World and Olympic Competition
Patton returned to action and finished eighth in the 100 m final at the 2007 US Championships, although he withdrew from the 200 m competition. Based on his performance, he was selected to represent the United States at the 2007 Pan American Games. He finished second in the 100 m behind Churandy Martina and anchored the relay team to a bronze medal. He was chosen as part of the relay team for the 2007 World Championships and this time made the final after qualifying. The American team became the world champions in a world-leading time of 37.78 seconds, fending off the Jamaican challengers who set a national record.
On 28 June 2008, Patton achieved his best performance running 9.89 s (wind +1.6 m/s) in 100 metres, winning the third race of the quarter finals of U.S. Olympic Trials. On the following day in the final, he ran 9.84 and finished third after Tyson Gay (9.68 s) and Walter Dix (9.80 s) in a very wind-aided (+3.1 m/s) race.
During the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing he placed second in his heat behind Tyrone Edgar in a time of 10.25 seconds. In the second round he improved his time to 10.04 seconds, finishing second in his heat behind Usain Bolt and qualifying for the semi finals. With 10.03 and the fourth time in his semi final heat he qualified for the Olympic final, being the slowest of all eight athletes. In the final itself he ran another 10.03 and was again the slowest and thus the eighth placed athlete. Together with Rodney Martin, Travis Padgett and Tyson Gay he also competed at the 4x100 metres relay. In their qualification heat they did not finish due to a mistake in the baton exchange between Patton and Gay and they were eliminated.
Patton came second to Michael Rodgers in a close 100 m race at the US championships in June 2009. This won him a place on the American team for the 2009 World Championships in Athletics. He managed to reach the final of the men's 100 meters after scoring a season's best of 9.98 in the semi-finals. He performed poorly in the final however, finishing last with a slow time of 10.34 seconds. The hopes of the American men's relay team were again dashed by an illegal baton exchange, this time between Patton and Shawn Crawford. Patton ended his season on a high note with a personal record-equalling run of 9.89 seconds for third at the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix, behind Tyson Gay and Asafa Powell.
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