Motivated Merritt leads US sweep in Olympic 400

BEIJING (AP) Usain Bolt's shadow at the Beijing Olympics stretched to the men's 400 meters, and he wasn't even in the race.

LaShawn Merritt's powerful, Bolt-like stretch run led a U.S. sweep in the event Thursday night, his long stride churning as reigning world champion and 2004 Olympic gold medalist Jeremy Wariner faded.

Afterward, Merritt said he studied Bolt's stunning world-record run in Wednesday night's 200 meters and then watched himself in the 400 semifinals. He saw he was running with short steps, not the giant stride Bolt has.

I'm 6-foot-3, Merritt reasoned, Bolt's 6-foot-5 - why can't I run more like him?

"He really opened up coming down the home stretch," Merritt said. "I used to run that way back in high school before I started getting all technical with everything. I just came in and said I was going to open up and let it fly."

It was the first loss in a major international competition for Wariner since his gold four years ago in Athens. It came at the end of a season that began when Wariner left his longtime coach Clyde Hart in favor of Hart's former assistant, Michael Ford.

Wariner still leads Merritt 14-4 in head-to-head competition - but three of those losses have come this year.

"When I tried to make my move like I usually do coming off the turn, it just wasn't there," Wariner said.

Merritt, meanwhile, rolled home in 43.75 seconds, his career best by almost two-tenths of a second. Wariner took the silver, easing up over the last few meters and finishing in 44.74, almost a full second off his lifetime best.

David Neville dove face-first across the finish line to take the bronze in 44.80, just 0.04 second ahead of Bahamian Christopher Brown.

"Sometimes we have to sacrifice our bodies, our minds, our spirits. That's what I did," Neville said. "I knew I had to dive. I did have to dive for the medal."

Merritt, who turned 22 two months ago, beat Wariner at the U.S. Olympic trials. But Wariner came back to defeat his rival twice in Europe, including a world-leading 43.83-second performance last month.

Merritt said he was surprised when he looked around as he bolted down the final 100 meters and didn't see Wariner, but he was careful not to proclaim himself permanently out of his rival's shadow.

"I know Jeremy always brings his 'A' game," he said.

Not on this night.

Wariner, who lectured reporters for questioning America's sometimes disappointing showing in Beijing, brushed aside his own failure, pointing instead to what he believes will be a powerhouse 1,600-meter relay team.