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August 22, 2004 6:25 pm

Taylor sneaks into 400 hurdles final

By MIKE PRATER

Gannett News Service

ATHENS, Greece - Brenda Taylor qualified for the finals in the women's Olympic 400-meter hurdles Sunday night, and she's smart enough to figure out that her semifinal performance isn't gold-medal material.

The Watauga, N.C., native turned in a 55.02, which will be the slowest qualifying time going into Wednesday's final inside Olympic Stadium. Three other women had faster times and didn't make it, but Taylor finished fourth in her heat, and that's all it took.

``A 55 is never a good strategy at the Olympic Games,'' she said. ``I didn't realize I was going that slow until hurdle six and at that point it's kind of hard to do anything about it. ... I'll have to rework my inner clock by Wednesday.''

That shouldn't be too hard for a Harvard girl who studied cognitive neuroscience.

``The focus on the psychological underpinnings of behavior,'' Taylor said.

American teammate Lashinda Demus won't get a chance to run in the final. The former South Carolina track star finished fifth in her heat, even though her time of 54.32 was equal to that of U.S. Olympic Trials champion Sheena Johnson and better than that of Taylor, both of whom advanced. ``Not good. What else is there to say,'' Demus said about failing to qualify. ``I got fatigued coming off the curve. I was running hard, but obviously not enough. ... I'm trying to hold back my anger.''

Demus was fourth heading into the straight but was passed by Russian Yekaterina Bikert, who crossed the line at 53.79.

``I could tell she was coming because of the crowd, and I tried to hold her off,'' Demus said.

The Americans came into the meet thinking sweep because they owned three of the four fastest times in the world this season: Johnson (52.96), Taylor (53.36) and Demus (53.43), all set at the Olympic Trails last month in California.

That changed Sunday night when top qualifier Fani Halkia of Greece set an Olympic record with a 52.77 in her qualifying heat. Five others beat the Americans in qualifying, which bodes for a wide-open final.

``I came here to run fast on Wednesday, and now I have the opportunity to do it,'' Taylor said.

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