Feuding Sprinters Set Marks : Brisco-Hooks Runs 22.95 in 220; Dixon Wins 440 in 52.20

Diane Dixon and Valerie Brisco-Hooks have been stepping on each other’s shadows a lot lately, which could only lead to one thing. They got on each other’s nerves.

For that reason, they were relieved to be running different events Friday in the national indoor championships before a crowd of 14,358 at Madison Square Garden.

So what happened?

Not only did they both set world indoor bests, they both did it twice.

During the morning preliminaries, Dixon ran 440 yards in 52.77 seconds, breaking Brisco-Hooks’ three-week old record of 52.99.

Brisco-Hooks followed that by running 220 yards in 23.08 seconds in the preliminaries, breaking Chandra Cheeseborough’s three-year old record of 23.25. Florence Griffith had tied Cheeseborough’s mark earlier Friday.

In the evening finals, Dixon again broke the record in the 440 by running 52.20, and Brisco-Hooks then ran 22.95 in the 220 for her second record of the day.

As a result, neither had the spotlight to herself.

Actually, Dixon did have a spotlight on herself for a minute. Following her world record in the 440, the house lights were dimmed, the spotlight was placed on Dixon, and she was presented with the Olympic gold medal that she earned but didn’t receive last summer in Los Angeles.

As an alternate member of the victorious 1,600-meter relay team, she ran in the semifinals but not the finals. Only the four women who ran in the finals received their gold medals at the Coliseum.

Who do you think she was filling in for during the semifinals?

Brisco-Hooks.

Their difficulties began this year at the Millrose Games here in January, when Dixon beat the favored Brisco-Hooks in the 400 meters with a time that would have been considered an American record if the electronic timer had not malfunctioned.

Brisco-Hooks, who won three Olympic gold medals last summer, then broke the world record in the 440 in Dallas and the 500 in San Diego before meeting Dixon again two weeks ago in the 400 at the New Jersey Meadowlands.

Their race was a classic, Brisco-Hooks coming from behind to catch Dixon at the finish line. After studying the photos, Brisco-Hooks was declared the winner in another American record of 52.63. Dixon was given a time of 52.64.

Dixon’s coach, Fred Thompson of the New York Atoms, later sent another photo to an official of the meet at the Meadowlands, who ruled the race a dead heat and decided they should share the American record.

That did not please Brisco-Hooks, who runs for the World Class Athletic Club in Los Angeles.

Asked why she and Dixon are not friends, she said, “Because she’s a cocky little brat.”

When that was relayed to Dixon, she said, “That’s like the pot calling the kettle black.”

This week, however, the referee of the meet at the Meadowlands ruled Thompson’s protest was not within the rules because it was not lodged during the competition and reinstated Brisco-Hooks as the winner.

Thompson responded by threatening to withdraw Dixon from the indoor championships. There was no chance of a rematch with Brisco-Hooks anyway because she already had decided to run the 220.

After setting the world record for the second time Friday night, Dixon said she knew Thompson was bluffing.

She said she wasn’t disappointed about Brisco-Hooks’ decision to run another event.

“If I had beaten her, she would have been upset and would have had to wait until the outdoor season to get back at me,” Dixon said. “That would have started another dispute.

“I’ve had enough of her this indoor season. Boy, have I.”

Brisco-Hooks was conciliatory.

“I was really happy for Diane,” she said of Dixon’s Olympic medal ceremony. “Without her and Denean Howard (the other 1,600 relay alternate), I don’t think we would have it. I never would have gotten that third gold medal.”

Brisco-Hooks could afford to be conciliatory.

She won $14,410--$10,000 for winning the women’s overall indoor Grand Prix championship, $3,000 as the best performer during the indoor season in the 440 and $1,410 as the best performer during the indoor season in the 220.

High jumper Jimmy Howard won $13,000--$10,000 as the men’s overall indoor Grand Prix winner and $3,000 as the best performer during the indoor season in the high jump.

Three other world records were threatened Friday night:

--Greg Foster won his third consecutive indoor championship in the 60-yard hurdles, breaking his own meet record and his personal record with a time of 6.85. Renaldo Nehemiah has the world record of 6.82.

“If I get out of the blocks well, the world record is gone,” Foster said during a press conference before the race.

When Roger Kingdom, who beat Foster at the Olympics, was introduced, he stood and, tongue in cheek, said, “Like Greg, I’m at a loss for words.”

Kingdom and Foster aren’t the best of friends, although Foster refuses to dignify their feud by calling it a rivalry.

“There’s no (high) hurdler out there you can compare to me and Nehemiah,” Foster said.

Kingdom called Foster’s victory in Chicago this year a false start, and Foster called Kingdom’s victory in Dallas a false start, even though they didn’t run against each other in either race.

There was another controversy following this race, but it didn’t involve Foster. Kingdom, who finished third, and Tonie Campbell, who finished sixth, thought runnerup Henry Andrade got away with a false start.

--Alice Brown won the women’s 60-yard dash in 6.56, barely missing Evelyn Ashford’s world record of 6.54.

--Mike Conley’s 57-1 in the triple jump, a meet record, was the second best indoor jump ever and only half an inch short of Willie Banks’ world record.

Conley returned later to upset Larry Myricks with 26-11 3/4 in the long jump, becoming only the third person to win both the long jump and the triple jump in the indoor championships.

In another upset, Doug Padilla ran a 12:57.15 in the three-mile run to beat runnerup Eamonn Coghlan, 12.59.56. Coghlan had won 16 straight indoor races since his last lost in 1981.