Costa Rican sprinter Nery Brenes was eliminated yesterday in Semifinal 1 of the men’s 400-meter race in the Beijing Olympics.
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Brenes ran a personal best and national record time of 44.94 seconds, finishing fourth in his group and just 0.12 seconds behind the final wildcard qualifying time.
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Jeremy Wariner of the United States won in Brenes’ group with a time of 44.15 seconds, and Bahamian Christopher Brown also advanced to the finals.
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Brenes was Costa Rica’s consensus best shot at Olympic hardware, but Kristopher Moitland, the second-time taekwondo entry, could also make some noise at 11 p.m. on Friday when he enters the ring.
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Mountain biker Federico RamÃrez will wrap up the Olympics for the Tico team at 1 a.m. Saturday.