Medals were awarded in five events on Day Seven of the 2003 World Athletics Championships in France. It was a gold and silver filled night for American athletes. After being shut out in the 100-meters, the United States men's sprinters came back with the gold and silver medals in the 200-meters on Friday night. John Capel broke the tape on the rain-dampened track in a relatively slow 20.30 seconds, edging teammate Darvis Patton by one-100th of a second.
Capel, talks about giving up on his dream of a National Football League career to concentrate on track. "It's been a hard-fought battle to get back into track and field. All the speculation about 'do I have it anymore, can I do it again, can I come back and run 19 seconds or can I come back and win a world championship?' Now all the questions are answered. Hopefully next year when I get to Greece, then all the other questions will be answered."
American Dwight Phillips upset the favorites to take the long jump gold with a leap of 8.32 meters, while his countryman Joey Woody claimed the silver in the men's 400-meter hurdles, almost one second behind Felix Sanchez' winning time of 47.25 for the Dominican Republic.
Gold medals were also awarded to Australian Louise Sauvage in the women's 800-meter wheelchair event, while Frenchman Joel Jeannot captured the men's 1500-meter wheelchair.
Meanwhile, three-time defending world champion and 1996 Olympic gold medalist Allen Johnson set the stage for more American gold on Saturday. Johnson led all qualifiers in the 110-meter hurdles, with a time of 13.19 seconds. Americans Larry Wade and Terrence Trammel also qualified for the final.
