Merritt's gold a dream come true for father - literally

PORTSMOUTH

Owen Merritt had a dream Wednesday night.

In the dream, his son, former Wilson High grad LaShawn Merritt, sprinted to gold in the 400 meters.

Then he woke up.

When Owen Merritt arrived at work Thursday morning, he was greeted by many eager co-workers who wanted to know how his son had fared.

The elder Merritt calmly turned to them and responded, "I don't know, but he won in my dream."

Owen Merritt's dream became reality a short time later as LaShawn Merritt indeed won the 400 meters.

In the dream, Owen Merritt traveled to Beijing to be with his son. But neither of Merritt's parents were in Beijing, at the athlete's request.

"I wanted to go there so bad but LaShawn told me everything that would be going on," Owen Merritt said. "He told me he would be in the Olympic Village and I wouldn't have been able to be with him and that I'd be there on my own. He told me he'd feel better knowing I was home safe."

No one was happier for Merritt than his mother, Brenda Stukes, who didn't even know the outcome of her son's race until told by a reporter.

Because the race wasn't shown on TV live, she spent the morning at home nervously trying to find the results.

Once she knew, she and her daughter Antionesha screamed so loudly that it startled Stukes' 13-month-old grandson, Antwan.

"One of my girlfriends asked me, 'What's it like to be the mother of an Olympic gold medalist?' " Stukes said. "I tell you, it's been great. And my heart has been just racing all day....

"We knew he could do it, but we didn't want to brag."

One person who didn't mind boasting was former Wilson track coach Roscoe Coles.

Coles introduced Merritt to track when he was a junior.

"I always knew this kid could run, and I always said he could run as fast as he wanted to," said Coles, who spoke to Merritt hours after the race. "It's a good feeling to see him be successful but yet stay so humble. What can you say about a kid like that?"

Coles wasn't the only coach who believed in Merritt.

Former East Carolina track coach Bill Carson had Merritt for a semester before the runner decided to turn pro. Carson thought Merritt had a good chance to beat Jeremy Wariner, especially after the defending Olympic champion split with longtime Baylor coach Clyde Hart.

"I told LaShawn that was the only advantage Wariner had over him," said Carson, referring to Hart's more than 40 years of experience. "And when he left him, I thought that evened it up. I felt that if (Merritt) could get the situation together where he could hold out the last 100 meters that he could win, and that's basically what happened."

LaTasha Colander-Clark, another Wilson alum, was thrilled with Merritt's victory. She was part of the 1,600-meter relay team that won gold in 2000. That medal was later stripped after teammate Marion Jones admitted using performance-enhancing drugs.

Over the past couple of years, Colander-Clark has formed a friendship with Merritt.

"He's been an excellent athlete and is being trained by Dwayne Miller, who is a relative of mine," said Colander-Clark, who lives in Atlanta. "And I'm just so proud of him."

She said she was not surprised Merritt beat Wariner.

"My feelings are LaShawn Merritt has been running excellent all year, and he beat (Wariner) twice," she said. "He prepared himself and put himself in an excellent position to have the opportunity to beat him and he did."

The city of Portsmouth plans to honor Merritt. Mayor James Holley is gearing up for a huge celebration once he finds out when Merritt will return.

"We knew he could do something, because he was a good athlete when he was in Portsmouth," he said. "We didn't know he could beat everybody in the world."

Larry Rubama, (757) 446-2273, larry.rubama@pilotonline.com