U.S. Continues Its Rush of Helsinki Gold

Lauryn Williams won her second gold medal at the world championships by anchoring the U.S. women’s 400-meter relay team to a world-leading time and Dwight Phillips won his second successive long jump title on his first leap Saturday, giving U.S. athletes 24 medals and one day to match the team-record haul of 26, set in 1991.

But another botched relay performance and confusion surrounding Allyson Felix’s absence from the 400-meter squad marred a day that was otherwise distinguished by an array of fine performances.

One day after the favored U.S. men’s 400-meter team dropped the baton and failed to finish, Suziann Reid, Monique Hennagan, Moushaumi Robinson and Monique Henderson were disqualified for multiple lane infractions in the 1,600-meter relay. USA Track and Field officials said the violations weren’t specified, but replays appeared to show that Reid ran out of her lane and that Robinson lined up incorrectly on the second exchange. A U.S. appeal of the disqualification was rejected.

It was another sorry episode in a series of U.S. relay mishaps at major events. At the Athens Olympics, the women’s 400-meter team was disqualified for running out of the exchange zone on a handoff from Marion Jones to Williams, and faulty handoffs undid the U.S. men at the 1988 Seoul Games and the 1995 and 1997 World Championships.

Reid was also involved in a blunder at the 2001 World Championships in Edmonton, Canada. The U.S. was leading Jamaica before the final exchange but Reid dropped the baton while transferring it from one hand to the other and lost too much ground to recover.

The 400-meter team moved the baton safely on Saturday minus Felix, who had been announced as the leadoff runner despite her habit of starting slowly. The 200-meter champion was replaced about nine hours before the race by Angela Daigle, who led off in Friday’s first-round heat. The decision was made by Brooks Johnson, who oversees USATF’s relay program.

Daigle, Muna Lee, Me’Lisa Barber and Williams won in 41.78 seconds, with Jamaica second in 41.99 and Belarus third in 42.56.

Renaldo Nehemiah, Felix’s agent, said U.S. officials “set her up to fail” by putting her in the leadoff spot though she’d never run out of the blocks on a relay.

“It was kind of an insult,” Nehemiah said. “She had enough class to say no, that it wasn’t in her best interest or the best interest of the team, and that Angela Daigle should run. It’s just typical of USA Track and Field. Everybody has their own agenda, and this has been happening for years. She’s very disappointed and hurt.”

Williams said Felix “had the option of running and she wasn’t very comfortable as the first leg.... They could have probably put 12 different girls on the track and we still could have come out with a gold medal.”

The men’s 1,600-meter relay reached today’s final without incident. Miles Smith, Derrick Brew, LaShawn Merritt and Darold Williamson were timed in 3:00.48, slower than teams from the Bahamas, Jamaica and Poland. However, Jeremy Wariner and Andrew Rock, the 400-meter gold and silver medalists, will replace Smith and Merritt today.

“We weren’t trying to press or break any records,” Williamson said. “We just wanted to get the stick around and qualify for the final. With Jeremy and Rock coming, we’re going to look good.”

U.S. officials protested the 400-meter hurdles victory of Russia’s Yuliya Pechonkina on the grounds that she wrapped her lead leg around a hurdle, but the protest was denied. Pechonkina, the world record holder, recorded the best time in the world this year, 52.90, and was followed by Americans Lashinda Demus and Sandra Glover in 53.27 and 53.32, respectively.

Glover’s time was a personal best, at age 36. “They’re really promoting the youth right now. I look at our roster and I’m not the oldest one on the team, but I’m down there,” she said. “I probably look like their great-aunt or something.”

Phillips, 28, matched his personal best of 28 feet, 2 3/4 inches on his first jump at Olympic Stadium and didn’t come close again in fouling on his last five tries. He didn’t have to worry: Ignisious Gaisah of Ghana was second at 27-4 1/2 , and Tommi Evila won Finland’s first medal with a jump of 27-0 3/4 .

“I figured it was going to be hard for someone to pass me,” said Phillips, the Athens gold medalist. “After that first one, I never felt pressure.”

France’s Ladji Doucoure, the 110-meter hurdles champion, won his second gold medal by starting France off to victory in the 400-meter relay in a world-leading 38.08 seconds. Trinidad and Tobago was second in 38.10 and Great Britain third in 38.27.

And in an unprecedented feat of endurance, 19-year-old Ethiopian Tirunesh Dibaba sprinted down the stretch to hold off compatriot Meseret Defar and repeat as 5,000-meter champion a week after she won the 10,000. Dibaba set a championships record of 14:38.59, with Defar second in 14:39.54 and Dibaba’s older sister Ejegayehu third in 14:42.47. Fellow Ethiopian Meselech Melkamu was fourth.

Jaouad Charib of Morocco won his second world marathon title in a row, breaking away on a cool afternoon to win in 2 hours, 10 minutes, 10 seconds. Christopher Isegwe of Tanzania was second in 2:10:21 and Tsuyoshi Ogata of Japan was third in 2:11:16. Athens Olympic gold medalist Stefano Baldini of Italy didn’t finish because of cramps; Vanderlei de Lima of Brazil, who dropped from first to third in Athens after he was attacked by a spectator, also failed to finish on Saturday.

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The International Assn. of Athletics Federations said urine samples taken from Czech decathletes Roman Sebrle and Tomas Dvorak were negative for prohibited substances and that no further action would be taken against them for having received intravenous fluids before their event finale.... The IAAF suspended Indian discus thrower Neelam Jaswant Singh for testing positive last Sunday for the prohibited stimulant permoline. He faces a two-year suspension.