It’s Foster vs. the Starter; Greg Wins One, Loses One

When is a false start not a false start?

When you’re not caught.

That’s the lesson Greg Foster learned from the final of the Olympic 110-meter high hurdles, when he would have sworn there was a false start, hesitated and then watched the rest of the field run away from him.

Foster eventually caught up with all of the runners except Roger Kingdom and had to settle for the silver medal. Then Foster did swear. He also vowed never to get caught in the blocks again while waiting for a false-start to be called.

At the Sports Arena Friday night in the Sunkist Invitational, Foster thought there was a false start in the 50-yard high hurdles.

This time, he didn’t hesitate.

He kept running, finishing the race in 5.88 seconds to break Renaldo Nehemiah’s world indoor record of 5.92.

It was the second Nehemiah indoor record that Foster has broken. Last winter at the Bally Invitational in Chicago, he ran 6.35 in the 50-meter hurdles to break the record of 6.36.

Asked Friday night if he thought he had a good start in his world-record race, Foster smiled.

“It was better than good,” he said. “I thought I had jumped the gun. But I asked the starter if it was a false start, and he said it was the best start he had ever seen. I took it.”

Foster wasn’t as lucky in his second race of the night, the 60-yard hurdles. He and three other competitors false-started at the first gun. Starter Chip Armstrong said that if any of the four false-started again, they would be disqualified.

Foster alone false-started the second time and was disqualified.

The crowd booed, but Foster said his only complaint was that he hadn’t been informed that he was among those who false-started the first time.

“If I had been, I would have held the second time,” Foster said.

Milan Stewart won the 60-yard hurdles in 7.09, well off Nehemiah’s record of 6.82.

“I was more nervous for the second race,” Foster said. “I wanted to match what I did in the first race. That added more pressure. I wasn’t relaxed. When I feel tight, I usually false-start.”

Foster said earlier this week he felt capable of breaking a world record in this meet. Following the tragic automobile accident last summer that took the lives of four family members, including his mother, he said he has a new perspective on his career.

“Before the accident, it would have been easy for me to give up,” he said. “But, now, I feel better than I ever have at the start of a season. I came out in better shape than I ever have.

“I felt confident tonight. I felt like it was my first race ever, instead of who knows how many. I feel like a new person.”

Foster said he doesn’t believe the record Friday night will be his last of the year.

“I’m just out here to go for world records,” he said. “I’m not concerned with my won-loss record. If I win, I win. If I lose, I lose. If you go for world records, you’re going to lose sometimes because you have to take chances. I really feel as if this is the year I’m going to reach my potential.”

If so, he might also break Nehemiah’s world record outdoors in the 110-meter hurdles.

“If I run as well as I can outdoors, I will do it,” he said. “That would mean a lot to me, but not because it’s Skeets’ (Nehemiah’s) record. It would mean a lot because it’s a world record. The only way Skeets is associated with track and field is that he left some of his records behind.”