World Championships Off to Bad Start on Bad Finish

If the remainder of the second World Track and Field Championships follows the format of opening night, then vaudeville has made a comeback.

There was confusion and frustration near the end of the men’s 10,000-meter race Saturday night at Olympic Stadium when many runners were tricked by an incorrect lap count.

Some were sprinting madly at the end, believing they were on the final lap of a grueling race that lasts close to a half-hour.

Here’s what happened, or appeared to happen:

Kenya’s Paul Kipkoech was breezing along with a comfortable lead. As he passed a spot where an electronic board indicates the number of laps left, he noticed, as he knew, that he had two laps to go.

Kipkoech knew, but some others behind him weren’t so sure. As soon as the Kenyan flashed by, the board indicated that there was only one lap remaining.

The leaders were apparently aware of the true lap count, but the stragglers weren’t. So many of them went into an all-out sprint.

After they finished, trying to catch their breath, while holding their hands on their knees, they were urged to continue running.

A cruel trick. They still had another lap left. Some of them resumed running, others just shrugged in disgust and walked off the track.

“It was mass confusion,” said Jonathan Solly of Great Britain, who won a 10,000-meter race in Redondo Beach last January. “The runners up front knew how many laps they had left, but the others, like me, didn’t.”

In any event, Kipkoech was the winner in the time of 27 minutes 38.63 seconds. Italy’s Francesco Panetta was second in 27:48.98 and East Germany’s Hansjoerg Kunze third at 27:57.37.

The folly in Italy was compounded because the 10,000-meter final was originally scheduled for Monday night. However, it was decided to cancel qualifying heats and just let the 30 runners go for it all in one race.

That’s OK, but instead of keeping the final on Monday, it was held Saturday, altering the schedule of some athletes.

Moreover, if Morocco’s Said Aouita had known that there weren’t going to be any heats in the 10,000, he might have elected to try for a double in that race and the 5,000. As it is, the 5,000 world record-holder is only in one race.

Otherwise, on a balmy evening, a crowd of 65,000, mainly partisan Italians, didn’t have much to cheer.

Italy’s Alessandro Andrei, who recently set a world shotput record of 75 feet 2 inches in Viareggio, Italy, had to settle for a silver medal.

He was beaten by Switzerland’s Werner Gunthor, who took the lead from John Brenner of the United States on his fourth throw and later improved on it.

His winning mark was 72-11 (22.23 meters). Andrei was second at 71-9 1/2, with Brenner third at 71-4.

When Gunthor, who was throwing just ahead of Andrei, stepped into the ring for his last throw, the partisan crowd jeered him by whistling.

Gunthor answered with his best effort, and Andrei couldn’t match it.

“I expected this reaction on the part of spectators and it motivated me,” Gunthor said.

Said Brenner: “I don’t think the crowd would have whistled if I had been in the lead at the time. The Italians just hate the Swiss.”

In the only other final, Rosa Mota of Portugal broke from the pack early to win the women’s marathon with a seven-minute margin over her nearest rival.

Mota was timed in 2 hours 25 minutes 17 seconds. Zoja Ivanova of the Soviet Union was second in 2:32.38, with France’s Jocelyn Villeton third in 2:32.53.

There was also impending drama, the first and second rounds of the men’s 100 meters, setting up a showdown tonight between Carl Lewis and Canadian Ben Johnson.

Lewis served notice that he is fit by winning his opening heat in 10.05 seconds, breaking his World Championship record of 10.07 that he established in the inaugural meet at Helsinki, Finland, in 1983.

It was a surprising time inasmuch as Lewis was merely trotting the last seven meters. He seemed astonished when the scoreboard flashed his time.

However, Johnson, the world’s top-ranked 100-meter sprinter in 1986, is not intimidated by Lewis. He has beaten him in five of their last six meetings.

Although the 10,000 meters finished with all the class of a race at a public park, it was serious business in the shotput.

Brenner, the former UCLA star, took charge of the competition in the second round with his throw of 71-4 1/2. But he couldn’t improve on it.

“I just tightened up,” he said. “I knew that mark wouldn’t hold up. I was shooting for 22-plus meters.”

Brenner is the U.S. record-holder at 73-10 3/4. But he hasn’t been in competition since the USA outdoor championships at San Jose in June.

“I hurt my right hamstring 10 days before that meet and then I reinjured it 10 days after it,” Brenner said.

He acknowledged that he injured his leg while imitating Carl Lewis on the long jump runway as a lark. And Brenner has a tendon problem in his left knee that may require surgery.

All things considered, Brenner wasn’t disappointed by his performance. Two East Germans, however, should be disappointed by theirs. Udo Beyer, the former world record-holder, and countryman Ulf Timmermann weren’t a factor, finishing fifth and sixth, respectively.

It was the first time since the 1960 Olympic Games here that Eastern Bloc shotputters have failed to break into the top three in a championship-type meet.

Brenner said there is a lot of pressure on Andrei, the 1984 Olympic champion, to perform well before his countrymen.

“He takes a lot of flak,” Brenner said. “They don’t look at him as someone who can come through in big meets.”

Andrei acknowledged the pressure, saying: “The whole nation has great expectations for me.”

Brenner said Andrei also confided in him on the circumstances of his record throw.

“He said he was throwing from a raised platform,” Brenner said, adding that there has also been speculation that the field in Viareggio is slanted. As for Gunthor, Brenner said: “He’s just a raw talent. He doesn’t have technique, but he’s physically awesome and a great athlete. He’s lean at 6-6 or 6-7 and 290 pounds. He says he wants to become a (U.S.) football player.”

There are five finals scheduled tonight--men’s and women’s 100 meters, women’s high jump, and men’s javelin and 20-kilometer walk.

Carl Witherspoon finished fifth in his 100-meter heat and failed to advance to the second round. He has been bothered by a nerve injury in his right leg that he sustained in the Pan American Games at Indianapolis.

“I wasn’t ready. I needed a race under my belt,” said Witherspoon, who trains with Carl Lewis in Houston. “I felt good but I just didn’t go. I was really scared about the leg.”

Mel Rosen, the U.S. men’s coach, said Witherspoon had good workouts the past two days. “He got out slow and didn’t realize how fast the heat was,” Rosen said.

Track and Field Notes More problems on opening night in Rome: More tickets were sold than there were seats available. Some people demanded refunds, but they were finally placed in a special athletes’ section in the stadium. . . . John Brenner was the only U.S. shotputter to qualify for the finals. Greg Trafalis just missed geting in and was the top non-qualifier. . . . Louise Ritter and Collen Sommer qualified for the women’s high jump final. . . . Diane Williams, Pam Marshall and Alice Brown of the United States all qualified for today’s semifinals in the women’s 100 meters. East Germany’s Heike Drechsler was the most impressive with a wind-aided time of 11.02 in her opening heat. . . . Brazil’s Joaquim Cruz, the 1984 Olympic 800 champion, was a no-show for his event. He may enter the 1,500.