Olympic Track 2012: 100-Meter Dash Final Leaves U.S. Looking for Gold

U.S. sprinter Carmelita Jeter failed to bring home the gold medal in the women's 100-meter on Saturday. She was beaten by Jamaican superstar and now two-time gold-medal winner in this event, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce.  

Jamaica's Veronica Campbell-Brown won the bronze medal.

Here are the final results, via London2012.com:

Rank	Athlete	Country	Mark
1	Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce	Jamaica	10.75
2	Carmelita Jeter	USA	10.78
3	Veronica Campbell-Brown	Jamaica	10.81
4	Tianna Madison	USA	10.85
5	Allyson Felix	USA	10.89

Fraser-Pryce treated the heats and semifinals like practice, saving her strength for the final, while Jeter seemed determined to let everyone know in every single round that she was there for the gold. That strategy may have backfired on her, as she wasn't able to go much faster in the final than she did in the heats or semifinals.

Coming in second behind the incumbent gold-medal winner isn't anything to be ashamed about, but Jeter had higher aspirations. 

In hindsight, it seems like a more laid-back approach would have served her better for the final run.

Looking ahead, the Americans still have a shot to win gold in the women's sprints. 

Allyson Felix has the best chance to earn gold in the 200-meter. She posted a phenomenal time of 21.69 seconds in the final at the Olympic trials. Jeter is a dark horse for a medal in the 200-meter, as she posted a time of 22.11 in the same event.

DeeDee Trotter has a great chance to win the 400-meter. She ran the second-fastest time in Round 1 on Saturday—49.87—that was only six-hundreths off the lead time set by Russia's Antonina Krivoshapka. 

Don't forget about Sanya Richards-Ross, either. She came in with the fourth-fastest time in the heats, posting a time of 50.07. 

American sprinters are among the best in the world, and in my humble opinion, they will prove it in 2012 by taking home at least one gold in the two remaining races. 

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