PR’s Culson cruises into Olympic finals

Crossing the finish line in 47.93 seconds, the Ponce native also kept alive his season-long undefeated streak.

Widely regarded as the gold medal favorite, Culson got off the blocks quickly but was behind by the defending champion, American Angelo Taylor, for the first two-thirds of race.

But Culson caught a tiring Taylor down the home stretch to protect his unbeaten streak. Omar Cisneros was third.

Culson now faces just one more hurdle to making history: Puerto Rico has never won an Olympic gold in any sport and has never made it on the Olympic podium in any track event.

After dominating the summer season in the run up to the Olympics, Culson is clearly the island’s best bet to break that decades-long dry spell. He has run the two fastest times the world has seen this year.

Culson easily won his heat on Friday, racing out to a quick lead before putting the brakes on a bit. Looking around to gauge the progress of the other runners, he stepped on the gas again to pull away down the final stretch.

In both rounds, Culson sent serious warnings to his world-class rivals by winning his heats in 48.33 seconds and then 47.93 seconds – both fast times for pre-finals races and proof that he doesn’t aim to give up his unbeaten streak this year.

The 400-meter hurdles finals are scheduled for Monday.