Choosing a 400-meter relay team for the Olympic Games isn't as easy as it used to be.
In the past, the coach would look at the top four finishers in the 100 meters at the trials, and that group automatically comprised the relay team.This year, U.S. women's track coach Deanne Vochatzer and her staff studied films, went over past records of the runners, checked their experience, examined their capabilities and after rounds of discussions, came up with the final four.
"We also took a look at their splits at the Olympic trials, how they run the curves and people's strengths," Vochatzer said.
When the formulas were completed, the team turned out to be Chryste Gaines, Gail Devers, Inger Miller and Gwen Torrence.
Torrence won the 100 at the trials, followed by Devers, with Miller fourth and Gaines fifth.
Bypassed were third-place finisher D'Andre Hill, No. 6 Dannette Young-Stone and No. 7 and 200-meter winner Carlette Guidry.
"I like this combination," Vochazter said Thursday night after putting the team through practice at Duke's Wallace Wade Stadium.
"We tried to figure out the best way for this baton not to slow down," Vochatzer said, waving a gold baton in the air.
"The cooperation among them is key. If one of them pushes the wrong button, we could be in trouble."
Of the four, Torrence, 31, is the most experienced relay runner. She has run on 400-meter gold medal-winning teams at the 1987 Pan American Games, 1992 Olympics and 1995 World Championships. She also has a gold medal from the 1,600-meter relay at the 1993 World Championships, and silver medals from the 1992 Olympic 1,600 and the 1993 World Championships 400.
Devers, 29, won a 400 relay gold at the 1987 Pan Am Games and a silver at the 1993 World Championships.
Gaines, 25, has relay gold medals from the 1991 World University Games and the 1995 World Championships, and Miller, 24, the daughter of Lennox Miller, the 1968 Olympic 100-meter silver medalist for Jamaica, won a relay gold at the 1995 World University Games.