Aouita Cruises; Cram Is Eighth; 3 Relays to U.S.

Steve Cram became a front-runner who faded, and Said Aouita had a race that was made to order for him Sunday night at Olympic Stadium in the conclusion of the World Track and Field Championships.

Britain’s Cram, who was clearly the pre-race favorite to win the 1,500 meters, came in a dismal eighth as his patented finishing kick deserted him.

Abdi Bile of Somalia, the NCAA 1,500-meter champion representing George Mason University, was the winner in 3 minutes 36.80 seconds. Jim Spivey got the bronze medal in a surprising showing for the American behind Spain’s Jose-Luis Gonzales in second.

As for Morocco’s Aouita, the world record-holder at 1,500, 2,000 and 5,000 meters, it was just a run in the park in the 5,000.

It became a kicker’s race with a relatively slow early pace, and Aouita simply sprinted away from the field on the final lap.

His winning time of 13:26.44 was considerably slower than his world record of 12:58.39, which he set in this stadium last month.

“I came out late as it was sufficient to win,” Aouita said. “I often looked toward the tribune (press box) to see where my friends were located. Winning was as easy as sitting in a movie theater.”

Aouita, who hasn’t lost a race at any distance since July 16, 1985, isn’t modest, but he backs up his boasts with results. A few days ago, he said, in effect, that he was only running against himself. As it turned out, he was.

Although it was evident that no one was going to catch him, he didn’t win by a sizable margin. Portugal’s Domingos Castro was second in 13:27.59, with Britain’s Jack Buckner third in 13:27.74. Sydney Maree, America’s only entry in the final, wasn’t a factor. He was 11th in 13:33.78.

It was also a gratifying day for the American team. The men won both the 400 and 1,600-meter relays, recording the fastest time ever at low altitude in the latter race with a time of 2:57.29. The women established an American record in winning the 400-meter relay in 41.58 but finished third in the 1,600-meter event.

It was the U.S. women’s first victory over East Germany in a sprint relay since their dual meet confrontation in 1983 at the Coliseum in Los Angeles.

The United States was struggling after the first three days with only three medals, and foreign publications were trumpeting the decline of American track and field--especially the British press.

But the Americans did just about as well as expected. They finished with 19 medals, compared to 24 in the inaugural World Championships in 1983 at Helsinki, Finland.

The men equaled their gold medal output at Helsinki with 6, but lacking depth, they had only 13 total medals, compared to 18 at Helsinki.

Even though Mary Decker Slaney and Evelyn Ashford were unable to compete because of injuries, the women made a respectable showing. They had 6 medals overall, including 3 gold, matching their total at Helsinki but adding one more gold.

The world stage, however, belonged to East Germany, especially the women. The East Germans amassed 31 medals, one more than they totaled in the European Championships in 1986.

The East German women accounted for 23 medals out of a possible 54.

The Soviet Union was second in the medal count to East Germany with 25. The men got 12, the women 13.

Carl Lewis came close to being the dominant athlete that he was at Helsinki, where he won two individual gold medals, in the 100 and long jump, and anchored the winning sprint relay team.

He was second in the 100 here to Canada’s Ben Johnson last Sunday, with Johnson shattering the world record with a time of 9.83 seconds and Lewis equaling the former record at 9.93.

“This was my best competition ,” Lewis said, “and I’m optimistic next year (an Olympic year) because of it.”

Lewis was reminded that he won four gold medals in the 1984 Olympic Games at Los Angeles.

But he pointed out that he had a personal best time in the 100, the best long jump mark, 28-5 1/2, ever established in Europe, and brought the American team from behind in the 400-meter relay to get the gold medal.

Lewis got the baton two meters behind the Soviet Union’s Vladimir Krylov but rushed by the Soviet sprinter with 40 meters left. The U.S. team of Lee McRae, Lee McNeill, Harvey Glance and Lewis won in 37.90 seconds.

That’s the third fastest time ever, exceeded only by two other Americans teams--37.83 in the 1984 Olympics and 37.86 at Helsinki in 1983. Lewis was the anchor man on both teams.

Lewis didn’t run in the qualifying rounds with the sprint relay team. But there were no botched passes.

“Once I got the baton from Harvey, things went smoothly. I set my sights on just relaxing,” Lewis said. “Even if someone else was in front of me, I felt they had to be a long ways in front for us not to win. The team was depending on me.”

Lewis said he’ll make a decision today on whether he plans to meet Johnson in a 100-meter rematch Tuesday at Rieti, Italy, about 50 miles north of Rome.

In the longer relay, UCLA’s Danny Everett ran a strong first leg, then Roddie Haley opened up a five-meter lead over teams from Great Britain and the Soviet Union. The Soviet runner was bumped on a curve and fell, taking his team out of the race.

Antonio McKay kept the Americans in front on the third leg, and Butch Reynolds increased the lead with an all-out sprint on the backstretch of his anchor lap.

The unofficial splits were 44.9 for Everett, 44.1 for Haley, 44.3 for McKay and 44 flat for Reynolds.

An American team holds the world record at 2:56.16, set at high altitude in the 1968 Olympic Games at Mexico City.

In other finals, Sweden’s Patrik Sjoberg won the high jump at 7 feet 9 3/4 inches; Kenya’s Douglas Wakihuru was the marathon winner in 2 hours 11 minutes 48 seconds, and Britain’s Fatima Whitbread was the gold medalist in the women’s javelin, beating East Germany’s Petra Felke, the world record-holder. Whitbread’s winning throw was 251-5.

Sjoberg, the world record-holder at 7-11 1/2, won on the basis of fewer misses at lower heights. The Soviet jumpers, Igor Paklin and Gennadiy Avdeyenko, each cleared 7-9 3/4 and tied for second. All three jumpers missed at 7-10 1/2, with Sjoberg coming the closest to clearing on his second attempt.

Italy’s Gelindo Bordin delighted a partisan crowd of 70,000 by pulling away from Australia’s Steven Moneghetti once the marathon runners entered the stadium. Bordin got the bronze medal, happily shaking hands with spectators on his final lap.

It wasn’t a joyous occasion, though, for Cram, the world record-holder in the mile at 3:46.32 and the defending world champion, nor for Steve Scott, who was second to Cram at Helsinki.

Scott, who hasn’t been at his best this year, wasn’t in contention on the final lap and finished 12th and last in the 1,500 in 3:45.92.

Cram took the lead after the first 500 meters, with Abdi Bile right behind him. Then, on the final curve, the Somalian unleashed a withering kick, and others followed his lead as runner after runner passed Cram in the stretch.

“I did everything I could,” Cram said. “I was very tired. I didn’t have anything left at the end.”

The time, in a tactical race, was equivalent to a 3:53 mile and certainly didn’t threaten the world record of 3:29.46 held by Aouita.

“I felt I had a chance for fourth or fifth with 300 meters to go,” said Spivey, a former NCAA 1,500 champion from Indiana. “I felt tired at that point but I never gave up and I caught Cram very easily.”

Cram ran the type of race that Scott ran in the 1984 Olympics, with the same disastrous result.

“I think Cram was feeling pressure all season,” Spivey said. “It seems when you take the lead, like Scotty did in the Olympics, it’s a matter of uncertainty. Cram wasn’t sure of his kick. It really surprised me that he took the lead. If I were Cram, I would have sat on the field and then kicked.”