EUGENE, Ore. — Jeremy Wariner isn't invincible anymore — a point LaShawn Merritt proved once again last night.

Merritt pulled his second upset of the year over the world's supposed fastest 400-meter runner, dashing away from Wariner in the homestretch to win the U.S. Olympic track and field trials.

It was the second big stunner of the night in America's trials. In the pool in Omaha, Neb., Brendan Hansen finished a shocking fourth in the 200-meter breaststroke.

Unlike Hansen, Wariner still did enough to earn his spot on the Olympic team in his best event.

And not everybody at the track was calling this an upset.

"Coming into this, I wasn't really worried about everyone saying I wasn't the favorite," Merritt said. "In my mind, I was the favorite."

Merritt finished in 44 seconds flat, defeating the defending Olympic and two-time world champion by 0.20. Earning the third spot was national indoor champion David Neville.

Moments before, the women's 400 went much more to form, with Sanya Richards winning and Mary Wineberg and Dee Dee Trotter capturing the other two spots.

Richards is seeking an individual gold medal to go with the 1,600 relay gold she won in Athens.

In the 1,500-meter quarterfinals, Bernard Lagat, Lopez Lomong, Alan Webb and Leo Manzano advanced to today's semis. Lagat, already qualified for the Olympics in the 5,000, finished fourth in his heat, clearly saving energy for two more races to come.

In the women's steeplechase, Anna Willard set an American record, finishing the 3,000-meter race in 9 minutes, 27.59 seconds.

The race of the night, however, was the men's 400.

Merritt took to the track with a red-white-and-blue necklace his massage therapist made for him before the race. Wariner was in his trademark sunglasses, even though it was twilight.

He said he wasn't disappointed in finishing second, "I just came here to make the team," he said.

But his body language at the finish line told a different story. He shuffled his feet in apparent frustration, then looked at the clock, which showed 44.20 — well off his personal best (43.45) and nowhere near Michael Johnson's world record (43.18) that Wariner has said is within reach for him this year.

"The record is one thing I want to do, but I have to focus on winning the gold medal first," Wariner said in a quick televised interview after the race.

He is, indeed, not used to losing, though he has lost two of his last three races with Merritt in the field. Merritt snapped Wariner's nine-race winning streak earlier this year in Berlin, a result that turned heads simply because nobody has really challenged Wariner since he won the Olympic gold four years ago. Merritt is now 3-12 lifetime in races against Wariner.

But he was hardly in the mood to rub it in. Few will remember who won the Olympic trials. Many will remember who wins the Olympics next month.

"Once I got off the backstretch, around the curve and down the homestretch, I could smell Beijing," Merritt said.

Starting in lane 6, one lane outside of Wariner, Merritt jumped to a slim lead about halfway through, though that's nothing surprising; Wariner does his best work in the final 150 meters.

But Merritt did not let up and as they started down the backstretch, it became clear that Wariner would not make a move to catch Merritt, who finished second to Wariner at the world championships last year.

"My whole motto is, 'If I didn't think I could win, I shouldn't train as hard as I do,' " Merritt said. "Point blank, nobody trains hard to be No. 2 in the world. If you're racing and get second place, you go back and train harder to be No. 1."