Kingdom Wins a Broken-Dream Hurdles Race

Before the U.S. Olympic Festival last month, hurdler Greg Foster was pondering the impending return of world record-holder Renaldo Nehemiah.

Foster told reporters that if he were to run in the same race with Nehemiah--who was reinstated to amateur athletics July 16 by the International Amateur Athletic Federation--and 1984 Olympic champion Roger Kingdom, it would be the greatest hurdle competition of all time.

Well, it didn’t happen at Houston in the Olympic Festival. Nehemiah did not enter the meet, Foster dropped out of the race after one hurdle and Kingdom finished fifth.

So, the big matchup would take place in the Mobil Grand Prix track and field meet Friday night at London’s Crystal Palace. And it would have all the drama we have come to expect when Foster and Nehemiah line up in the blocks for a 110-meter hurdles race.

Nehemiah, the only man to break 13 seconds in the event with his world best of 12.93, was returning after being banned from competition for the four years he played professional football. Foster, the world’s top-ranked hurdler during Nehemiah’s absence, was trying to prove he really deserved his rating. And Kingdom, the newcomer, was trying to see exactly where he fits in.

But they will still have to wait.

Nehemiah, who strained an Achilles’ tendon during a workout two weeks ago, decided not to run after warming up Friday night.

Foster, after taking a commanding lead midway through the race, ran into the seventh hurdle and fell, leaving Kingdom to edge Mark McCoy of Canada. Kingdom’s winning time of 13.67 seconds was way off the 13.38 that Nehemiah ran in his return Wednesday night at Viareggio, Italy.

If this race was a dud, the Grand Prix wasn’t much better. Morocco’s Said Aouita, one of the world’s best distance runners, dropped out of the 3,000 meters, and the favorites who did win, such as Edwin Moses, Steve Scott and Evelyn Ashford, were not challenged.

It was the first Grand Prix meet of the second half of the season, and many of the athletes were looking ahead to the European Championships, which are later this month. As Scott, who won the mile in 3:54.04, said: “I just wanted to win out there. I didn’t expect all the good runners there to try for a great time.”

In the case of Nehemiah and Foster, it might be easier to get them together on TV’s Scrabble, since the renewal of their rivalry has consisted only of words. Four years ago, they played the game on the track, as well.

Before Nehemiah became a wide receiver with the San Francisco 49ers in the fall of 1981, he gave Foster fits. No matter how fast Foster ran, Nehemiah was a step ahead. And it got to Foster’s head. He seemed to spend more time talking about chasing Nehemiah than finding a way to defeat him.

Despite the interruption, the saga continues.

“Greg fell because he was too aggressive,” Nehemiah said of Friday’s race. “He was trying to impress me with a good time.” Foster said Nehemiah was not a factor in his fall.

“My arms just seemed to get away from my legs.” he said. “I was bothered by a strong headwind and jet lag.”

Foster arrived in London from Los Angeles on Wednesday.

“I’m not disappointed that Renaldo didn’t run,” Foster said. “I can’t worry about anyone else anymore. I have to concentrate on what I’m doing, and if I do that, I’ll do OK.”

Foster said he has yet to welcome Nehemiah back. “I haven’t really run into him,” he said. “No, I haven’t talked to him at all.”

Said Nehemiah: “He doesn’t talk to me. It’s his personality. It’s tough not being friendly with the other hurdlers, but Greg just wants to be his own person.”

And if Foster is confronted with Nehemiah, perhaps just before the start of a race? “I’ll probably welcome him back,” he said. Nehemiah said he already is back, and will return to San Francisco to rest for 10 days before continuing the summer season in Europe. But he admitted the transition from the football field to the hurdles hasn’t been easy.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that the scenario with Greg will happen again,” Nehemiah said. “When the odds are slim that you will beat me, it has to have an effect.”

But Nehemiah isn’t brimming with confidence just yet.

“There was a lot of pressure in that last race,” he said. “There was so much at stake. It was a monumental moment. Each hurdle was like a brand new experience.” He said he strained his already sore Achilles during the Italian race because he was jumping too high over the hurdles and landed flat-footed on the track.

Nehemiah said he doesn’t expect to race again until September. And just maybe, it will be against Foster and Kingdom.

Grand Prix Notes In one of the meet’s best races, England’s Peter Elliott overcame Johnny Gray of Santa Monica in the last 100 meters to win the 800 in 1:45.53. Gray was timed in 1:45.54. Gray took the lead with 300 meters left and was holding a meter’s lead before Elliott made his move down the backstretch. . . . Fatina Whitbread of England had one of the meet’s best performances with a toss of 236 feet 10 inches in the women’s javelin . . . .Edwin Moses won his 99th straight 400-meter hurdles final. His time of 48.21 seconds was more than a second off his world record. He told reporters he didn’t expect to run a fast time in London because some of his strongest competitors were not entered in the race. It was also his 114th straight first-place finish, counting heat races. . . . Evelyn Ashford dominated a high-class field in the women’s 200 meters. Ashford, world record-holder and Olympic champion at 100 meters, led from the start and just held off Jamaica’s Marlene Ottey-Page. Ashford’s time was 22.38 seconds, with Ottey-Page clocking 22.54 and third-placed Pam Marshall 22.76. . . . In the 300 meters, Kirk Baptiste, who set the world record for the distance on the same track two years ago, only managed third place in 32.01 seconds. After a false start, Britain’s Innocent Egbunike won in 31.97, ahead of Australia’s Darren Clark in 32.01. . . . Calvin Smith, the world record-holder, was beaten in the 100-meter dash by the European champion, Marian Woronin of Poland. Woronin clocked 10.20 seconds.