LONDON -- The U.S. qualified in the men's 4x400 relay Thursday morning, but without three of their top runners in the final, questions abound about whether they can keep their gold-medal streak alive.
Jeremy Wariner confirmed he has a torn hamstring, ending the Arlington Lamar product's hopes of a third consecutive Olympics with a gold medal. He joins U.S. teammates LaShawn Merritt and Manteo Mitchell as spectators."After the MRI showed a tear, I decided to call it a season," Wariner said. "I'm very disappointed to have made the team and not be able to run. I've been training so hard these last few weeks to show the coaches I would be ready to help the team out. But I didn't want to risk not finishing my leg on the relay and the team not being able to run in the final."I'm proud to say I made the team, but this will motivate me to focus on my rehab and get ready for next year."Wariner qualified sixth in the 400 at the U.S. Trials but was selected for the relay pool for his relay experience. He ran the third leg in 2004 and the anchor leg in 2008 in victories by the Americans.Merritt, the 2008 Olympic gold medalist in the 400, injured his left hamstring during a tuneup race in Monaco and pulled up during Olympic qualifying last week.His injury had promoted Wariner to the anchor leg for the 4x400 final. That was the U.S.'s plan until Wariner's injury during Olympic training.Wariner said he tweaked his hamstring last Friday but worked out on Monday after testing it over the weekend."I might have made it worse on Monday," he said, adding an MRI revealed the tear.The Americans have won every 4x400 Olympic relay they have competed in since 1976, but the names running for Team USA this year are not familiar.Mitchell, Joshua Mance, Tony McQuay and Bryshon Nellum ran the heat Thursday and qualified in 2:58.87, tying The Bahamas for the fastest time ever run in the first round of an Olympic 4x400 relay. But Mitchell discovered afterward that he had run at least half the race with a broken leg. He, too, is out of the relay final.That means three of the six runners in the relay pool will not run in the final."Some people are going to have their doubts, because we didn't do as well in the [individual] 400 this year as in the past," McQuay said. "LaShawn and Jeremy were great tributes for 400 runners. They set the pace and the tone for us. Not to have those two guys out here, America kind of looks down on us and doesn't think we're as strong. For us, that's fuel to our hunger. We're going to prove to the world that without those guys, we're still great."Wariner said he believes the relay will be "just fine" tonight. He hopes the same will be said of him.Wariner, 28, was ranked either first or second in the world in the 400 by Track & Field News every year from 2004-2010. He won an Olympic gold, two world titles, Olympic silver and a world silver in that seven-year span. But he has not run a sub-44-second time in the 400 since a 43.82 in 2008. Injuries since the last Olympics have slowed him.Wariner had surgery on his right knee in December 2009 after tearing cartilage. That eventually led to a sore hamstring that cut short his 2010 season. Last summer, he tore a ligament in his left foot and needed surgery on his left knee, missing the world championships. Now, another hamstring injury has forced him off the track."This is not the end of my career," Wariner said emphatically. "All I need to do is gain my strength back this off-season. We plan on starting my off-season work in late September. This will give me plenty of time to be ready for the [2013] season."His coach, Clyde Hart, believes Wariner will return as a 400 contender again despite Wariner's injuries and his age."I think next year will probably be a really critical year, because it's the world championships," Hart said. "...But I don't think this is, by any means, the end of Jeremy Wariner. He could be the comeback story you're writing next year."Charean Williams, 817-390-7760Twitter: @NFLCharean
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