Wariner sounds off
Olympic gold medalist Jeremy Wariner can’t wait to redeem himself after a disappointing runner-up finish in the 400-meter dash in 2008 Olympics.
That road to recovery will get a jump start later this month at the 100th Drake Relays.
Drake Relays director Brian Brown announced Wednesday that Peredita Felicien and Wariner will compete in special invitational events on April 25, the final day of the four-day meet. Felicien will run the special invitational 100-meter hurdles, challenging Des Moines native and 2008 Olympic finalist Lolo Jones, and Wariner will run his specialty, the 400 dash.
Wariner, who won Olympic gold in the 400 and 1,600 relay at the 2004 Games but took silver in the 400 last summer, did not participate in the teleconference Wednesday. But he told the Dallas Morning News last week he’s looking forward to an outstanding 2009 season.
“The way I ended my season last year, I didn’t want it to end that way,” he said before running the 200 at the UTA Invitational at Texas-Arlington on Saturday. “So this year I want to change it. That’s why I’m working harder, and I got refocused.”
Wariner changed coach last year, but said that had nothing to do with his Olympic silver medal in the 400. He did win gold in the 1,600 relay again.
“I’m tired of people saying that honestly,” Wariner told the Morning News. “Nothing changed last year. It was just unfortunate things happened. For one, LaShawn Merritt got better.
“I learned from my mistakes. I learned from the races that I lost, what I did wrong. I learned how to correct them.”