USC's Richardson hurdler to watch

Phil Coale
AP

Richardson

COLUMBIA — Jason Richardson has the perfect scenario to end his first U.S. Olympic track and field trials: South Carolina's recently crowned NCAA champion standing alongside two other American 110-meter hurdle stars with Gamecocks connections in Terrence Trammell and Allen Johnson — and all celebrating a trip the Beijing Games.

"I'll tell you what," Richardson said by phone this week, "it's feasible."

Richardson might know what he's talking about.

Trammell, the former USC hurdler, is a two-time Olympic silver medalist and finished 2007 as the highest-ranked American at 110 meters. Johnson is the 1996 Olympic gold medalist and four-time world champ who had trained several years with USC coach Curtis Frye.

Then there's Richardson, who took his first NCAA title earlier this month in Des Moines and is bidding for his first Olympic games.

"Terrence did it when he was a junior," said Frye, recalling Trammell qualifying for Sydney as a college star eight years back. "People didn't write highly about him. Why can't that happen for Jason?"

Richardson is among several college standouts with Palmetto State ties vying for Olympic spots. The track and field trials start today at Eugene, Ore., and run through July 6.

Richardson's USC teammates, Johnny Dutch and Brandi Cross, are also competing. Dutch, a freshman, will run in the 400 meter hurdles. Cross, a sophomore, is entered in the 400 meters.

Two Clemson track stars, pole vaulter Mitch Greeley and 100-meter runner Travis Padgett, will begin their events this weekend.

Clemson's Padgett may have the strongest chance of them all. Only two-time defending U.S. champion Tyson Gay has bested Padgett's 9.96-second performance among Americans this year.

"I don't feel nervous against the big names going in," said Padgett, competing in his first Olympic trials. "I'm focused on what I have to do."

That's finish one, two or three; meet the Olympic qualifying standard; and book a flight to China later this summer as a U.S. Olympian.

"I think I have a good chance," Dutch said. "I've done my research, seen what the other guys have done. I feel confident I can make it to the finals. If I just run all out, I think I can at least get third."

Third would also be fine with Richardson, who ran a best 13.21 seconds in the 110 hurdles this season that's second in school history to Trammell's record of 13.19. Trammell's mark was accomplished at the 2000 Olympic trials as he finished runner up to — you guessed it, the incomparable Johnson.

Richardson's gotten to know Trammell and Johnson since joining USC. Richardson says with the 29-year-old Trammell is in the prime of his career, there's little doubt he'll secure a top-3 finish. Johnson, at 37, may have lost a tenth or two off his record-setting times of the 1990s, "you can never count him out, rain or shine," Richardson says.