After sprinting her way into the finals of the women’s
400-meter hurdles Sunday, the U.S.’s Sheena Johnson will have
to remain idle for three more days. But, if anything, this extra
time will benefit her, giving her plenty of rest to gear up for
Wednesday’s final. Johnson, who graduated from UCLA this past
year, qualified for the final event with a time of 54.32 seconds.
“I am happy to be in the final,” Johnson said at a
press conference Sunday. “From now on, everything is
possible. I’ve got to stay awake.” Joining Johnson will
be fellow U.S. competitor Brenda Taylor. Taylor eked her way into
the final event, finishing behind Johnson at 55.02. But Taylor said
her best run is yet to come. “I came here to use the
opportunity to improve myself,” Taylor said at a press
conference Sunday. “Today I didn’t do so, but I’m
in better shape than it showed.” Come Wednesday, the final
eight hurdlers will line up at 11:15 a.m. The runners who have the
greatest chance of medaling include Fani Halkia of Greece, who just
recently set a new Olympic record of 52.77 in the second semifinals
heat, and Yuliya Pechenkina of Russia, who has the fastest personal
best out of the group at 52.34.
WOMEN’S WATER POLO ALIVE AND KICKING: An
early defeat to Canada has opened the eyes of Team USA. In its last
Olympic game, the women’s water polo team, featuring seven
current or former Bruins, manhandled the Russian national team 8-4
at the Olympic Aquatics Centre. With the victory, the United States
is now guaranteed to play for a medal. With gold on its mind, Team
USA will lock arms and legs with Italy (3-1) in the semifinals
Tuesday at 8:15 a.m. “This team is looking forward to getting
back out and playing again,” U.S. coach and former UCLA coach
Guy Baker told USAWaterPolo.com. “It really shows the
character of this team. They love challenges, and, so far,
they’ve done well with each one. We’re going to play
for a medal. We don’t know what color. We’ll figure
that out in four days. Plan A was to get to the medal round as soon
as we could.” The match against Italy will be no easy task.
Italy’s most recent victory was an 8-5 whooping of Hungary
(1-3) in the quarterfinals. In Group A, Greece (2-1-1) will face
Australia (2-0-1) in the first semifinal match after defeating
Russia in the quarterfinals 7-4.
MEN’S WATER POLO TEAM SPIRALING:After
notching two victories, the men’s water polo team dropped
back-to-back games, first to reigning World and Olympics champion
Hungary and most recently to Russia 9-4 Saturday. If the United
States (2-2) is to surface as one of the top three teams to move
on, it will need to defeat Serbia and Montenegro (3-1). “It
is the biggest game for us coming up in this Olympic Games,”
team captain Wolf Wigo said at a press conference Saturday. The
match begins today at 11 a.m. The U.S. men’s water polo team
futures three former Bruins.