Leach adds second bronze at Pan American Games

"Today wasn't the day for us. We didn't show up. You can't win them all."

Especially in pouring rain. Bruin sophomore Nicole Leach, already the bronze medalist in the 400-meter hurdles, ran the anchor leg for the U.S. in the 4x400-meter relay at the Pan American Games in Rio on Saturday, holding on for a bronze medal.

The U.S. track & field team, one of the weakest ever sent to a Pan American Games, had a women’s foursome of Debbie Dunn, Angel Perkins (from Cerritos), Latonia Wilson and Leach in the relay, none of whom even made the final in the U.S. 400 m championships in June. Leach was third in the 400 m hurdles final. Former Bruin Monique Henderson, who would have been the anchor, was injured during the 400 meter races.

In the race in Rio, Leach had a slight lead at the final exchange, not nearly enough to hold off Pan Am 400-meter bronze medalist Indira Terrero of Cuba and three-time Pan Am gold medalist Ana Guevara of Mexico, who passed Leach to take first and second. Leach crossed the line in third in 3:27.84.

Leach leaves Rio with two bronzes and will now concentrate on the IAAF World Track & Field Championships in Osaka, Japan, that will start on August 25.

For an interesting look at the anti-American sentiment that plagued the U.S. team all during the Pan American Games, check out one of Leach's diary entries for the UCLA Bruins.com website.