Future looks bright for U.S. track and field

HELSINKI, Finland – The Stars and Stripes flew highest when dusk descended one last time on the world track and field championships.

After two years of drug scandals, the United States hit back at critics with a record-breaking 14 gold medals, highlighted Sunday by a second gold for 400-meter champion Jeremy Wariner in the 1,600 relay.

Together with 100 and 200 winner Justin Gatlin and 100 and 400 relay champion Lauryn Williams, Wariner epitomized a young and spectacularly talented U.S. squad that could dominate even beyond the 2007 world championships and 2008 Olympics.

“The average age of the gold medalists is 23.5, so when you’re thinking about moving forward to Beijing and Osaka before that, you have to feel pretty good about that,” USA Track and Field executive director Craig Masback said.

On a busy closing day, Britain and Kenya averted humiliation by winning their first gold medals. Britain’s hard-luck marathon runner Paula Radcliffe won her first major title and Benjamin Limo won the 5,000.

Cuban Olympic champion Osleidys Menendez set a javelin world record of 235 feet, 3 inches on her first throw. She set the old mark of 234-8 in 2001.

The United States finished with 25 medals overall, one shy of its top mark of 26 in Tokyo 14 years ago.

The sport as a whole and the U.S. program has been tainted by performance-enhancing substances over the past two years because of the BALCO drug laboratory scandal. Kelli White, stripped of the 100 and 200 gold medals she won at the last world championships in Paris, is serving a two-year ban. Marion Jones, dogged by doping allegations all year, did not make the team.

The championships made a huge difference.

“Well, obviously very gratifying and energizing to be able to focus on the athletes,” Masback said.

After finishing second to Russia two years ago, this year was no contest.

Russia got gold from its women’s 1,600 relay team, giving 400 hurdles champion Yuliya Pechonkina a second title in the championships. The Russians finished with seven golds and 20 medals overall.

Moroccan-born Rashid Ramzi of Bahrain completed an unprecedented middle-distance double, adding the 800 meters to his 1,500 title by holding off Olympic champion Yuriy Borzakovskiy on the home stretch.

For Radcliffe, gone were the tears and heartbreak from the Athens Olympics, where she came in as favorite only to drop out of both the marathon and 10,000. And she was dogged by doubts in Helsinki after she finished ninth in the 10,000. She won Sunday in 2 hours, 20 minutes, 57 seconds.