Year in Review – #7

Van Wyck native Shawn Crawford made many Lancaster County residents proud when he made his second appearance in the Olympic Games in Beijing in August.

Crawford, an Indian Land High School graduate and a former All-American runner at Clemson University, was looking to repeat the success he had in the 2004 Olympics in Athens. There, he won the gold medal in the 200-meter race.

But Crawford wasn’t able to repeat his 2004 success. Usain Bolt of Jamaica overshadowed all other runners in the 2008 games, winning three gold medals, including the medal for the 200 meter.

Crawford, 30, was awarded the silver medal in the race – but only after U.S. teammate Wallace Spearmon and Churundy Martina of Netherlands Antilles were disqualified for stepping on lane lines.

Crawford never savored his win. “It feels like a charity case,” Crawford told the Associated Press shortly after the race.

An international committee will meet in January to decide who will receive the Olympic men’s 200-meter silver medal, but according to several sources, Crawford has already given the medal to Martina, who he evidently believes deserves the medal.