THE SEOUL GAMES / DAY 9 : Contradicted by the Camera : Lewis’ Start Almost as Good as Johnson’s in 100

Carl Lewis said that he lost the race at the start.

Ben Johnson’s coach, Charlie Francis, said that his runner won the race in the stretch between 40 and 80 meters, where Lewis usually is strongest.

But a review of Saturday’s Olympic 100-meter final from the official Swiss Timing photo of the race showed that both were mistaken.

Lewis was almost as fast out of the blocks as Johnson. But Johnson was able to accelerate faster, opening up his eventual winning margin in the first 50 meters.

Johnson won in 9.79 seconds, breaking his previous world record of 9.83, and Lewis was second in 9.92, an American record.

According to Swiss Timing, Johnson’s reaction time to the gun, measured in thousandths of a second, was .132, and Lewis’ was .136. That is average for Johnson but outstanding for Lewis. In the World Championships last year at Rome, where Johnson beat Lewis by .10 of a second, Johnson’s start was timed in .129 to .196 for Lewis.

(See chart on their 10-meter splits in the next column.)

In 100-meter races against one another since 1980, Lewis has a 9-7 advantage. But Johnson has won 7 of the last 9.

Meanwhile, how did the new Olympic champion spend his night?

A long sauna and a cream cake were Johnson’s celebration for his gold medal.

“I needed a long rest, and then I wanted to celebrate with my family. I dedicate my win to them,” Johnson said.

The Canadian star then went to dinner with some friends before going to a disco.

Johnson said it took him more than an hour in the sauna to shake away the tensions of this past week and of his two days of competition in the 100. He then ate half of the large cake his mother Gloria had bought to celebrate.

“Now it is time for some fun,” Johnson said en route to a disco. He said he would resume some light workouts to prepare for the 400-meter relay, then fly to Tokyo for a track meet the week after the Games, the last of the season before a long rest.

“This has been a tense season. Last year, it was better because I ran lots of good races with no problems before the World Championships,” he said. “This year was a troubled one, I was injured and I had many months of doubts and of concern.”

He said he knew Lewis was trying to impress him in the early rounds of the 100, but he relied on the same tactic he had in Rome, with slow heats to mislead Lewis and the others.

“In the semis I decided I’d send panic into them all with a strong race, but I was a bit upset when they called a false start on me,” he said. “It wasn’t true. I twisted my feet in the blocks but I did not take them off at any time.”

Johnson said the key to his improvement from Rome was that he had lost weight, from 176 to 173 pounds, but he kept on lifting the same 290 pounds. He said this gave him greater agility but the same strength.

Times staff writer Randy Harvey contributed to this story.

DOING THE SPLITS The meter splits in Ben Johnson’s world record 9.79-second 100-meter race:

Meters Comparison Margin 10 Johnson 1.95, Lewis 1.97 .02 20 Johnson 2.93, Lewis 3.00 .07 30 Johnson 3.81, Lewis 3.89 .08 40 Johnson 4.69, Lewis 4.81 .12 50 Johnson 5.52, Lewis 5.65 .13 60 Johnson 6.37, Lewis 6.53 .16 70 Johnson 7.22, Lewis 7.37 .15 80 Johnson 8.06, Lewis 8.23 .17 90 Johnson 8.93, Lewis 9.06 .13 100 Johnson 9.79, Lewis 9.92 .13