Costa Rican sprinter Nery Brenes was eliminated yesterday in Semifinal 1 of the men's 400-meter race in the Beijing Olympics.

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.

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.

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.

Mountain biker Federico Ramírez will wrap up the Olympics for the Tico team at 1 a.m. Saturday.