Atlanta’s Taylor leads US sweep of 400-meter hurdles

Beijing — Angelo Taylor stood in the light in the Bird’s Nest stadium on Monday, the rays dancing off his trademark sunglasses and the twinkling studs in each ear.

Taylor had just won the 400 meter hurdles, needing a tick less than 48 seconds to become the first Atlanta resident to win a gold at this year’s Summer Games.

Enlarge this image

Nick Laham / Getty Images

Atlanta’s Angelo Taylor celebrates winning the gold medal in the men’s 400 meter hurdles.

“I feel so blessed,” said Taylor, a graduate of Southwest Dekalb High.

Teammates Kerron Clement and Bershawn Jackson took silver and bronze for a U.S. men’s sweep of the event.

While there had been talk of the U.S. team taking all three medals, Taylor coming out on top might seem unscripted.

At 29, Taylor is older than nearly everyone he competed against, but the years didn’t hold him back. Starting in Lane 6, he sliced through the air like a bullet Monday night, taking an early lead to finish in a personal-best 47.25 seconds.

“I was so happy, I had to throw my hands up in the air in the end,” said Taylor, the first 400-meter hurdler since Edwin Moses to take gold medals eight years apart. “It was just a great race.”

Back home, former Southwest DeKalb track coach Napolean Cobb was thrilled at the news.

“Knowing how well he competes when it’s on the line, I’m not surprised he won,” Cobb said.

The school sent Taylor and fellow alum Terrence Trammell off to Beijing with a rally (Trammell won’t compete, it turns out, due to a hamstring strain).

If Taylor felt trepidation about his comeback, it hasn’t shown lately. A heat race went so well the other day he said it felt like practice.

“When I’m at practice I’m by myself,” he explained. “I got out well. I looked back and didn’t see anybody.”

For once, it felt good to be alone. Taylor repeatedly has been answering questions about the legal problems that isolated him from his sport (for a while, he couldn’t even get into meets). He pleaded guilty in 2006 to contributing to the delinquency of two underage girls, drawing a fine and three years’ probation.

“Any mistakes I made, I put the blame on me,” he said recently.

Monday night was all about celebrating and looking forward, his troubled past hopefully left behind. He says he looks forward to hugging his 3-year-old twins and giving back to his community.

“He’s a warrior,” bronze medalist Jackson said of Taylor. “The best man won.”

— The Associated Press and staff writer Kristina Torres contributed to this story.