Walker's Pace: Berry Gets Gold Medal on 4x400 Relay
Walker's Pace: Berry Gets Gold Medal on 4x400 Relay
Walker's Pace: Berry Gets Gold Medal on 4x400 Relay
Friday, September 2, 2011
Though he didn't run in the final, Oregon's Mike Berry became the first Duck ever to win a gold medal at the IAAF World Track & Field Championships when the United States took the crown in the men's 4x400 meter relay Friday in Daegu, South Korea.
The American team of Greg Nixon, Bershawn Jackson, Angelo Taylor and LaShawn Merritt won in 2:59.31, holding off South Africa (2:59.86) and Jamaica (3:00.10).
Berry received a gold medal because he ran the semifinals for Team USA on Thursday. In that race, the freshman from Seattle, Wash., timed an incredible 43.83 third leg, as the team of Nixon, Jamaal Torrance, Berry and Merritt ran a world-leading 2:58.82 to advance to the final.
Prior to Berry's gold, the best IAAF World performance by a current or former Duck was Ashton Eaton's silver medal in the decathlon earlier in these championships.
Aside from those to medals, the last Duck male to stand on the podium was Joaquim Cruz, who won the bronze medal in the 800 meters for Brazil in 1983. Add in Galen Rupp's seventh place finish in the 10,000 meters last weekend, and three of Oregon's top four World Championships performances have come during the 2011 games.
Also Friday, former Duck Keshia Baker anchored the women's 4x400 meter relay team, which won its semifinal race in 3:23.57 to advance to Saturday's final.
"It was great, I was able to go out there stress free," Baker told USA Track & Field. "Just go out there and run my heart out and make sure I kept that lead and nothing happened. It was wonderful. It was a blessing."
Baker will be joined in action tomorrow by current Duck Matthew Centrowitz, who will run the final of the men's 1,500 meters. Rupp is in the final of the 5,000 meters on Sunday.
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Greg Walker
Associate Director, Media Relations
University of Oregon
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