Track / Mal Florence : Petranoff Has No Excuses for 1984; ‘I Choked,’ He Says

When athletes don’t perform to expectations, they can fall back on any number of excuses, some of them valid.

But Tom Petranoff, the former world record-holder in the javelin, bit the bullet Monday at a track luncheon.

“I choked,” said Petranoff, who was favored to win the gold medal in the javelin in the Los Angeles Olympics last summer. He finished 10th. His best throw in the final round was only 257 feet 3 inches. His best ever is 327-2.

“The best explanation is that I came out as the favorite without the East Germans and Russians in the competition to make it an official Olympics,” Petranoff said. “I’ve always been an underdog. No one knew who I was until I broke the world record (1983) and that (being favored) put excessive pressure on me.”

Petranoff said that he had butterflies during the javelin trials. Still, he was the leading qualifier.

“Then, I had to wait 37 hours for the finals,” he said. “There was no adrenaline, no nervousness, and I kept pinching myself and saying, ‘What’s wrong?’ I was just flat and emotionally drained.”

Petranoff also said that the thought of financial rewards for winning a gold medal might have put added pressure on him.

“I don’t think it’s any secret that you get a $40,000 bonus from the shoe companies for winning a gold medal, as well as other endorsements,” he said.

Petranoff said he is motivated to redeem himself this year. He’ll compete in the Mt. San Antonio Relays April 28, the Pepsi Invitational May 18 and other major meets.

Lee Evans set a world record of 43.86 in the 400 meters in the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City. It’s the oldest existing track record.

Evans said, though, that his record is in jeopardy. He predicted that Henry Thomas, Hawthorne High’s outstanding sprinter, will be the next the world record-holder in the 400 in the near future.

“He has the build, the speed and the competitive fire, and now that he is going to UCLA, John Smith (former world-class quarter-miler and a UCLA assistant coach) will lead him to the world record,” Evans said. “I believe that Thomas can run 43.5 or 43.2.”

Evans also predicted that another long-standing record, Bob Beamon’s 29-2 1/2 in the long jump, also set in 1968, would be broken by Carl Lewis at UCLA May 18.

“I think Carl will jump 30 feet that day,” Evans said.

Track Notes Unbeaten UCLA (7-0) will have its toughest test of the season Saturday, meeting defending NCAA champion Oregon at Eugene, Ore. . . . USC (5-0) will meet California (8-1) and Arizona State (3-0) in a three-way scoring meet Saturday at Berkeley. . . . Carl Lewis, Calvin Smith and Mel Lattany will be among world-class sprinters in the Mt. SAC meet. . . . Earl Bell, the first American to clear 19 feet outdoors in the pole vault, predicts that the world record will be close to 20 feet in 10 years. Sergei Bubka of the Soviet Union is the current world record-holder at 19-5 3/4. . . . Kim Gallagher, the silver medalist in the women’s 800 at the 1984 Olympics, anticipates that she can run in the 1:55 range. Mary Decker Slaney is the American record-holder at 1:57.6. . . . USC triple jumper Mike Pullins predicts he’ll break the school record of 54-4 1/2 set by Tom Cochee in 1975.