Surprise in the 400

EUGENE, Ore. – Jeremy Wariner won gold medals at the last Olympics and the last two world championships. That must have led Wariner to figure he was invincible enough in the 400 meters to dump his longtime coach, Clyde Hart, before this season to save money and lose nothing in the deal.

It clearly was a miscalculation.

Wariner, virtually unbeatable the previous four years, now has lost two straight races to LaShawn Merritt, silver medalist at the 2007 worlds.

The second was a stunning defeat Thursday night in the 400-meter final at the U.S. Olympic trials.

A few minutes earlier, Sanya Richards, whom Hart coaches, regained the aura of invincibility in the 400 she had lost to illness and injury a year ago. Richards won easily, her time of 49.89 seconds nearly a second ahead of runner-up Mary Wineberg.

Merritt used his superior 200-meter speed to pull ahead of Wariner from the gun and never gave ground, finishing in 44.0 to Wariner’s 44.2.

“This is the first time Jeremy has met up with someone who has that kind of speed,” Richards said. “It is going to be always tough for Jeremy. But Jeremy is so poised in the 400, I think this will make him stronger.”

Wariner showed a decided lack of poise by shunning a victory lap, blowing past media waiting for him in the mixed zone interview area and skipping the formal post-race press conference. He later was convinced to answer some questions.

“The coaching change had nothing to do with it,” Wariner said. “That was in February.”

It was Wariner’s first loss in any national or international championship since 2003.

“It will never hit my confidence,” Wariner said defiantly. “I talked to Michael [Johnson, the Olympic champion who is Wariner’s manager], and he said, ‘Don’t worry about it. The big stage is the Olympics.’ ”

Merritt, 22, second at the 2006 and 2007 national meets, expressed no extra satisfaction in beating Wariner but agreed his speed was a key factor. Wariner usually is a strong closer.

“That’s a part of the 400 that I have maybe one of the best in the world,” he said. “I put that into play over 400 meters and distribute my speed all the way around. For me, it wasn’t as much about beating him as winning the U.S. title.”

By the start of last season, Richards was the poster woman for USA Track & Field, her picture on the front cover of its 2007 media guide and both back and front covers of the 2007 national meet program.

Then came the unusual, strength-sapping illness, Behcet’s Syndrome, and the stunning failure to earn one of the three places on the 2007 U.S. world team in the 400. After 18 straight wins in quarter-mile races, Richards was fourth at nationals, the selection meet for worlds.

“It doesn’t matter how hard you train until you accomplish the goal,” said Richards, sixth in the 400 at the 2004 Olympics. “On the line today I was nervous, and I am rarely nervous. It takes a major, major weight off my shoulders to have accomplished this.”

Richards’ record after her failure at nationals in 2007 was not very different from what she had done in 2006.

Richards finished 2007 with the five fastest 400 times in the world and broke 50 seconds eight times. She had finished 2006 with the five fastest times in the world and broke 50 seconds nine times.

She also finished the year with an engagement ring from Aaron Ross, her sweetheart from the University of Texas. He wound up six weeks later with a ring of his own, as a starting cornerback for the Super Bowl champion New York Giants.

She had mouth sores so severe they occasionally made it painful to talk or eat solid food, and bronchial issues that made it difficult to breathe.

Needless to say, that constantly undermined Richards’ training until she found a medicine to treat the problems. Medical literature calls Behcet’s incurable.

“It is completely under control,” Richards said before the trials began. “The medication I have been taking since the New Year has made a world of difference. I haven’t had a flare-up since Jan. 1, which I think is just a miracle.”

Dee Dee Trotter feels the same way about making the Olympics after finishing third in the 400. Trotter chipped her thigh bone when she shut a car door on it two months ago, leaving fragments in the knee that will require surgery – after the Games.

“I feel like Tiger Woods,” she said. “He came out and won the U.S. Open. I came out and made the team.”

Philip Hersh covers Olympic sports for The Times and the Chicago Tribune.