The men’s 400 meters at this year’s Prefontaine Classic had the potential to provide another epic battle in the storied history between sprinters Kirani James and LaShawn Merritt.
But on Saturday afternoon at Hayward Field, James blew away his competition, crossing first in a time of 43.95 seconds. That shaved .02 off of his winning time from last year in Eugene, when he edged Merritt.
The result was less about time and more of an indication of where the field is at behind James, the defending Olympic gold medalist.
The result: They weren’t all that close. Not even Merritt, the 2008 gold medalist and James’ biggest rival.
The American finished second in 44.51. That was .03 ahead of third-place Christopher Brown and a season best for the 28 year old, who missed six weeks of training earlier this year while recovering from a knee injury.
“There’s a lot of workouts I haven’t done yet, and I haven’t been running well,” said Merritt, the 2008 Olympic champion. “I don’t feel like I’ve been getting beat — I just feel like people have been finishing ahead of me.”
Merritt and James have a publicized rivalry in the 400 meters, simply because they’re two of the best in the world. But after Saturday, James now has nine victories in 14 head-to-head races.
“This shows that I’m on track to do some pretty great things,” said James. “It does not guarantee anything. I still have to work hard, and I still have to not take anything for granted. Just try to perform, just try to train well and make sure I do things on and off the track well. There’s always room for improvement.”
That improvement would include breaking Michael Johnson’s Pre Classic record of 43.92. James nearly did that on Saturday — just .03 off the mark.
“Any time that you are mentioned in the same breath as Michael, it shows that you are on track to do some great things,” James said. “But it does not guarantee anything. It just shows that I’m in a very special class.”
The star sprinter from Grenada has spoken with Johnson a few times, and he says his own maturity comes from a variety of places.
“Growing up, I’ve always had people in my life that cared about me away from track and field. I’ve had great teachers and great mentors in my community. My coach is also a great mentor because he has been in the same position I am. He went to the Olympics when he was 19 years old, and won a gold medal when he was 19 years old.”
Harvey Glance, who ran for Auburn and now coaches him at Alabama, made the cross country trek this weekend in support. Glance said that he’s noticed a big breakthrough in James’ performance over the last two years.
“Physically, he’s a different individual,” he said. “He finally grew into his own body, and he’s doing some amazing things as far as times and as far as titles. And I think there’s even more to come.”
As James enters his prime, expectations will likely soar. But, as history has proved, he could have another decade of great running ahead of him.
“In an event like the 400, the more you run it, the more you understand it,” James said. “If you look at the best 400-meter guy ever, Michael Johnson, when he was in his late 20s and 30s, that’s when he was really consistent. It shows that the more you run the race and the more mature you get, the better you understand it.”
