Wariner Shows That the 400 Is a New Race

They explode out of the blocks as if they are running a 60-meter dash. They fly around curves better than third-leg runners on 400-meter relay teams, and finish races carrying more speed than high hurdlers.

They’re the 400-meter specialists of the 21st century, elite athletes who’ve turned track and field’s most enervating event into a one-lap sprint.

Americans LaShawn Merritt, Andrew Rock and Kelly Willie already have run the 400 in less than 45 seconds this season, but the reigning king of the event is Olympic gold-medal winner Jeremy Wariner, who will compete in Sunday’s Adidas Track Classic at the Home Depot Center.

Starting with Butch Reynolds’ emergence in the late 1980s, followed by Quincy Watts in 1992 and then world-record holder Michael Johnson, the 400 meters has grown from an event controlled by strong runners with speed into an event dominated by quality sprinters with strength.

“It’s obvious, the event is no longer a middle-distance race,” said John Carlos, a 1968 bronze medalist in the 200 meters and former world-record holder at 100 yards. “Guys that ran sprints when I ran would be quarter-milers now. It’s been surprising how they’ve been able to do it.”

Training for the 400 means sacrifice. A body can take only so much to run at high speed for an entire lap.

Wariner, 21, was drained after his breakout 2004 international season that included leading a U.S. sweep in the 400 at the Athens Olympics and a leg on the winning 1,600 relay team.

Wariner’s coach, Clyde Hart -- who also trained Johnson at Baylor -- decided not to push his newest pupil, despite Wariner’s natural gifts.

“He loves running, he loves practice,” Hart told USA Track and Field. “I thought Michael [Johnson] was going to be the only one I had to possess all those qualities, but Jeremy has all of it too. If you have a natural ability to do that, you just go out there and get him ready.”

Following Hart’s direction, Wariner began his winter training slowly, with plenty of weightlifting and over-distance running.

After skipping the indoor season, Wariner began outdoors with two early losses to Darold Williamson, his training partner and former Baylor teammate. Wariner said he wasn’t “race ready” then. He is now.

“Darold’s been able to work on other parts of his race,” said Wariner, the first person to win indoor and outdoor NCAA championships, along with U.S. and Olympic titles in the same year. “In the first race, he saw that I was easing up in the first part of the race and he took advantage of that. In the second race, he just out-kicked me. This next race I expect to do better.”

Wariner, 6 feet and 170 pounds, weighs the same as when he won two gold medals but is packing more muscle. He hopes the added strength will help him break the 44-flat barrier -- his winning time in Athens -- and challenge Johnson’s world record of 43.18.

“Right now, I feel stronger than I did last year,” he said. “I have a little more muscle tone.”

Wariner’s goal is to run the first 200 meters in 21.4 or better. When he ran 45.1 in an early-season loss to Williamson, he hit the 200 mark at 21.9.

“Coach [Hart] was looking at my times, not my place,” Wariner said. “It showed that I was ahead of where I should be. We’ve been working to make sure I run the backstretch like I’m supposed to.”

In Merritt and Rock, both scheduled to run Sunday, Wariner will race runners he’ll probably race again next month at the U.S. championships in Carson.

He’s excited that he’ll get a chance to prove that he’s still the world’s best 400-meter runner in the world at home first.

“It’s more motivating, knowing that there are people out to get me,” he said. “I know I have to work harder. I do see myself hitting 43 [seconds] this year, but I also see others hitting 43.”

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ADIDAS TRACK CLASSIC

* When: Sunday. Field events start at noon.

Running events at 12:45 p.m.

* Where: Home Depot Center.

* Featured athletes: Jeremy Wariner, Allyson Felix, Inger Miller, Maurice Greene, Coby Miller, Michelle Perry, Bernard Lagat, Adam Nelson, John Godina and Bayano Kamani.

* Tickets: Home Depot Center box office, Ticketmaster or (213) 480-3232. For special discounted group tickets, which include the 2005 U.S. outdoor championships: (877) 234-8425.