TRACK AND FIELD : U.S. Sets World Record in 400-Meter Relay

Carl Lewis and Leroy Burrell led a United States team that set the 400-meter relay world record in 37.67 seconds Wednesday.

Lewis’ blistering anchor leg overwhelmed France’s European champion squad, which had shared the previous best of 37.79.

“All America, no French,” Lewis chanted after he, Burrell, Mike Marsh and Dennis Mitchell set the record in the Weltklasse meet.

“The record belongs in the U.S. and will stay there,” Burrell said.

The French team of Max Moriniere, Daniel Sangouma, Jean-Charles Trouabal, and Bruno Marie-Rose set the mark at the European championships last September. That broke longstanding U.S. domination of the event.

The Santa Monica Track Club, with Floyd Heard running instead of Mitchell, equaled that mark last Saturday at a meet in Monaco.

“We did better this time because we had better competition,” Lewis said.

In that meet, the French dropped out of the race after a poor baton pass.

France finished second Wednesday in 38.39.

The U.S. relay team figures to have a different lineup for the World Championships in Tokyo, which begin Aug. 24.

The top four finishers from the 100-meter finals at the U.S. championships have the right to world championship berths. That would be Burrell, Lewis, Mitchell and Andre Cason.

Cason competed this week at the Pan American Games in Cuba rather than in Europe.

The two members of the Santa Monica foursome--Heard and Marsh--are alternates to the squad.

Earlier in the meet, Burrell beat Lewis for the third time in three races at 100 meters this year.

Burrell won with a time of 10.04, well off his world record of 9.90. Lewis was second in 10.12.

Samuel Matete of Zambia surged past Danny Harris of the United State to the second-fastest 400-meter hurdles race ever, running 47.10 to miss Edwin Moses’ eight-year-old world record by .08. Harris finished second at 47.64.

Matete had run a personal best of 47.80 in Sestriere, Italy, a week earlier.

“When I saw Harris slowing down, I knew I would get him,” Matete said. “I’m not really surprised because I’ve been running well but I didn’t think I would get close to the record. Now I’m confident I can run under 47.02.”

Charles Austin of the United States also made dramatic improvement on a personal best to set an American record in the high jump with a winning leap of 7 feet 10 1/2 inches.

Austin, 23, won the NCAA high jump while at Southwest Texas State in 1990 and finished second to Hollis Conway in this year’s U.S. championships. Austin’s previous best in the event was 7-8 1/2.

Soviet pole vaulter Sergei Bubka, who cleared a world record 20- 1/4 Monday in Malmo, Sweden, gave up after two unsuccessful tries at 20- 1/2.