EUGENE, Ore. -- Sanya Richards had extensive plans over the two-day break at the U.S. track trials -- watch movies at the hotel, get plenty of massages and possibly take a brisk walk.

She had no time for sightseeing, fancy dinners or a night on the town.

Her focus paid off as the 400-meter star dominated the women's final, defeating her nearest competitor by almost a second. Richards won the 400 Thursday evening in 49.89, with Mary Wineberg taking second and Dee Dee Trotter overcoming injuries to nab the third and final spot on the Olympic squad.

David Krough, kgw.com

Jeremy Wariner runs the 400 meters at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene

In the men's 400, Jeremy Wariner will get the chance to defend his gold medal in Beijing, but bragging rights went to LaShawn Merritt as he finished in 44 seconds flat to edge the Olympic champion by .20 seconds in the 400 meter final at the Trials Thursday night.

It was the second victory this year for Merritt over the top-ranked 400 meter runner in the world. Merritt also beat Wariner earlier in Berlin, when he snapped the Olympic champion's nine-race winning streak.

Still Waiting

Two of the US squad's top stars are already on the team even though they have more races to run. Tyson Gay (100 meters) and Bernard Lagat (5,000) are already in. A third pre-Trials favorite, Allyson Felix, has some work to do. She's one of the U.S. team's stars, but failed to qualify in the 100.

"I'm definitely disappointed," she said of her fifth-place finish.

She still has her best event, the 200, where she's a two-time world champion and won a silver medal in Athens in 2004.

"I can't get too down," Felix said.

The 200 quarterfinals are Saturday and the finals are Sunday.

Still looking for Olympic births are Breaux Greer (javelin), American record holder Jenn Stuczynski (pole vault) or Wallace Spearmon, who thought he could double in the 100 and 200, but didn't make it in the shorter distance. Spearmon and the rest get their opportunities later in the week.

For some, the trials represents one final shot. Allen Johnson, who won the gold medal in the 110-meter hurdles in '96, said this is his last go-around at qualifying for the Olympics.

"That gives me a little bit of extra motivation," the 37-year-old Johnson said. "In the back of their minds, they'll get another chance. I won't. Ever."

Pressure?

"Not pressure," said Johnson, a seven-time U.S. champion. "It's just reality. I'll give it everything I have and not leave anything on the line."

Lagat is taking a similar approach. Sure, he's already qualified in the 5,000, but he'd like to make it in the 1,500 as well. He'll be going up against a strong field that includes Alan Webb and Lopez Lomong.

Webb watched Monday night's 800-meter race along the track as a fan after electing not to run in it. He got caught up in the frenzy as Nick Symmonds, Andrew Wheating and Christian Smith, all with strong Eugene ties, finished in the top three spots. The crowd went crazy -- the biggest cheer of the trials so far, even bigger than when Gay covered the 100 faster than anyone ever has at a wind-aided time of 9.68 seconds.

"I wish I could've been in there," said Webb, who won '04 trials in the 1,500. "But I knew it was in my best interest to just focus on the 1,500."

Although Joanna Hayes captured gold in the 100 hurdles in Athens, she feels like the underdog heading into the weekend's competition. A slew of nagging injuries has cast doubt on whether she can earn a trip to Beijing in order to defend her title.

That's fine with her. She always roots for the underdog anyway.

"When I watch swimming with Michael Phelps, nothing against him, but I want the person racing him. It's like, 'Go, go get him,"' Hayes said. "I love to see people that are not expected to win, win. They didn't expect me to win in '04 ... I tend to gravitate toward underdogs."

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