Brussels Track : Weather, Pace Stymie Aouita’s Mile Bid

Driving rain, a sudden drop in temperature and a quick early pace combined Friday night to thwart Said Aouita’s bid to break the world mile record.

Running in the Ivo van Damme Memorial meet, Aouita clocked 3 minutes 50.09 seconds, compared to Briton Steve Cram’s world record of 3:46.32.

“What happened with the weather?” Aouita asked after balmy summer weather turned to cold, damp conditions. “Why did it rain?

“The track was just too wet. I gave everything I had, but my legs did not respond.”

The prospect of Aouita adding the mile to his five other world marks, including the 3,000-meter record that he set last Sunday, drew a near-capacity crowd of 38,000 to Heysel Stadium.

At 800 meters, Aouita was more than one second inside world-record time, paced first by Ray Brown of the United States, then by Joseph Chesire of Kenya.

But the pace took its toll on Aouita, who had to run the final 300 meters on his own.

His time was the second-fastest in the world this year, but Aouita said he knew the record would be beyond reach.

“Tonight was not the night for world records,” he said. “I’m not a machine. I can’t do it every time.”

The weather prevented fast times in almost every event. But in the men’s 200 meters, Brazil’s Robson da Silva continued unbeaten this season, winning in 19.96, the fastest time in the world this year.

“I’m No. 1 in the world and I think about it all the time,” said Da Silva, who won by more than five meters. “Everyone has their time. This is my time.”

Carl Lewis, the 1984 Olympic gold medalist who was running the 200 for the only time this season, was fifth in 20.47.

It was Lewis’ worst finish since 1981, when he was ninth in the 100 meters in the World Cup meet.