Clement wins 400 hurdles after set-up fiasco

Kerron Clement of the U.S. clears a hurdle during their men's 400m hurdles semi-final of the athletics competition at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in the National Stadium, August 16, 2008.

CARSON, California (Reuters) - World champion Kerron Clement surged to victory in a controversial 400 meter hurdles at the Adidas Track Classic on Saturday, a race that left Olympic champion Angelo Taylor fuming.

Clement, who won silver in Beijing, crossed the line in 48.38 seconds with fellow American Taylor second (48.70) and Felix Sanchez of the Dominican Republic third (48.95).

The entire field, however, was blindsided by race organizers, who botched the placement of the eighth hurdle on the Home Depot Center track, leaving it too close to the seventh.

"Whoever is in charge of putting up the hurdles needs to be fired," an angry Taylor told reporters. "I could have stayed at home today. I feel sick, man. That race doesn't count.

"I knew there was something wrong when I came off (hurdle) seven. I just lost focus."

Race organizers said the result would stand, although Clement's time, the year's fastest, would be struck from the world list.

"We have confirmed a hurdle was misplaced in the men's 400m hurdles," meet director Mark Wetmore said in a statement.

American James Carter, who finished fifth in 49.46, was also frustrated after having to alter his running stride after clearing the seventh hurdle.

"The next hurdle was right there," he said. "I was ready to make a move at that point and I suddenly had to adjust after that."

FASTEST TIME

Although Clement understood the frustrations of his rivals, he was delighted after clocking a time which would have ranked as the fastest in the world this year had it not been for the faulty race set-up.

"I'm very happy with my time," the 23-year-old said. "I was just really happy to come out here and compete against top-level people -- Angelo, James and everybody else.

"My focus was just to focus on myself out here and try to get the win."

Asked if he understood the anger expressed by Taylor and others, Clement replied: "Definitely, because it affected their races and their times.

"The eighth hurdle was kind of off but I didn't let it affect me at all. I just kept my foot down low. It was easy because I was a 110 hurdler in college so I know how to tuck my legs down."

(Editing by Ian Ransom)