Slaney Is a Close Second; Joyner-Kersee Ties Record

In 82 years of the Millrose Games, the world’s most prestigious indoor track and field meet, there probably have been more exciting distance races than there were Friday night. But it was difficult to find anyone among the crowd at Madison Square Garden who could remember them.

The final two individual races, the women’s mile and the men’s 3,000 meters, had such thrilling finishes that Jackie Joyner-Kersee’s outstanding performance, make that performances, in the 55-meter hurdles earlier in the evening were almost forgotten.

But not quite. She tied East German Cornelia Oschkenant’s world indoor record of 7.37 in the semifinal heat, then returned 45 minutes later to equal it again. It was Joyner-Kersee’s first world indoor record after previously setting four world outdoor records in the heptathlon and tying the world outdoor record in the long jump.

Even though the athletes’ performances have been good in the first month of the indoor season, the crowds have been down. The Millrose Games were no exception. Although the attendance of 17,256 was better than any other meet has had this year, it was less than capacity for the first time in years.

Those who didn’t come, and those who left early, missed outstanding performances by Romania’s Paul Ivan and Mary Decker Slaney in the women’s mile and Morocco’s Said Aouita and Doug Padilla in the men’s 3,000.

Slaney, who is trying to come back after finishing eighth in the 1,500 and 10th in the 3,000 at the 1988 Summer Olympics, finished second to Romania’s Paula Ivan, the 1,500-meter champion and 3,000-meter runner-up at Seoul. But Ivan had to work hard for the victory, holding off Slaney at the end to win in 4:23.72. Slaney’s time was 4:23.91.

Minutes later, Aouita, one of the greatest middle-distance runners in history, stepped onto a U.S. indoor track for the first time and was treated less than hospitably by Padilla, who five times has won the Millrose 3,000.

Padilla called the field the greatest ever put together for an indoor distance race. Also entered were Spain’s Jose-Luis Gonzalez, world indoor record-holder in the 1,500, Steve Scott, fifth in the 1,500 at Seoul, Canada’s Graeme Fell and U.S. steeplechase Olympians Brian Diemer and Brian Abshire.

Aouita won in 7:47.07, but he had to come from behind in the final stretch of the 20 1/2-lap race to beat Padilla, who finished second in 7:47.35, a step ahead of Gonzalez’s third-place 7:47.38. Scott was fourth in 7:50.75.

After finishing third in the 800 meters and withdrawing from the 1,500 because of an injury at the Summer Olympics, Aouita, a master of overstatement, said it would have been a “catastrophe” if he had lost.

“Yeah, I’m really disappointed,” said Padilla, who charged into the lead ahead of Aouita on the final lap but didn’t have enough kick to sustain it. Padilla had visions of spoiling Aouita’s U.S. debut. The Moroccan plans to run five races in the United States in preparation for the world indoor championships in March at Budapest.

“He always wants to do well,” Padilla said. “We wanted to make sure that when he came over here, he wouldn’t cakewalk through us. We at least didn’t let him do that.

“But it would have been nice if he’d had to try once or twice before winning in the United States.”

They are expected to meet again in the 5,000 meters Sunday at the Mobil One meet in Fairfax, Va.

Less disappointed with her second-place finish was Slaney, who, as usual, had the lead through the first half of the race. She lost it with four laps to go in the 11-lap race and lagged until the final lap, when she almost caught the younger, stronger Ivan.

“I didn’t sense that she was fading,” Slaney said of her last-lap rally. “I just wanted to try to make up the gap. I didn’t give myself enough time, I think.”

“But it was exciting. I’m happy. Of course, I’d be happier if I had won. Although I didn’t run the kind of race I wanted, this was a fun race.”

It was a fun meet. Randy Barnes (72 feet, 7 inches in the shotput) and Louise Ritter (6-5 1/2 in the high jump) set meet records. Ireland’s Marcus O’Sullivan ran 3:54.27 to win the men’s mile for the second straight year.

Gwen Torrence won the women’s 55-meters for the fourth straight year, leaving Evelyn Ashford behind in fifth place. Jack Pierce beat a loaded field, including two-time Olympic gold medalist Roger Kingdom, in the men’s 55-meter hurdles. George Kersh of Taft College won the men’s 800, in which Olympic champion Paul Ereng of Kenya finished fourth. Another Kenyan Olympic champion, Peter Rono, finished fourth in the college mile.

But the only world record was Joyner-Kersee’s. One of the reasons she is such an outstanding athlete is that she always believes she can do better. And why not? She has yet to be proved wrong.

When she ran 7.37 in a semifinal heat, it figured that she would have the record to herself by the end of the evening.

But all that she could do in the final was match the 7.37, which didn’t exactly disappoint her. However, she said that she can ran faster, perhaps as soon as Sunday afternoon in Fairfax.

She mentioned a 7.35.

Not that 7.37 shamed her. After all, it was fast enough to beat runner-up Kim McKenzie by a full tenth of a second.