Aug. 23, 2009

BERLIN – Two former South Carolina Gamecocks earned gold medals on the final day of competition as athletes with University of South Carolina ties earned a total of five medals in nine days of competition at the 12th IAAF World Championships held at Olympic Stadium in Berlin, Germany.

In the final two days of competition, all three former Gamecocks that competed in relays for their teams earned gold medals, beginning with the Jamaican 4×100-meter relay team. Aleen Bailey ran the third leg of the relay that crossed at 42.06 in Saturday’s final.

On Sunday, Lashinda Demus ran the third leg of the American 4×400-meter relay team that took gold at a new world leading time of 3:17.93. The win gives Demus two medals on the week after previously earning silver in the 400-meter hurdles Thursday. Another former Gamecock, Natasha Hastings, also earned a gold medal with the American 4×400-meter relay team after running the third leg in Saturday’s preliminary round – qualifying her for also earning a medal.

“(Gold) means the world to me,” Demus said after the relay win. “I’m just excited to be on the team. Like they said, in the future, this team will go places, we’ll go far and we’ll be in the history books.”

Previously in the week, Terrence Trammell took silver in the men’s 110-meter hurdles with a time of 13.15.

GAMECOCK EVENTS
MEN
110m Hurdles – Terrence Trammell
Final: Thursday, August 20 – Trammell 13.15 (2nd overall)

400m Hurdles – Johnny Dutch & Jussi Heikkila
Heats: Saturday, August 15 – Heikkila 51.42 (8th heat, 24th overall)
Semifinal: Sunday, August 16 – Dutch 49.28 (6th heat, 12th overall)

WOMEN
400m Hurdles – Lashinda Demus & Tiffany Ross-Williams
Final: Thursday, August 20 – Demus 52.96 (2nd overall), Ross-Williams 53.83 (5th overall)

4x100m Relay – Aleen Bailey
Final: Saturday, August 22 – Jamaica 42.06 (1st overall)

4x400m Relay – Natasha Hastings & Lashinda Demus
Final: Sunday, August 23 – 3:17.93 (1st overall)