Duane Solomon

Duane Solomon

Personal information
Nationality American
Born December 28, 1984
Lompoc, California
Sport
Sport Track and field
Event(s) Middle distances
College team USC Trojans
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s) 400 m: 45.98 (Los Angeles 2012)
800 m: 1:42.82 (London 2012)
600 m: 1:13.28 (Vancouver 2013)
Updated on 9 August 2012.

Duane Solomon (born December 28, 1984) is an American Olympic track athlete, primarily known for the 800 metres. He ran for his home country in the IAAF World Championships in 2007 and 2013 as well as in the 2012 Olympic Games. He also took the gold medal at the North American, Central American and Caribbean Under 23 Championships in 2006.

Prep

In high school Solomon was the 2003 CIF California State Champion in the 800m with a time of 1:49.79[1] while running for Cabrillo High School (Lompoc, California) under the training of high school coach Peter Anderson. He was named the "2002-03 Gatorade Boys Athlete of the Year."[2]

USC

Solomon ran for the University of Southern California,[3] coached by legend Laszlo Tabori.[4] He set his previous Personal Record of 1:45.69 while finishing 3rd at the 2007 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. He narrowly missed improving that time running 1:45.71 while finishing 3rd at the 2008 NCAA Championships. A few weeks later he ran a 1:45.78 while finishing 6th at the United States Olympic Trials (track and field).[2]

2010

In 2010, he made his third international team by finishing second in the USA Indoor Track and Field Championships.

2012

On June 25, 2012, Solomon qualified for the 2012 Summer Olympics by finishing third at the 2012 United States Olympic Trials. Going into the race, Solomon had not achieved the A Standard necessary to go to the Olympics. Solomon followed Charles Jock in a first lap under 50 seconds. As Jock faded Solomon charged into the lead, opening up almost 10 meters on the field. Notable kicker Nicholas Symmonds and veteran Khadevis Robinson (normally a front runner) chased down Solomon, but he held on for third place, .01 behind Robinson. In addition, his time of 1:44.65 surpassed the Olympic A standard, earning him a spot on the US Olympic team for the London games.

In the lead up to the Olympics, Solomon improved his personal best by over a second to 1:43.44 at the Herculis meet in Monaco. While he finished third in the race, he became the fifth fastest in the world to that point in 2012, beating favorites like Symmonds and Abubaker Kaki.[5]

In the 2012 Olympics, he finished fourth[6] behind David Rudisha's world record. In doing so, he again improved his personal best to 1:42.82, which ranks him #22 on the all time world list.[7]

2013

In January 2013, Duane Solomon set the American 600m indoor record with his 1:15.70 win at the Glasgow International Match.[8]

Solomon won the 2013 U.S. outdoor championships in 1:43.27 to qualify for the Moscow World Championships.[9]

Duane qualified to the final of the 14th IAAF World Championships where he finished 6th in 1:44.42 at Moskva, Russia.[10]

References

  1. ↑ "California State Meet Results - 1915 to present". Hank Lawson. Retrieved 2012-12-25.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 http://www.usatf.org/athletes/bios/TrackAndFieldArchive/2008/Solomon_Duane.asp USATF bio
  3. ↑ http://www.usctrojans.com/sports/c-track/mtt/solomon_duane00.html USC Bio
  4. ↑ http://www.usctrojans.com/sports/c-track/mtt/tabori_laszlo01.html Laszlo Tabori profile
  5. ↑ http://www.iaaf.org/statistics/toplists/inout=o/age=n/season=2012/sex=M/all=n/legal=A/disc=800/detail.html
  6. ↑ http://www.iaaf.org/results/olympic-games/2012/the-xxx-olympic-games-4871/men/800-metres/final/result
  7. ↑ http://www.iaaf.org/records/toplists/middlelong/800-metres/outdoor/men/senior/
  8. ↑ "American Record! Duane Solomon 1:15.70 at 600m in Glasgow". Flo Track. Flo Track. Retrieved 2013-02-25.
  9. ↑ LetsRun.com: Duane Solomon Goes Wire to Wire to Run World Leading 1:43.27 and Stop Nick Symmonds Streak of US Titles at Five
  10. ↑ http://www.iaaf.org/athletes/united-states/duane-solomon-206261#honours

External links