The reigning world champion in the 400-meters will return to the Drake Relays next week. Jeremy Wariner burst onto the scene in 2004 by winning a gold medal in the 400 at the Athens Olympics at the age of 20 and he will take part in the invitational 200 at Drake on April 29th.
Wariner says he feels like his first 200 can be a little quicker than it was last year. With the off Olympic year, he says he’s going to work on the 200 and try to get the time down. He is also looking at the possibility of trying to win gold in the 200 and 400 at the 2008 Olympics. That’s only been accomplished once, by Michael Johnson in Atlanta in 1996.
Wariner says they’ll take each step one year at a time to get there. This year he says they’re working on it in training and then while move on to meets. Wariner says he’d like to double up if his body is ready.
It is the third straight year that Wariner will run at Drake. He ran there as a freshman at Baylor. He says, “It’s a great experience.” He says the fans love the meet and “it’s a great honor just to be able to run there and to be part of the legacy going on there.”
The Drake Relays are April 27th through the 29th.