08/15/2008 - 00:18
First in Round 1
by Paul Kingston

Angelo opened his 2008 Olympic Games with one of the fastest times in the preliminary heats, putting the competition on notice.

AT won his heat in 48.67, the second fastest time on Friday, to advance to the semifinals on Saturday night, Beijing time. It wasn't a close race at all -- in fact, Angelo literally breezed to the finish line, easing up with 20 meters still to run. As the Agence France-Presse wrote, he was feeling confident after his win:

Taylor, who took bronze over the 400m flat in last year's world championships, said he had rectified things in his routine that had been wrong and now he believed he was back on course for challenging for the gold.

"I know I sent a message but I know those guys in the back of their mind know Angelo Taylor is going to be ready," said the 29-year-old. "I knew when it was going wrong. I fixed it. Now I'm ready to rock and roll."

NO PRESSURE HERE
Unlike many of his younger competitors, Angelo was feeling loose after his race, and more than anything, looking ready to get the semifinals underway.

"It (the pressure) really does not matter. I have one goal in my mind and that is to win gold.

"I am used to the pressure and my nerves are not rattled," added Taylor, who like Michael Johnson has had to return his 4x400m relay gold medal from 2000 because team-mate Antonio Pettigrew confessed to being doped at the time.

Taylor, who will face Jackson in his semi-final, also made a bold prediction regarding the final itself.

"It will be the Super Bowl of Beijing."

A CHANCE TO MEDAL, AND MORE
As the Albany Herald reported today, Angelo is looking stronger with each race, and has emerged as a true dark horse in the 400m hurdles.

What seemed at first an unlikely Olympic bid is now a reality for Taylor, one of the U.S. Track & Field team’s older athletes.

“I’m going for gold, I’m definitely going for gold,” said the 29-year-old, who also starred at Southwest Dekalb High School and Georgia Tech. “I love my chances. I might not be the favorite going into it, but with my experience and my speed, I think I have a very good chance of winning gold.”

It is truly a dramatic transformation for an athlete who many wrote off for good just a few years ago.

“A lot of people thought I was washed up and my career was over with. I never thought that. I knew I was injured at one time. I was still competing well, and I just needed some time to heal and prove I can still compete on the world level.”

When Angelo hired Nigerian coach and former sprinter Innocent Egbunike as his coach in 2006, his initial return to track and field was anything but easy. But AT would not give up. As the Atlanta-Journal Constitution chronicled:

“He was out of shape,” Egbunike said. “To be honest, he would throw up a lot and lie flat on the ground. But when I would say, ‘Let’s stop right here,’ he would say, ‘No, I’m going to continue.’ And he would still be throwing up. He struggled, but he did it. He had a vision.”

Taylor was asked what he considered the low moment. Easy answer.

“It would be [getting up at] 4 in the morning and going to work,” he said. “I was like, ‘I can’t do this.’ But I kept praying, asking the Lord to please just give me another chance. I never thought I would make it this far.”

Should Angelo win a gold medal, it would an accomplishment he could scarcely imagine. As he explained to the Albany Journal:

“It would mean a whole lot for me,” he said. “That’s what you do in sports, go out to win. I hope I can win again. It would mean a whole lot, just solidifying the fact I work hard. I’ve put in a lot of hard work out there. I feel like I’m the best at what I do, and to go out there and win gold, I think, it would mean more to me than Sydney. Just going out there and after going through what I’ve gone through and to come back — it would mean that much more.”

RELATED STORIES
Don’t call it a comeback (Albany Herald, Aug. 15, 2008)
http://www.albanyherald.com/stories/20080815s2.htm
Americans cruise as Sanchez loses his 'Superman' tag (Agence France-Presse, Aug. 15, 2008)
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hOimfr-AzfwJykQWTP65HBhbZFfg
At 29, Atlantan Taylor still has his hurdles to clear (AJC, Aug. 14, 2008)
http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/schultz/entries/2008/0...

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