Calvin Smith Wants to Try for Another Olympic Gold

At an age when many sprinters are losing critical milliseconds in their stride, Calvin Smith says there still are some good races left in his 26-year-old legs.

After all, he’s yet to be unseated as the “world’s fastest human.”

“When I stop enjoying it and can’t keep up with the other guys, then I’ll know it’s time to get out,” said Smith, world record-holder in the 100 meters.

While he’s not winning as often as he once did, the time to quit has yet to come. A former University of Alabama runner, Smith has one Olympic gold medal from the 1984 Games at Los Angeles, and he sees no reason not to try for another.

“I’ll try to have a good year this year, then I’ll be working on making the Olympic team (in 1988),” he said.

Smith ran on the U.S. team that won the gold medal in the 400-meter relay at the 1984 Olympics, the year after he set the world record of 9.93 seconds in the 100 at Colorado Springs, Colo.

That earned him designation as the “world’s fastest human,” and in the thousands of races that have been run since, no one has beaten his time.

For a while, the record made Smith the man to beat wherever he raced. Four years later, Smith said he doesn’t sense that attitude any more.

“Maybe some of the younger guys who are just entering college want to get me,” Smith said. “But I think as far as the other guys, I’m sure they respect me, and I have a lot of respect for them and know that they are equally as good as I am.”

Smith’s most recent races were at the Drake Relays, where he faced one of the up-and-coming sprinters, Texas A&M; sophomore Floyd Heard.

Heard, gold medalist at the Goodwill Games in Moscow last summer, overcame a slow start to pass Smith in the turn and win the 200 in a meet record 20.39 seconds. Smith, who had won the event three straight years, was timed in 20.62.

Smith also finished second to Nigerian Chidi Imoh in the 100. Imoh won in 10.17, Smith ran 10.29.

Smith, who last year was ranked third in the world in the 200 and sixth in the 100, called Heard “a very good runner,” but added: “I think I can still run very competitively against him, and I feel that I can win some of the races.”

He also pointed out that 26 is not exactly ancient, even by sprinters’ standard. Carl Lewis, winner of four golds in the ’84 Olympics, is now 25, former Auburn standout Harvey Glance is still racing at 30 and Poland’s Marian Woronin is 31.

“I think I have some good years left,” Smith said.

Although pleased with his times, Smith said his training for Drake was interrupted because he was in the process of moving from Phoenix to Tampa, Fla., where he works at Busch Gardens.

Now that he’s settled in, Smith would like to get back to a steady routine leading up to The Athletic Congress championships at San Jose, Calif., June 24-28. He said he’d like to run in five meets before the TAC, which is the equivalent of the U.S. championships.

“That is where I want to peak because it’s like a do-or-die meet,” Smith said. “I’ll peak for that, then try to relax for a while and then get ready for the World Championships (in September).”

And so the regimen goes on--work, train, fly to a meet for the weekend, return home to work and train some more.

After enjoying a successful career, wouldn’t it be easier to retire from running and live it up a little?

“It’s something I like doing,” Smith said. “It’s a great challenge. All of the new runners and old runners out there are very competitive. It motivates you to train hard each day, knowing you’ve got to be ready to run a fast time every time out.”