GOODWILL GAMES : They Had the Right Attitude in Track and Field

The name that Ted Turner gave five years ago to his pseudo-Olympics, Goodwill Games, could not have been more appropriate than Thursday night in track and field competition at Husky Stadium.

In the men’s 400-meter relay, an event traditionally dominated by the United States, it appeared as if Cuba might score a major upset.

Cuba’s anchor man, Joel Isai, had a two-meter lead when he received the baton and looked like an easy winner until he began to tighten up, enabling U.S. sprinter Dennis Mitchell to nip him at the tape.

The four Cubans thought they won and, arm in arm, excitedly began a victory lap.

Midway around the track, they stopped to watch the television replay on the scoreboard and realized that they finished second. Their time was 38.49, four-hundredths of a second behind the United States’ 38.45. Those are the second and third fastest times in the world this year.

Having also seen the replay, the U.S. team began its victory lap. Isai waited for the Americans, and when they arrived, raised Mitchell’s hand triumphantly and helped him wave a small American flag.

Also in the spirit of good will, Soviet hammer throwers swept the medals but wished nothing but the best for their U.S. competitors.

Said silver medalist Andrei Abduvalyev, “I wish the American hammer throwers would throw farther so we could come over and compete more.”