EUGENE, Oregon - Olympic and world champion Jeremy Wariner heads back to Europe next week hoping to rekindle his season after losing two consecutive 400 metres finals to new U.S. Olympics trials champion LaShawn Merritt.
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Jeremy Wariner crosses the finish line winning his men's 400 meters semifinal heat at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials in Eugene, Oregon June 30, 2008. [Agencies]
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Wariner had no answer to Merritt in the trials' final on Thursday, finishing in 44.20 seconds to Merritt's 44.00.
The 22-year-old Merritt also beat his countryman in Berlin in June.
They are scheduled to meet again in Rome on July 11, and both have 400 metres races on their schedule for Paris a week later.
Ahead by a tenth of a second at the 200 metres mark in the trials, Merritt moved to a three-tenths of a second advantage by 300 metres, according to Track & Field News magazine statisticians.
Wariner gained only a tenth of a second of the deficit back in the closing 100 metres, the statisticians said.
Wariner said poor execution resulted in the loss.
"I made a move at 150 meters and I forced it instead of using my kick at the end," he told reporters. "I didn't execute right."
Twice this year Merritt has beaten Wariner in stretch runs.
"I know I need to train harder," said Wariner, who skipped a victory lap with Merritt and a post-race news conference before returning to speak to reporters.
He insisted last week nothing had changed in his training since controversially moving in January from long-time coach Clyde Hart to Michael Ford, a Hart assistant at Baylor University.
"My workouts are exactly the same," Wariner said.
Yet the closing strength Wariner employed in winning Olympic and world championship gold medals under Hart was missing in the Olympic trials final.
World record holder Michael Johnson, Wariner's agent, attributed the loss to a mistake Wariner made in the race.
"You don't go and change your entire race strategy," Johnson told reporters. "You go and make sure you don't make the same mistake again."
Still the fastest this year with a run of 43.98 seconds in Oslo, Wariner said he should remain the favourite for Beijing.
"I've been there before and I know what it takes to win," he said.
