PORTSMOUTH — The world’s best track and field athletes will be in Budapest, Hungary, later this week for the World Athletics Championships, which runs from Aug. 19-27.
Hampton Roads will once again be represented as Chesapeake’s Grant Holloway (Grassfield High) and Hampton’s Jalani Davis (Bethel High) will compete in the 110 hurdles and shot put, respectively.
Being a former college hurdler, I’ll definitely be glued to my television to see how our locals and Team USA does at the championships.
But every time I watch a track meet, my mind always goes back to a young man from Portsmouth who shocked the world.
I remember when he swept the 100, 200 and 400 at the Group AAA state meet in 2004.
Then that summer, he went to World Junior Championships in Italy and won gold in the 400 meters and set two junior world records as part of the American 4×100 and 4×400 relay teams.
Then he was off to East Carolina, but didn’t stay long as he turned pro in 2005.
Two years later, LaShawn Merritt was the No. 2 ranked 400-meter runner in the world.
Talk about taking the fast track — pun intended.
I caught up with Merritt recently as we talked about his past, present and future.
He is one of the most decorated athletes at the World Championships as he’s won 11 medals, including eight gold. Only Jamaica’s Usain Bolt has won more medals.
He also is a three-time Olympic gold medalist. He won two at the 2008 Beijing Olympics in the 400 meters and 4×400 relay. He won another gold in the 4×400 relay and a bronze in the 400 at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
Merritt’s personal-best time of 43.65 seconds ranks ninth all-time.
“The fact that you chose something, and what you chose, you were able to be the best in the world, that does mean something,” he said about his accomplishments.
What makes Merritt different from many of today’s sprinters is that he was never one to boast or brag. Instead, he let his performance on the track do all his talking.
Dwayne Miller, who coached Merritt, used to tease him about it.
“I told him, ‘You’re the quietest quarter-miler,” Miller said laughing. “You never got this feeling of arrogance from him. He would win a race. He would act the same way if he lost a race. That’s what I loved about him because you have to learn to be humble in your success. And he was that all the way from the beginning to the end.”
That humbleness is what his mother, Brenda, loves about her son.
“After he won, he was just humble,” she said. “We all want to win, but sometimes we win and go beside ourselves. LaShawn is different. He’s just a down-to-earth everyday person. He does his thing and then it’s over.”
Even after he beat his nemesis, Jeremy Wariner, at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, there was no rubbing it in or boasting, even though no one would have blamed him if he did.
Everyone was expecting a close race between the two, but Merritt won easily. He ran a personal-best time of 43.75, which was then the fifth-fastest time ever. He beat Wariner by nearly a second, which was the largest margin between first and second place in an Olympic 400 final.
Merritt’s father, Owen, remembers the race well.
“I will never forget it,” he said. “I was jumping so high, my head almost hit the ceiling fan.”
That victory made Merritt the face of the 400 meters.
And his epic battles with Wariner made everyone want to turn in, including Dwight Stones, who covers track and field on television.
“For that rivalry, I think it pushed both of them to be better than if they were without each other,” he said. “I think those guys are responsible of reigniting the 400 and showing that sub 44 is not that big of a deal.”
Merritt also overcame controversy.
In 2010, he was banned from competition for two years after he tested positive for a banned substance. After his two-year ban was reduced to 21 months, he finished second to James at the 2011 World Championships.
“Even though I didn’t win that,” he said, “I felt proud about how I was able to lock in on that with the adversity and still get second in the world.”
He won the 400 at the World Championships in 2013 and finished second in 2015. He also was third in the 400 at the Olympics in 2016.
Merritt’s career was cut short in 2017 when he developed a bone spur in his toe, which caused other problems.
“I was having to run with plantar fasciitis,” Merritt said. “Having to run with that was the worst thing. I went through that for two or three years. I trained in pain.”
Merritt, 37, realized he couldn’t take it anymore and retired sooner than he wanted.
He stays busy now as a registered travel agent. He also trains athletes at speed camps, works with USA Track & Field and continues to do motivational speaking engagements as well as other projects. He’ll be doing a camp/clinic at Churchland High on Sept. 9.
“I do miss competition, though. I loved that,” he said. “It was always all eyes on me when it was time to line up, and I was always comfortable taking on that pressure of being able to show up mentally and physically to display my gift and hard work to the world.”
The Virginian-Pilot asked ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence chatbot launched late last year, to create a top 10 list of athletes who hail from the Hampton Roads area. It said that Merritt ranked ninth. I personally believe that is far too low.
Others view his legacy in the sport.
“Purists will realize that he was one of the best,” said Brooks Johnson, who coached Merritt and was on the U.S. Track and Field Olympic coaching staff in 1976, ’84, ’04 and ’08. “But he’s not a bragger or a showoff, so a lot of people won’t recognize him for how good he was.”
What Stones liked about Merritt was his strength in the final 50 meters.
“From a technical standpoint, I think he may be the best at maintaining form in the homestretch of anybody I remember seeing,” he said. “For him to do that and look so good and easy doing it when he was in his prime, I always remarked that he kept his form better than everybody else. That’s why it looks like he’s accelerating past everyone else, it’s just that he’s deaccelerating less than everybody else.”
Miller thinks Merritt will go down as one of the greatest to do it in the 400 meters.
“I think so, considering his longevity and consistency,” he said. “To do what he did for such a long period of time, he was something special.”
Larry Rubama, 757-575-6449, [email protected] Follow @LHRubama on Twitter
Merritt’s medals
Olympics: three golds (two in 2008 and one in 2016) and one bronze (2016)
World Championships: eight golds (2005, 2007, two in 2009, 2011, two in 2013, 2015) and three silvers (2007, 2011, 2015)
World Indoor Championships: one gold (2006)
World Junior Championships: three golds (all in 2004)
