Moses Wins His 99th; Nehemiah Withdraws

Edwin Moses won his 99th straight 400-meter hurdles final Friday, but Renaldo Nehemiah withdrew from the 110 meters competition at Crystal Palace.

Moses, whose world record of 47.02 seconds has stood for three years, went off fast and was on course for a best time for the first five hurdles. He tired in the second half of the race but still won easily in 48.21 seconds.

Counting heat races, Moses has a string of 114 straight first-place finishes.

Nehemiah, the world record-holder who was banned from competition the four years that he played pro football, returned Wednesday night at Viareggio, Italy, where he won in a strong time of 13.48 seconds despite clipping two hurdles.

But while warming up Friday night, Nehemiah aggravated an Achilles’ tendon and immediately pulled out of the competition.

“I suffered a slight strain on Wednesday and it is too tender to race,” Nehemiah said. “I like to run my races at 100%.”

Nehemiah, the only man to go under 13 seconds in the 110, said he would return to the United States for treatment and hoped to be racing in Europe again by September.

“The injury just did not come round. It’s been such a long time coming back (to the track). I really don’t want to push it and waste any more time,” he said.

With his biggest rivals competing, Nehemiah’s race was due to have been one of the highlights of the first IAAF Mobil Grand Prix meet since July 15.

In his absence, the race was won by Olympic champion Roger Kingdom in 13.67 seconds. World champion Greg Foster stumbled as he came off the eighth hurdle and had to be helped from the track.

Foster, who was uninjured, was heading for victory at the time.

“I was a bit disappointed when Nehemiah dropped out and that may have affected my concentration,” Foster said. “But what affected me most was the headwind.”

Nehemiah’s withdrawal was the second big disappointment for the crowd of 12,000. Hours before the event, organizers announced that Said Aouita, Morocco’s 1,500 and 5,000 meter world record-holder, had failed to show up.

Evelyn Ashford dominated a high-class field in the 200 meters. Ashford, world record-holder and Olympic champion over 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.

Britain’s Peter Elliott, normally a front-runner, boosted his chances of selection for the European Championships later this month when he changed tactics and upset America’s Johnny Gray in the 800 meters.

Elliott sat in the middle of the pack until the final 250 meters, when he steadily cut back the American’s lead.

In the final few strides, Gray was edged on the line in a photo finish.

There was another surprise in the men’s 300 meters when 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, with Smith taking second place in 10.28.

World champion Bert Cameron of Jamaica found the pace too hot in the men’s 400 meters. He made a good start but weakened in the homestretch and was passed by Antonio McKay and Ray Armstead, who finished 1-2 for the United States.