When Aries Merritt shot out of the blocks to deny China’s Liu Xiang victory in the 60-meter hurdles Sunday, he clinched more than an unlikely victory. The American hurdler won the title and cemented a record 10-gold-medal haul for the U.S. team at the world indoor championships in Istanbul.
“We psyched up everybody, including myself,” said U.S. captain Bernard Lagat, who won gold in the 3,000. “We came together as a team.”
It bodes well for the London Olympics. No other country had more than two golds.
Starting Friday, Ashton Eaton began building on his heptathlon world record and shot putter Ryan Whiting clinched the first gold. The Americans were already on a roll. The 10 golds were two better than the previous record.
The women’s 1,600 relay team produced the most exciting finish of the championships as 400 champion Sanya Richards-Ross came back from fourth place with 200 meters to go and missed gold by just 0.01 seconds when Perri Shakes-Drayton of Britain threw herself across the line first.
The men’s 1,600 team crossed the line first, but the gold was delayed for two hours after a British protest over a handover technicality first led to disqualification before the gold was reinstated on appeal.
