Wariner and Richards-Ross open 400m seasons with victories in Waco

24 April 2011 - Waco, USA - The Michael Johnson Invitational meeting has become the yearly coming-out party for Coach Clyde Hart’s current pair of 400m aces – Jeremy Wariner and Sanya Richards-Ross.

Both won on Saturday (23), but they had to fight off tough homestretch challenges, plus swirling winds which gusted as high as 6 metres per second.

Wariner ran the first half of his race conservatively, came into the last 100 metres even with Berlin bronze medalist Renny Quow of Trinidad & Tobago and showed enough strength to pull away in the final strides, 45.61 to 45.69.

Richards-Ross found herself three metres down to Texas A&M’s Jessica Beard at the halfway point in the women’s 400m, but she ran a strong curve and just had too much strength for Beard, winning in 52.00 to Beard’s 52.37.

IAAF website