttgart, Germany | 3rd | 400 m | | World Cup | Athens, Greece | 1st | 400 m | | 1st | 4x400 m relay | | 2007 | IAAF World Championships in Athletics | Osaka, Japan | 2nd | 400 m, PB 43.96 | | World Athletics Final | Stuttgart, Germany | 1st | 400 m | | 2008 | Summer Olympics | Beijing, China | 1st | 400 m, PB 43.75 | | Summer Olympics | Beijing, China | 1st | 4x400 m relay | | 2009 | IAAF World Championships in Athletics | Berlin, Germany | 1st | 400 m, 44.06 | | IAAF World Championships in Athletics | Berlin, Germany | 1st | 4x400 m relay | [edit] Personal bests - Outdoor [edit] Personal bests - Indoor [edit] References - ^ http://www.usatf.org/athletes/bios/Merritt_LaShawn.asp LaShawn Merritt
- ^ Grosseto - Three World Junior records set in the space of 90 minutes. IAAF (2004-07-18). Retrieved on 2009-06-02.
- ^ Forde, Pat (2008-08-08), Hold on to your medals ... The Dash is checking in from Beijing, ESPN, http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/summer08/columns/story?columnist=forde_pat&id=3523021, retrieved 2008-08-08
- ^ Hersh, Philip (2008-08-21), In the men's 400 meters, LaShawn Merritt's a fast learner, Los Angeles Times, http://www.latimes.com/sports/olympics/la-sp-olymentrack22-2008aug22,0,7811586.story, retrieved 2008-08-21
- ^ IAAF International Association of Athletics Federations - IAAF.org - Statistics - Top Lists
- ^ "400 Metres - M Final". August 21, 2009. http://berlin.iaaf.org/results/bydiscipline/disctype=4/sex=M/discCode=400/combCode=hash/roundCode=f/results.html#detM_400_hash_f.
- ^ Grohmann, Karolos (2009-08-21), Merritt crushes Wariner again for 400m title, Reuters, http://www.reuters.com/article/sportsNews/idUSTRE57K51Q20090821, retrieved 2008-08-22
[edit] External links | Olympic Champions in Men's 4×400 m Relay | | 1908 United States: (medley) William F. Hamilton, Nathaniel Cartmell, John Taylor, Mel Sheppard · 1912 United States: Mel Sheppard, Edward Lindberg, Ted Meredith, Charles Reidpath · 1920 Great Britain: Cecil Griffiths, Robert Lindsay, John Ainsworth-Davies, Guy Butler · 1924 United States: Commodore Cochran, Alan Helffrich, Oliver MacDonald, William Stevenson · 1928 United States: George Baird, Emerson Spencer, Frederick Alderman, Ray Barbuti · 1932 United States: Ivan Fuqua, Edgar Ablowich, Karl Warner, Bill Carr · 1936 Great Britain: Frederick Wolff, Godfrey Rampling, William Roberts, Godfrey Brown · 1948 United States: Arthur Harnden, Clifford Bourland, Roy Cochran, Mal Whitfield · 1952 Jamaica: Arthur Wint, Leslie Laing, Herb McKenley, George Rhoden · 1956 United States: Charlie Jenkins, Louis Jones, Jesse Mashburn, Tom Courtney · 1960 United States: Jack Yerman, Earl Young, Glenn Davis, Otis Davis · 1964 United States: Ollan Cassell, Michael Larrabee, Ulis Williams, Henry Carr · 1968 United States: Vincent Matthews, Ron Freeman, Larry James, Lee Evans · 1972 Kenya: Charles Asati, Hezahiah Nyamau, Robert Ouko, Julius Sang · 1976 United States: Herman Frazier, Benjamin Brown, Fred Newhouse, Maxie Parks · 1980 Soviet Union: Remigijus Valiulis, Mikhail Linge, Nikolay Chernetsky, Viktor Markin · 1984 United States: Sunder Nix, Ray Armstead, Alonzo Babers, Antonio McKay · 1988 United States: Danny Everett, Steve Lewis, Kevin Robinzine, Butch Reynolds · 1992 United States: Andrew Valmon, Quincy Watts, Michael Johnson, Steve Lewis · 1996 United States: LaMont Smith, Alvin Harrison, Derek Mills, Anthuan Maybank · 2000 Vacant: · 2004 United States: Otis Harris, Derrick Brew, Jeremy Wariner, Darold Williamson · 2008 United States: LaShawn Merritt, Angelo Taylor, David Neville, Jeremy Wariner | | | World Indoor Champions in Men's 4×400 m Relay | | 1991: Germany (Lieder, Carlowitz, Just, Schönlebe) • 1993: USA (Hall, Irvin, Rouser, Everett) • 1995: USA (Tolbert, Davis, Long, Atwater) • 1997: USA (Rouser, Everett, Maye, Minor) • 1999: USA (Morris, Johnson, Minor, Campbell) • 2001: Poland (Rysiukiewicz, Haczek, Bocian, Maćkowiak) • 2003: USA (Davis, Young, Campbell, Washington) • 2004: Jamaica (Haughton, Colquhoun, McDonald, Clarke) • 2006: USA (Washington, Merritt, Campbell, Spearmon) • 2008: USA (Davis, Torrance, Nixon, Willie) | | |
