Team USA looking good after Osaka

[rainbowgirl28]

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/5104880.html

U.S. track and field hopes bright

Associated Press

The dress rehearsal was a smash. Next comes the big show in Beijing.

The U.S. team never had a better performance at any world track and field championships than the one it had in Osaka, Japan.

In the nine days of competition that ended Sunday, gold medals came in the sprints, the distance races, the pole vault and the shot put.

"This is the most complete team we've ever had," said Craig Masback, chief executive officer of USA Track & Field, the sport's governing body in the United States.

The Americans will be back in Asia in less than a year, and the team they field for the Olympic Games undoubtedly will be strong.

"This group is very special," said Angelo Taylor, one of the few old-timers on the U.S. squad. "We have a lot of young talent."

Allyson Felix and Tyson Gay led the way by winning three golds apiece. Gay was the third man to do it at a worlds, Felix the second woman.

Among other things, the United States was the first team to sweep all four relays, and Kenyan-born Bernard Lagat was the first to win a 1,500 and 5,000 meters at a world meet. Lagat did it in his first international meet wearing a U.S. uniform.

Out of the 26 medals the U.S. won, 14 were gold.

The performances, by Gay in particular, helped bury the embarrassment of having Justin Gatlin test positive for steroids and testosterone last year.

No world records fell in Osaka.