AU IN THE OLYMPICS: Stewart, Sands take bronze

Special to the News

Published: August 21, 2008

BEIJING — Kerron Stewart and Leevan Sands both won bronze medals at the Olympic Games on Thursday, as Stewart took third in the women’s 200 meters and Sands was third in the men’s triple jump.

The Tigers have now won three medals in track and field, as Stewart won a silver in the 100 meters Sunday, marking the most medals won at an Olympic Games in track and field by Auburn athletes in school history.

Stewart, competing for Jamaica, posted a time of 22.00 seconds, edging Muna Lee of the United States by .01 seconds for the bronze medal.

Stewart’s teammate, Veronica Campbell-Brown, defended her Olympic 200-meter title with a winning time of 21.74 seconds, while Allyson Felix of the U.S. was second with a mark of 21.93.

Stewart, whose time was just .01 seconds behind her personal best, became the first Auburn track and field athlete, male or female, to win two medals at the Olympics.

Stewart is also expected to compete in the finals of the women’s 4x100-meter relay on Friday, but she rested during the semifinals Thursday as the Jamaican’s easily qualified for the finals with the field’s top mark of 42.24 seconds.

Sands was a surprise medalist in the triple jump, setting a Bahamian national record with a leap of 17.59 meters (57-8.5) to finish third.

Sands entered the competition ranked eighth in the world this year with a personal best of 17.29 meters, and his personal best of 17.50 meters was set back in 2002. He finished just three centimeters behind the silver medalist and eight centimeters behind the winner, Nelson Évora of Portugal. His winning jump came on his third attempt and was well beyond his second-best mark of 17.32 meters (56-10).

Marc Burns of Trinidad and Tobago also stands a good chance of earning a medal after helping his squad advance to the finals of the men’s 4x100-meter relay, running the second leg of his semifinal heat and helping his team post a winning time of 38.26. His team will have the fastest time entering the finals, as Jamaica won the second heat in 38.31 seconds.

Also on Thursday, Maurice Smith of Jamaica completed the opening day of the decathlon. Smith, the silver medalist in that event from the 2007 World Championships, is in 10th place through five of the 10 events with 4,217 points.

Smith was in 14th place after four events, but a season-best time of 47.96 seconds in the 400 meters pushed him up to 10th entering the second and final day of competition. He also had season bests of 10.85 seconds in the 100 meters and 1.99 meters in the high jump, but a 23rd-place showing in the long jump knocked him down in the standings.

Bryan Clay of the United States leads with 4,521 points. Smith had 4,525 points after the first day of the decathlon at the 2007 Worlds when he earned his silver medal.