Angelo Taylor Regains 400m Hurdles Title In US Sweep
Angelo Taylor won the 400m hurdles in 47.25 to lead the US to a sweep in the event. This is Taylor’s second gold in the event and he accomplishes the feat a full eight years after winning initially 2000 in Sydney.
He didn’t qualify for the final in Athens.
World champion Kerron Clement won the silver and Bershawn Jackson the bronze.
Clement had the fastest time in the world this year at 47.29. It was the first US sweep in the event since 1960.
Taylor and his mates were stripped by the IOC of his 4X400 medal in Sydney after Antonio Pettigrew admitted he was doping at the time. Johnson and Taylor are the only runners from the relay team not implicated. Johnson and twins Alvin and Calvin Harrison ran in the final, while Jerome Young and the aforementioned Taylor ran in the preliminaries.
That was then, but this is now and it’s a testament of fortitude that the 29 year old Taylor bucked the odds to reclaim a cherished title.
Some have called the US track showing a disappointment, but this greatly makes up for that perception.