TAC Meet : Lewis Will Run in 200, for Sure, at Nationals

One of the notable aspects of Carl Lewis’ distinguished athletic career has been his consistent excellence as a sprinter.

World-class sprinters often disappear as fast as they run.

For example, what has happened to Calvin Smith and Sam Graddy? They were members of a world record-breaking 400-meter relay team last August at the Olympic Games, but they’re also-rans now.

Smith is the world record-holder in the 100 meters at 9.93 seconds, a mark he achieved in 1983. Since then, however, he has had nagging injuries and has sort of faded from the world scene.

Same for Graddy. He ran second to Lewis in the Olympic 100 meters and was regarded as the next great American sprinter.

Graddy, however, quit competing for the University of Tennessee this season, for reasons that are still unclear. Some say he had eligibility problems. In any event, he hasn’t done much on his own.

Last Saturday in the ARCO-Coliseum meet, Graddy was a badly beaten seventh in 10.46, and Smith finished fifth in 10.29. USC’s Darwin Cook was the winner in 10.23.

Yet Lewis endures. He topped the world 100-meter rankings for a record fourth year in a row in 1984. He suffered a strained muscle while long-jumping in the Pepsi Invitational May 18 and will limit his activities in The Athletics Congress USA-Mobil national meet beginning tonight at the Indiana University stadium in Indianapolis.

The injury isn’t serious, but Lewis listens to his body. That’s one of the reasons he has managed to retain his No. 1 sprint ranking in an event that usually has an ever-changing cast. He plans to compete in the 200, but is undecided about the 100. If he elects to go in the shorter sprint, too, he’ll encounter some relatively new faces as opposition.

Terry Scott, the NCAA champion from Tennessee; Thomas Jefferson of Kent State; Lee MacNeill of East Carolina; Kirk Baptiste of Houston, and Cook are apparently Lewis’ primary challengers now. Baptiste is better in the 200 than in the 100, having finished a strong second behind Lewis at that distance in the Olympics.

In the 200, Lewis will be opposed by two upstarts, Roy Martin and Joe DeLoach, quality high school sprinters from Texas.

Lewis is defying odds to remain at the top of his craft, according to Payton Jordan, the Olympic coach in 1968 and a world-class sprinter in the 1930s and ‘40s.

“You’re walking a narrow line as a sprinter,” Jordan said. “When you’re at your peak, you are vulnerable to a lot of things. There is a high burnout factor. The intensity level is almost above and beyond any other event in track and field.”

Willie Banks is the comeback athlete of the year in track and field. After he finished sixth in the triple jump in the Olympic Games, it seemed that younger athletes such as gold medalist Al Joyner and silver medalist Mike Conley had replaced Banks at the top of the list in that event.

But Banks shocked his competition Saturday at the Coliseum by improving his American record to 57 feet 11 3/4 inches, the best performance ever at sea level.

Banks had coached himself in recent years. Now he is performing for the L.A. Track Club and is coached by Chuck Debus.

“Willie is 29 and a veteran competitor, but athletes aren’t always objective about themselves,” Debus said. “It’s human nature not to push yourself. We’ve put Willie on a structured, disciplined program. He has better running mechanics now and he is at a higher fitness level.

“The runway at the Coliseum is slow, and he didn’t have the benefit of an aiding wind on his record jump. I wouldn’t be surprised if he breaks the world record at Indianapolis. It’s a fast facility.”

Brazil’s Joao Oliveira is the world record-holder at 58-8 1/2, a mark established in the thin air of Mexico City in 1975 and one that is regarded with the same awe as Bob Beamon’s world long-jump record of 29-2 1/2.

Track Notes Only one final, the women’s 10,000 meters, is scheduled tonight as the three-day national meet gets started. Joan Benoit, the Olympic marathon gold medalist, has indicated that she will compete in the 10K. . . . Winners in Indianapolis will qualify for the World Cup Oct. 4-6 at Canberra, Australia. Because of the long delay between the national meet and the World Cup, athletes must show that they’re in good physical shape to remain eligible for the competition in Australia. The national meet also will qualify athletes for other international competition. . . . Kim Gallagher, the Olympic silver medalist in the 800, won’t compete in the national meet. Her coach, Chuck Debus, said she has the flu. . . . Mary Decker Slaney won’t be at Indianapolis. Instead, she’ll try to break the world record in the mile at a meet in Vancouver next Tuesday.