BEIJING -- LaShawn Merritt left nothing to chance. He broke down video of his 400-meter Olympic semifinal race and video of everyone who would be in the final Thursday night. He studied how Jamaica's Usain Bolt had run the straightaway of his world-record performance in the 200. He made a game plan.
"I probably went over the race a million times in my head," Merritt said.
One thing had struck the U.S. runner as he watched the video. He saw others had taken fewer steps in the semifinals even though, at 6 feet 3, he was taller. He noticed how Bolt had used his height, 6 feet 5, to full advantage by maximizing stride length.
"I learned something from Bolt's race," Merritt said. "He really opened up [his stride] coming down the homestretch.
"I used to run that way back in high school, before I started to get all technical. So I came here and said I'm just going to open up and let it fly, and that's how it played out."
At the top of the homestretch at the Bird's Nest, Merritt flew past a tiring Jeremy Wariner and went on to thrash the man who had dominated the 400 the previous four years, with victories at the 2004 Olympics and the last two world meets.
"People said I was the underdog because of experience," Merritt said. "But I believed I could do it, and that is the first step in winning."
Running a personal best of 43.75 seconds, Merritt beat Wariner (44.74) by the largest margin between gold and silver in an Olympic 400 final.
Behind them, the race was much closer. David Neville (44.80) dived across the finish line to take the bronze from Christopher Brown of the Bahamas (44.84) and give the U.S. men their second straight sweep of the 400 -- and their fifth in Olympic history.
Allyson Felix's silver medal in the 200 and the silver-bronze effort by the Davids, Payne and Oliver, in the 110-meter high hurdles helped Team USA forget the misfortunes of its sprint relay teams. The anchors of both relays, Tyson Gay and Lauryn Williams, dropped the batons on the exchanges.
The similarities between Merritt and Bolt, both 22, do not end with their size. Each had been a prodigy as a junior -- Bolt winning a world junior title at 15, Merritt running the third-fastest indoor 400 ever and winning a world junior title at 18. Each was a silver medalist at last year's senior worlds.
"I have been looking for this moment for four years," Merritt said.
