U.S. Men Stumble to World Cup Win

The U.S. men’s team overcame the disqualification of first-place finisher Kirk Baptiste in the 200 and used a dramatic victory in the final event, the 1,600-meter relay, to win its second World Cup track and field championship Sunday at Canberra, Australia.

In the 200, Baptiste was disqualified for running out of lane. Running on the inside lane, he had placed first in 20.38.

In the 1,600 relay, the No. 3 U.S. runner, Andre Phillips, got involved in a pileup and fell off the inside of the track as he tried to hand the baton off to anchor man Michael Franks.

Franks was thrown off stride following the handoff and the United States dropped from first place to third. But after regaining his composure, Franks, 15-meters behind, stormed down the stretch to nip Azusa Pacific College runner Innocent Egbunike of Nigeria at the tape. The winning time was 3:00.71.

The U.S. men’s team finished with 123 points in the three-day meet. The Soviet Union was second with 115 points and the East German men third with 114.

Meanwhile, East Germany’s powerful women’s team, led by Marita Koch, easily won the women’s title with a record 121 points. The old record was 120 1/2, set by East Germany in 1981. The East German women swept all five of Sunday’s events and 12 of 16 overall.

The East German women’s 400-meter relay team of Silke Gladisch, Sabine Rieger, Ingrid Auerswald and Marlies Gohr lowered the world record to 41.37. The old mark of 41.53 was set by an East German team in 1983.