Plumer’s Is a U.S. Case in Point at the World Cup Track Meet

The World Cup of track and field is a much-maligned and misunderstood event, but there was a race held in its final hours Sunday that goes a long way to explaining what it is and why it’s held at all.

Pattisue Plumer, a U.S. 3,000-meter runner who has toiled in the shadow of Mary Slaney throughout her career, and little-known Ellen Kiessling of East Germany were nearing the final lap, fighting for second place, at best, when Plumer tripped on the leg of a Soviet runner in front of her.

As Plumer fell, Kiessling ran into her and fell too. There they were, sprawled on the track at Montjuic Olympic Stadium, looking like they were doing push-ups, not running a race.

Within seconds, they scrambled to their feet and began running again. The Soviet runner, eventual second-place finisher Tatyana Pozdnyakova, was long gone, as was gold medalist Yvonne Murray of Great Britain. But third place, and a bronze medal, was one of theirs to win if they could make it.

No one would have blamed Plumer if she had not gotten up. It had happened before with another U.S. woman in another, more important 3,000-meter race five years ago. At the Olympics, Slaney fell and didn’t get up, although she would have had a greater distance to cover and she was injured.

In spite of a hyperextended knee, Plumer did get up. So did Kiessling. They ran a two-woman race from then on, each stunned and hurting, and Plumer won it by .17 of a second.

“I didn’t know what was happening,” said Plumer, a 1988 Olympian who just graduated from Stanford law school. “I knew it was important that I finish because it’s a team competition. You get up and you’re dazed, but you keep on going. You really have no other choice.”

Plumer’s performance couldn’t keep the U.S. women from finishing a distant fifth in the final standings, 39.5 points behind the traditionally strong East Germans, who had 124 points (scoring of 9 for first to 1 for ninth place). East Germany has won the women’s World Cup four of the five times it has been held. The U.S. women have never finished higher than fourth and this team, which was missing the likes of heptathlete and long jumper Jackie Joyner-Kersee, sprinter Evelyn Ashford and high jumper Louise Ritter, was not expected to do any better.

As for the East Germans, the World Cup was a reminder of the strength and depth of their athletic might. They slipped a bit at the 1988 Olympics, where the Americans did very well, but they served notice here that they are back.

“This is confirmation that we’re training at a very high level and we performed in the best way possible,” said world champion sprinter Silke Moller, who had an off year in 1988 but won World Cup gold medals in the 200 meters and 4x100 relay, and a bronze in the 100 meters.

The men’s competition was won by the United States for the third time out of five. Perhaps the biggest surprise was that the U.S. men won at all -- by six points over Europe, 133-127. This was a very young, inexperienced team; the only stars were world record holding high hurdler Roger Kingdom, triple jumper Mike Conley, long jumper Larry Myricks and shot putter Randy Barnes, all Olympic medalists. That’s it.

For instance, U.S. men had their problems running 400 meters here -- and that is an event Americans usually dominate. Not only did 21-year-old Antonio Pettigrew finish a very disappointing fifth in the men’s 400 Saturday, the U.S. 4x400 relay team could manage only a second-place finish Sunday, losing to the Americas team (from Cuba), 3:00.65 to 3:00.99.

The United States has the best 400-meter runners in the world -- Steve Lewis, world record holder Butch Reynolds and Danny Everett swept the medals in Seoul -- but none of them was here.

“The World Cup has become an event that integrates new stars with the veterans,” said Frank Greenberg, a Philadelphia attorney who is president of the Athletics Congress, U.S. track and field’s governing body. “With so many youngsters, I’m delighted we were able to mix the old and new so well.”

The European men’s team had a chance to catch the United States going into the final day of competition at the rain-soaked stadium. But its 110-meter hurdler, Tomasz Nagorka of Poland, didn’t show up for the race because of an injury. Kingdom, pushed by Colin Jackson of Great Britain, ran the greatest time ever in the event, 12.87 seconds, which was not a world record because there was too much of a tail wind. That was quite an individual feat, but the U.S. team was even more pleased it had gained nine points on Europe. (A no-show is no points.)

One of the few nations not to attend the Seoul Olympics was Cuba. Now it’s very obvious they were missed. Led by the incomparable Ana Quirot, who won three gold medals here and completed the difficult double of the 400 and 800 meters in the manner of legendary countryman Alberto Juantorena, the Cubans won as many gold medals as the United States -- seven. And their best-known athlete, world record high jumper Javier Sotomayor, finished just third because of a heel injury.

Because of the confusing nature of team classifications (some countries, some continents, some a mix of both), the Cubans were part of the Americas team, which finished third among the women with 94 points and sixth in the men’s competition with 97.