Griffith-Joyner Sets American 200 Record With 21.77 Clocking in Heat

Florence Griffith-Joyner turned in another blazing performance Friday night, shattering the American record in the women’s 200-meter dash with a time of 21.77 seconds in a second-round heat at the U.S. Olympic Trials.

Griffith-Joyner, who set the world record of 10.49 in the 100-meter dash last Saturday, erased the national record of 21.81, set by Olympic gold medalist Valerie Brisco at the 1984 Los Angeles Games.

Brisco was in the same second-round heat as Griffith-Joyner, but she was no match for the new American record-holder, who was wearing a bright yellow, full-length outfit. Brisco finished second in 22.36.

Griffith-Joyner’s time was the eighth-fastest in history and was .06 of a second off the world record of 21.71, shared by East Germans Marita Koch and Heike Drechsler, both of whom have done it twice.

Earlier, Jackie Joyner-Kersee continued her outstanding long jumping and long-time rivals John Powell and Mac Wilkins extended their feud.

Joyner-Kersee, who set the world heptathlon record a week ago, sailed into Saturday’s women’s long jump final with a qualifying leap of 23 feet, 8 inches, also a meet record.

Wilkins and Powell, two of track and field’s “old guard,” finished 1-2 in the men’s discus qualifying -- and renewed their perennial verbal battle

Also on Friday night’s schedule were finals in the men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase and the women’s 100-meter high hurdles and 10,000 meters, semifinals in the men’s 1,500 meters, the first two rounds of the men’s 110-meter hurdles, and qualifying in the women’s shot put.

In the men’s hurdles, two-time world champion Greg Foster, who suffered a broken left forearm July 4, was to make his first appearance in the Trials.

Griffith-Joyner had sped to an easy victory in her first-round heat in the 200. Her time of 21.96 was the fastest by an American this year--until she bettered it in the second round -- and broke the meet record of 22.16 set in 1984 by Brisco.

“She wasn’t going for a record,” her husband, Al Joyner, the 1984 Olympic gold medalist in the triple jump, said of the first heat. “She knew she was going to advance.”

Brisco also advanced into the second round of the 200, but not before a near mishap. About 60 meters from the finish of her first-round heat, Brisco lost her right shoe.

But she managed to make it across the finish line in fourth place, advancing along with all other 26 competitors in the heats. Late scratches reduced the fields in each heat.

“It was a new pair of shoes,” Brisco said. “I guess the pads inside were too big. I kept trying to put my foot in.

“Coming off the curve, I said, ‘Just forget it,’ and kicked it off.”

Joyner-Kersee, who set the world record in the heptathlon last week with 7,215 points, broke the meet record in the women’s long jump of 22-11 3/4, set by Jodi Anderson in 1980.

Also qualifying for today’s long jump final was Carol Lewis, the younger sister of Carl Lewis, who already has made the men’s team in the 100, 200 and long jump--the three events he won at the 1984 Los Angeles Games.

Carol Lewis long-jumped 21-8 in the qualifying, fourth-best, behind Joyner-Kersee, Jennifer Inniss (21-11 3/4) and Claire Connor (21-9).

Powell, 41, trying to become the first American man to make five Olympic teams, hurled the discus 205-2 during qualifying for Saturday’s final.

Long jumper Willye White is the only American woman to make five Olympic teams, competing in the 1956, 1960, 1964, 1968 and 1972 Games.

One woman, discus thrower Lia Manilou of Romania, was on six Olympic track and field teams.

Wilkins, 37, the 1976 Olympic gold medalist and 1984 silver medalist, tossed the discus 209-6 during qualifying. He is seeking his third Olympic berth.

“There is no reason to put our differences aside during the Olympics,” Wilkins said. “It is not a team sport, so working together wouldn’t help either of us.

“We have to do anything possible to spur on our own individual performance. We have a personality clash and we each use that to make ourselves better throwers.”

Powell never has won an Olympic gold, but he did collect bronze medals in 1976 and 1984 and finished fourth in 1972. He also was second in the 1987 World Championships and was ranked No. 1 in the United States for the fifth time in his career.

He is taking his achievements lightly.

Asked about making his fifth Olympic team, he said, “I decided there would be life after this if I don’t make it,” he said. “There weren’t bells when I made the team for the fourth time.”

“It’s probably significant to me,” he said. “But in the large scheme of things, it might be a small note in a trivia book.”

In the semifinals of the women’s 100-meter hurdles, heat winners Pat Davis and Jackie Humphrey equalled the meet record and tied for sixth place on the all-time U.S. list of performers, clocking 12.83 each.

Co-American record-holder Gail Devers-Roberts, who set the meet record in Thursday’s second round, ran 12.92 in finishing third in her heat. After the race, she limped off the track.

Among those who failed to reach the final were 1984 Olympian Pam Page, 1988 NCAA champion Lynda Tolbert of Arizona State and former national indoor record-holder Candy Young.