Sanya Richards

BERLIN - Sanya Richards dominated a little bit like Usain Bolt. Then she danced a little like him, too. A big occasion called for the “Dallas Boogie,’’ a little jig Richards came up with and showed off after winning the 400 meters yesterday at the world championships. The debut of the dance was the punctuation on a night that’s been a long time in the making. With one trip around the track, Richards showed she can win on the brightest stage. She now has that elusive first major title in her signature event to prove it. “I’m overwhelmed and excited to be finally standing on top of...

BERLIN - LaShawn Merritt raised the metallic blue baton high in the air as he crossed the finish line. Sanya Richards went with a simple flicking motion. Both fine ways to celebrate a gold medal. Bottom line? Both still had the stick in their hands at the finish. The Americans got the baton around the track in the finals yesterday, leading to a 1,600-meter relay sweep to close out the world championships. “Did you think anything less?’’ Angelo Taylor said, grinning.

BERLIN - LaShawn Merritt raised the metallic blue baton high in the air as he crossed the finish line. Sanya Richards went with a simple flicking motion. Both fine ways to celebrate a gold medal. Bottom line? Both still had the stick in their hands at the finish. The Americans got the baton around the track in the finals yesterday, leading to a 1,600-meter relay sweep to close out the world championships. “Did you think anything less?’’ Angelo Taylor said, grinning.

BERLIN - Sanya Richards dominated a little bit like Usain Bolt. Then she danced a little like him, too. A big occasion called for the “Dallas Boogie,’’ a little jig Richards came up with and showed off after winning the 400 meters yesterday at the world championships. The debut of the dance was the punctuation on a night that’s been a long time in the making. With one trip around the track, Richards showed she can win on the brightest stage. She now has that elusive first major title in her signature event to prove it. “I’m overwhelmed and excited to be finally standing on top of...

INDIANAPOLIS -- Sanya Richards failed to make the United States' 400-meter team for the world championships yesterday, finishing fourth on a damp track at the US track and field championships. The loss broke a string of 18 consecutive outdoor victories in the 400 for Richards since her runner-up finish at the 2005 world championships. A year ago, the two-time defending champion had the five fastest times in the world, capped by an American record, but she was dogged by a flulike illness that kept her out of her first four meets this season.

BEIJING - By the blink of an eye, Dawn Harper made the United States Olympic team. By the scrape of a hurdle, she won a gold medal. Harper captured the Olympic 100-meter hurdles crown last night, finishing strong while the favorite, American teammate Lolo Jones, clipped the ninth of 10 hurdles. "That's how close in track and field your dream can either slip away or [be] given to you," Harper said. Will this go down as the race Harper won, or the race Jones lost? A great debate to have if you're Harper, who will leave Beijing carrying a gold medal.

EUGENE, Ore. - If only they were all this easy. LaShawn Merritt and Sanya Richards made their 400-meter races look like strolls around the track yesterday, each cruising to titles at the US championships. With no Jeremy Wariner in the field, Merritt was missing his only real rival and quickly pulled away from the field. The Olympic gold medalist, who beat Wariner in Beijing, won in 44.50 seconds, tying his world-best time for 2009. Now that’s a birthday present. Merritt turned 23 yesterday, but doesn’t plan to celebrate until returning home to Virginia.

PHILADELPHIA -- Justin Gatlin and his relay teammates needed only to race once to win twice, and Kenya used a big finishing kick to pull off a surprise win in the Penn Relays yesterday. In another race, Asafa Powell might hold the title of "World's Fastest Man," but his time in the 100 meters is still second-best in the long Penn Relays history. Things were plenty unpredictable, but Team USA did go 5-1 for the second straight year against the world. Kenya used a late push by Alex Kipchirchir to win the distance medley relay, and Gatlin's 400-meter...

United States sprinter Sanya Richards-Ross disagrees with team selection rules keeping Tyson Gay out of a 100-meter duel with world-record holder Usain Bolt at the world championships. Richards-Ross said Wednesday she’s disappointed Gay missed selection in a strict system that picks the 1-2-3 finishers in each event at the U.S. trials. “I think it should be first two (qualify), and the third should be a coaches’ selection based on fitness and race sharpness,’’ the 400-meter world champion said before the Athletissima meet.

Sanya Richards-Ross is going to have some tough competition when she steps onto the track to defend her world 400-meter title, and it's going to come from American teammate Allyson Felix. Richards-Ross, who missed most of the 2010 season because of injury, has had a bit of an up-and-down year on the track. She finished fourth at a meet last month in Birmingham, England, but then rebounded by winning the 400 in London three weeks ago. "Coach Hart just kept saying I'm a ticking time bomb and he didn't know when I was going to go off, but he knew we...

EUGENE, Ore. - If only they were all this easy. LaShawn Merritt and Sanya Richards made their 400-meter races look like strolls around the track yesterday, each cruising to titles at the US championships. With no Jeremy Wariner in the field, Merritt was missing his only real rival and quickly pulled away from the field. The Olympic gold medalist, who beat Wariner in Beijing, won in 44.50 seconds, tying his world-best time for 2009. Now that’s a birthday present. Merritt turned 23 yesterday, but doesn’t plan to celebrate until returning home to Virginia.

BEIJING - By the blink of an eye, Dawn Harper made the United States Olympic team. By the scrape of a hurdle, she won a gold medal. Harper captured the Olympic 100-meter hurdles crown last night, finishing strong while the favorite, American teammate Lolo Jones, clipped the ninth of 10 hurdles. "That's how close in track and field your dream can either slip away or [be] given to you," Harper said. Will this go down as the race Harper won, or the race Jones lost? A great debate to have if you're Harper, who will leave Beijing carrying a gold medal.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Sanya Richards failed to make the United States' 400-meter team for the world championships yesterday, finishing fourth on a damp track at the US track and field championships. The loss broke a string of 18 consecutive outdoor victories in the 400 for Richards since her runner-up finish at the 2005 world championships. A year ago, the two-time defending champion had the five fastest times in the world, capped by an American record, but she was dogged by a flulike illness that kept her out of her first four meets this season.

INDIANAPOLIS -- That blur speeding through Indy was Tyson Gay. Running on a wet track, with the wind blowing in his face, Gay completed one of the most impressive sprint doubles in the sport's history yesterday. The quiet, 24-year-old former Arkansas sprinter ran the second-fastest 200 meters ever, a 19.62-second dash that broke Michael Johnson's meet record on the final day of the US track and field championships. Add that to his 9.84-second triumph into the wind in the 100 Friday, and no other sprinter's marks in the same meet can match him. Gay's 200 time was second only to Johnson's world...

OSAKA, Japan - Tired and sore, Tyson Gay didn't have energy left to celebrate completing one of the most impressive sprint doubles in the history of the world track & field championships. "This was the hardest race of my life," he said. "I couldn't think or nothing. I really couldn't put my arms up to celebrate. I couldn't even really jog on my victory lap. " The latest dominant American sprinter pulled away from Jamaican Usain Bolt down the straightaway to win the 200 meters yesterday in 19.76 seconds, breaking the meet record of 19.79 set 12 years ago by American Michael...