US sprinter Dee Dee Trotter endures tough wait to qualify

BEIJING (AP) Dee Dee Trotter sat atop the steps and waited. And waited. Yes, it would have been a shame to come halfway across the world for only one race.

Forced to sit through the final six heats to see if she'd advance in the Olympic women's 400 meters, the 2007 American champion finally got the answer she wanted: She survived Saturday's first round with a wild-card after failing to capture the automatic spots given to each race's top three finishers.

"It was a little stressful," said Trotter, whose time of 51.41 seconds was only good for fourth in the first prelim. "I just had to kind of sit around. It took a little time."

That, in essence, is what qualifying days are all about.

No medals. No glory. Nothing like what was on tap for later Saturday when Usain Bolt, Asafa Powell and Tyson Gay were chasing gold in the men's 100.

All qualifying offers is a chance to keep on going - or get eliminated and see Olympic hopes quashed.

"You don't want to go out there and take it for granted," said Lauryn Williams, one of three Americans who advanced easily in the women's 100. "That's when you mess up, like when the false start comes. I've never false started in my life, but it could have been that one time. Then I'm out in the first round and there go my chances."

All the top contenders coasted in the 100. That included Williams, Americans Muna Lee and Torri Edwards and Jamaicans Sherone Simpson and Kerron Stewart, who gave a thumbs up as she walked through the interview area but refused to stop and talk.

Lee, who has a chance to double in the 100 and 200, said she used the opening round as the warmup it should be.

"I was just working on the start part," she said. "My coach wanted me to work on the blast at the beginning, to get a feel for the track and if I felt good, maintain it. And if I can't, shut it down."

She maintained, finishing in 11.33 to win her heat by .10 seconds.

Not among the 100 contenders are two sprinters who could have been in the mix: Allyson Felix of the United States and defending world champion Veronica Campbell-Brown of Jamaica each failed to qualify at their respective Olympic trials. Both will race next week in the 200.

In the 400, American Mary Wineberg advanced, finishing second in her heat.

Gold-medal favorite Sanya Richards posted the best time of all the heats, 50.54 seconds.

"The first 200 went well," she said. "I wanted to control the race from there."

She did, then sat next to Trotter to watch the rest of the races play out.

Trotter's time was better than those of third-place finishers in all the other heats. She said she saw how the races were going and felt confident she'd get one of the wild-card spots by the end of the fourth heat.

Still, there have been no guarantees this year for the 2004 NCAA champion and one of the gold medalists in the 1,600-meter relay at the Athens Games.

About three months ago, she slammed a car door against her leg, which caused a bone chip around her knee. She didn't race at all before Olympic trials. After qualifying there, she thought she was through the worst.

But her knee started swelling earlier in the week, and she's been undergoing intensive therapy simply to get to the starting line Saturday.

She was in the middle of the pack in the first heat, put on a late burst, but couldn't knock Ajoke Odumosu of Nigeria out of the third spot.

So she ended up perched on those stairs, an ideal vantage point to watch both the last strides of each race - and the scoreboard.

The 51.41 held up.

"I was very pleased with the time, because I haven't been able to run races," Trotter said. "I've had to conserve. I've had to sit back."

Of course, the women's prelims were only an appetizer for the night's action, when the men's 100 was set to start. Bolt, Powell and Gay all first had to advance through semifinals to set up the dream final.

"It's going to be everything and more," Richards said. "Usain, Asafa and Tyson are really going to go at it. I can't wait to watch it."

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