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(AP) - It was theirs to lose, and they did.

      Sanya Richards led in the stretch but was outrun to the finish
in the 400 meters and Lolo Jones clipped the second-to-last barrier
in the 100-meter hurdles Tuesday night, as two of America's top
runners failed to capture Olympic gold medals.

      Jones had taken the lead and seemed to be pulling away when she
tripped over the hurdle and broke her stride, falling from first to
seventh. The late blunder opened the door for teammate Dawn Harper
to win the U.S. track team's third gold medal of the games.


      While Harper did a victory lap carrying the American flag, Jones
kneeled on the track and put her face to the ground in stunned
disbelief.


      Richards painted a similar picture a few minutes earlier. She
was ahead, looking to write a successful closing chapter to a year
filled of illness and setbacks, but settled for bronze after being
beaten badly over the last 80 meters by Britain's Christine
Ohuruogu and Jamaica's Shericka Williams.


 Usain Bolt played to the cameras before his
200-meter semifinal, slowed down in the middle and still rallied to
beat rivals who were running much harder. Then he promised to go
all out in the final.

      If he does - and he hasn't really yet in these Olympics - there
doesn't seem to be any way he can be beaten.

      Bolt won his semifinal in 20.09 seconds Tuesday night, keeping
alive his chances for the first 100-200 Olympic double since Carl
Lewis in 1984.

      The Jamaican sprinter, who set the world record in the 100 at
9.69 seconds Saturday, beat defending 200 champion Shawn Crawford
of the United States by 0.03 second. The noticeable difference,
though, was that Bolt appeared to be loping to the line, while
Crawford was busting across at full speed.

      "I wouldn't say jogging," Bolt said. "I'm just trying to get
through to the next round. I didn't know if he was running. I just
wanted to make sure I was in good position."

      American Wallace Spearmon used a late burst to finish third and
will join a third American, Walter Dix, in the final Wednesday
night.

In the 400-meter semifinals, American rivals Jeremy Wariner and
LaShawn Merritt won their respective semifinals. Wariner, the
defending Olympic champion, is 14-3 lifetime against Merritt, but
Merritt has two of those wins in the last year, including at the
U.S. Olympic trials.

      In other qualifying heats, world record-holder Dayron Robles of
Cuba and American David Oliver advanced easily in the 110-meter
hurdles. Chinese star and defending Olympic champion Liu Xiang
withdrew from the event before the first round with an injured
foot.

      There were no surprises in the second round of women's 200
heats. Americans Allyson Felix, Muna Lee and Marshevet Hooker all
made it through, as did the Jamaican trio of Veronica
Campbell-Brown, Sherone Simpson and Kerron Stewart.

      In the 100, the Jamaicans swept and the Americans finished
4-5-8. The two countries could again earn six of the eight spots in
Thursday night's 200 final.

      "It fueled my fire," Lee said of Jamaica's dominance. "I'll
just think about that in the final."

      In women's 5,000-meter semis, American Shalane Flanagan kept
alive her hopes for two Olympic medals. That would be a first for
an American in the short history of women's distance running at the
Olympics.


      Flanagan overcame stomach troubles to win bronze in the 10,000
and said she's still celebrating that success.

      "It's beautiful," she said. "It's kind of like I'd imagine if
you have a newborn child. You're fascinated with it. You're like,
'Wow, that really is mine? That's mine?'"

Gallery

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Olympics and Paralympics

Sanya Richards led in the stretch but was outrun to the finish
in the 400 meters and Lolo Jones clipped the second-to-last barrier
in the 100-meter hurdles Tuesday night, as two of America's top
runners failed to capture Olympic gold medals.

Americans Richards, Jones blow leads at Olympics

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