University of Tennessee Athletics
Merritt Wins World Junior Gold in Italy
July 19, 2004 | Men's Track
July 19, 2004
GROSSETO, Italy - Rising sophomore Aries Merritt became the fastest hurdler age 19 or younger in the world Sunday when he struck gold in the 110-meter hurdles at the 10th IAAF World Junior Track and Field Championships in Grosseto, Italy.
Merritt, coached by Tennessee assistant coach Vince Anderson, easily won the world junior title when he broke the tape in 13.56, a comfortable margin of victory in front of Cuba's Dayron Rohles' 13.77 time. In the preliminaries Friday, Merritt qualified for the semifinals with the third-fastest time, a 13.83. Merritt's 13.65 stood as the best time in the field in Saturday's semifinals.
"I felt good before the race," Merritt said. "I noticed a slight headwind at the start so I pushed out harder on the first hurdle than I normally do. I set my race up correctly because I push harder on that first hurdle. I felt the Cuban right beside though, so I got my feet down faster after hurdle five and felt myself pulling away so I decided to keep that pace up. I realized that was the right tempo for me and hauled it in at the end to run as fast as I could."
Chris Helwick and Jangy Addy also gave head coach Bill Webb good reason to feel optimistic about Tennessee's decathlon future. In a gathering of the world's best decathletes age 19 or younger, two of the top 11 will wear Tennessee orange in the 2005 campaign.
After standing 19th after the first five events, Helwick roared back to finish eighth with 7,176 points. Helwick tied for fourth in the pole vault with a 14-5 ? clearance. His 181-11 mark in the javelin landed him sixth in that event. After redshirting the 2004 season, Addy finished 11th with 7,129 points. On the first day, Addy finished second in the 400 in 48.47 and third in the shot put with a 50-0 ? measurement. Addy also took third in the discus with a 147-9 effort.
Team USA topped the medal count with 19 (13 gold, three silver and three bronze) - the second-best total for the U.S. in championships history, only surpassed by the 2002 team. Russia was second in the medal count with 18 (seven gold, eight silver and three bronze).
IAAF World Junior Championships
Wednesday, July 14-Thursday, July 15
Decathlon (final)
1. Andrei Krauchanka, Belarus 8,126
8. Chris Helwick, U.S. 7,176
11. Jangy Addy, U.S. 7,129
Decathlon 100m dash
9. Jangy Addy, U.S. 11.21
21. Chris Helwick, U.S. 11.61
Decathlon long jump
19. Chris Helwick, U.S. 21-5 1/4
21. Jangy Addy, U.S. 20-10
Decathlon shot put
3. Jangy Addy, U.S. 50-0 1/2
20t. Chris Helwick, U.S. 39-11 1/4
Decathlon high jump
7t. Chris Helwick, U.S. 6-4 ?
11t. Jangy Addy, U.S. 6-2 ?
Decathlon 400m dash
2. Jangy Addy, U.S. 48.47
12. Chris Helwick, U.S. 50.99
Decathlon 110m hurdles
12. Chris Helwick, U.S. 15.34
14. Jangy Addy, U.S. 15.58
Decathlon discus
3. Jangy Addy, U.S. 147-9
7. Chris Helwick, U.S. 140-2
Decathlon pole vault
4t. Chris Helwick, U.S. 14-5 ?
15. Jangy Addy, U.S. 12-1 ?
Decathlon javelin
6. Chris Helwick, U.S. 181-11
10. Jangy Addy, U.S. 166-9
Decathlon 1,500m run
11. Chris Helwick, U.S. 4:42.13
16. Jangy Addy, U.S. 4:58.28
Friday, July 16
110m hurdles (preliminaries)
1t. Dayron Robles, Cuba 13.82 Q
Kevin Craddock, U.S. 13.82 Q
3. Aries Merritt, U.S. 13.83 Q
Saturday, July 17
110m hurdles (semifinal)
1. Aries Merritt, U.S. 13.65 Q
Sunday, July 18
110m hurdles (final)
1. Aries Merritt, U.S. 13.56
