EUGENE, Oregon (AFP) — Jeremy Wariner has picked a bad time to start losing, but the two-time world champion who will defend his 400-meter Olympic crown next month insists he is still the man to beat in Beijing.
The 24-year-old American had won nine races in a row before losing to rival LaShawn Merritt in Berlin on June 1. A week later, Wariner set the year's best time of 43.98 in Oslo without countryman Merritt.
Merritt beat Wariner for only the second time in 14 head-to-head races that both finished on July 3 at the US Olympic trials. Both booked their tickets for Beijing but when Wariner needed his winning kick, it failed to materialize.
"I'm still the favorite," Wariner said. "When it comes to the Olympic Games, I've been there before and I know what it takes to win it. I just have to bounce back. It motivates me. I know I've got some things to work on."
Wariner split with long-time coach Clyde Hart over money issues early this year. Hart, who coached 400 legend Michael Johnson, now guides Merritt, spicing a rivalry that will see more pre-Olympic duels before the big one in Beijing.
"If you want to know the truth, he was the Olympic champion in '04, a world champion a year ago," Merritt said. "It's a new year. I want to be No. 1 this year. It's what I've been training to do."
Wariner outraced Merritt in last year's world 400m final, pushing Merritt to work harder to defeat his nemesis.
"I've been training hard to be No. 1 since last year's world championship," Merritt said. "All I know is that no one trains as hard as I have to be No. 2. I've put in way too much sweat and work to accept the idea of being No. 2."
Johnson, Wariner's agent and advisor as well as a two-time Olympic 400 champion, said his man let Merritt grab too big a lead too soon in the trials final and could not close the gap after the final curve.
"He let Shawn get a little bit too far away from him," Johnson said. "He would normally start building into his kick."
Hart would not pick a winner in Beijing but sees Merritt as part of a great race for gold.
"He has gotten extremely strong down the straightaway," Hart said. "Now that he's gotten his finishing kick there it's going to be interesting."
Wariner expects the winning time in Beijing will approach, if not shatter, Johnson's world record of 43.18 seconds set in 1999 at Seville, Spain.
Wariner, 24, set his career best of 43.45, the third-best run in history, last year at Osaka to win his second consecutive world title.
"I think it's probably going to take a low 43 to win. That's what I'm going to have to work on with every practice session," Wariner said.
"I pretty much have to run my perfect race. I'm going to have to run faster and have more strength than I have ever had.
"The thing that's driving me is that I want to defend my title at the Olympics. I have the big target on my back. That's the biggest thing for me.
"But also in my mind is the world record. I know it's within reach. I want to be the first to hit 42 seconds. Every day I step on the track I work harder to try and accomplish that."
Wariner is confident the Americans can complete a 400m podium sweep at Beijing the way they did at last year's worlds and the 2004 Olympics.
"I know we can sweep the Olympics like we did in '04. The times we're running have been strong enough," Wariner said. "We can sweep as long as we keep running like we have been."
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