LaShawn Merritt: Look of a champion

 

BERLIN  – For LaShawn Merritt, it seemed natural stepping from the track onto the fashion runway.

He was part of BET's "Rip the Runway Hip Hop Fashion Show,” where he modeled Akoo clothing, and has also done photo shoots.

“Somebody told me I have a look,” Merritt said, pausing.  “The model look. So hey, I said I’d take advantage of it and try it out.”

He also has the look of a champion – but this was one he felt he had to justify.

Merritt won his first world title in the 400 meters Friday night in Berlin, taking a convincing victory against U.S. rival Jeremy Wariner. Merritt clocked 44.06, the fastest time in the world this season, while Wariner’s time was 44.60.

The win followed Merritt’s Olympic gold medal in Beijing, where he beat Wariner even more decisively, 43.75 to 44.74.

"In a lot of races last year, I didn't feel like I got the respect that I deserved,” said Merritt, 23, of Suffolk, Va. “It was like, ‘He won because everyone was tired, or his competitors didn't have a great race, or he drew the inside lane.'

“This year, hopefully I get the respect I deserve.”

Wariner, the two-time defending world champion, and Merritt were neck and neck at about 300 meters in the World Championships final, but Merritt shot ahead coming off the final curve.

“Unfortunately, LaShawn had a great finish today,” Wariner said. “I was disappointed that I lost. But LaShawn is a great competitor. We fight each other every time we are on the track. We are both going to run fast because we both want it.

“If I have to lose, it's good to lose to somebody like that.”

Wariner used to be the gold standard in the 400, winning the Athens 2004 Olympic Games and the next two World Championships. But Merritt was gaining on him.

At the 2007 World Championships in Osaka, Japan, he placed second behind Wariner, 43.45 to 43.96.

“I think I stayed hungry because this was my second World Championships,” Merritt said. “I got silver in the first one.”

He was ready for an upgrade. And although his times haven’t been as fast this year – failing to crack 44 seconds -- Merritt knew the adrenaline would be flowing when he and Wariner met in the final.

“Any time me and Jeremy link up, we’re going to have a great race; both of us are going to bring our A game,” Merritt said. “At the end of the day, we want the same thing, to be on top.”

He added, “Today I was the better man.”

Settling into the blocks on the bright blue track in Berlin’s Olympic Stadium, Merritt had run the race “a million times in my head,” he said. “It was all about putting it from my head to the track. I had already won the race in my heart.”

He carried with him the memory of his older brother Antwan who died about 10 years ago after falling from a dorm room window at Shaw University.

“He’s not here,’’ Merritt said. “I’m doing it for him, I’m doing it for my family, my fans and everybody back home.’’

He started a foundation last December to give back to the community that had supported him by helping young athletes gain exposure. On January 31, more than 900 high school kids competed in the first LaShawn Merritt Invitational in Hampton, Va. The foundation also will award scholarships so athletes can attend meets.

“When I was in high school, I was one of the best athletes in the country, but I didn’t have the funds to travel to some of the different major invitationals,” Merritt said. “So we’ll help with that as well. I’m heavily involved and doing a lot hands-on, but I can’t do everything. I have my job to do.”

Merritt could add a second World Championships gold medal Sunday in the men’s 4 x 400 relay, this time teaming with Wariner, his fiercest competitor. They were members of the winning relay team two years ago in Osaka and at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

“We’re both representing the USA,” Merritt said.  “We’re going to come together in the 4 x 400 and we have a job to do.”

U.S. men’s coach Harvey Glance referred to Merritt as a man with “class.’’

“You don’t hear much about him, you don’t see him but he does all the right things to be No. 1 in the world,’’ Glance said. “He does all the right things to be a team leader. “

Glance said at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, the coaching staff asked Merritt to run the first leg of the 4 x 400 relay. The champion usually runs anchor.

“I said,  ‘Would you mind leading off?’” Glance said. “He said, ‘Coach, I’ll do what you want me to do, you’re the coach.’ It’s just that simple. You love coaching people like that. You love being around people like that. What he also does is elevate other people around him, so he’s the ultimate leader.”

After the season, Merritt said he’ll take time off to celebrate, “but not too much because work still continues next year.”

He’s been with coach Dwayne Miller since he was in high school, and Merritt knows Miller won’t back down on the training.

“My coach and I, we have a strong relationship,” said Merritt, who is enrolled at Old Dominion University. “He actually took me from 47.9 my junior year in high school to 45.2 my senior year. From that moment, I knew he had what it took. He loves the sport, we love each other.

“He wakes up every day, and what he wants to do is see me on top.”

But although Merritt said he is looking for “longevity” in the sport, he also knows that track careers end. That’s why he’s embraced modeling. At 6-2, 182 pounds, he has the good looks and a build that appeal to fashion designers.

“I’ve always wanted to do fashion shows and my agent had some connections,” he said. “I’m trying to diversify myself. I’m still young. I’m trying to get my hands in anything I can get them into, so I won’t have to do this forever.”

But he might have to battle Wariner for quite a while.

“I know he’s always going to be there for years to come,” Wariner said, “and he knows I’m going to be there.”

 

Tags: Gold, LaShawn Merritt, USA Track and Field