WORLD SPORTS SCENE / RANDY HARVEY : Walker Got Pushed Out of Line While Playing for the Vikings

People who complain about Herschel Walker’s performance on the football field this season overlook the fact that, out of loyalty to the Minnesota Vikings, he gave up a guaranteed berth on the U.S. Olympic bobsled team.

Granted, his seven-figure contract to play football probably played a role in his decision.

Nevertheless, it is a fact Walker was the third-fastest brakeman in the U.S. push trials last summer and earned a seat in one of three four-man sleds that will be taken next month to France for the Winter Olympics. But because his job conflict prevented him from training and competing with the bobsled team during the opening weeks of the World Cup season, he will have to reclaim his seat in a Jan. 17 push-off with Tom Allen at Altenberg, Germany.

That will not necessarily be easier for Walker than running off-tackle against the Chicago Bears because Allen has had success this season as a brakeman for driver Randy Will’s team, which finished third in a recent World Cup at Altenberg.

Even if Walker wins, it is possible he will not compete in France because the United States can enter only two of its three sleds. But U.S. Coach Jim Hickey said last week that he cannot envision Walker as an alternate.

“I think we can find a place for him if he wins,” Hickey said.

Berths on the bobsled team apparently are worth fighting for because football players Willie Gault and Greg Harrell, hurdler Edwin Moses and veteran driver Brian Shimer are taking their case against the U.S. Bobsled and Skeleton Federation to an independent arbitrator.

According to an agreement between the U.S. Olympic Committee rules and the governing bodies of the various sports, the arbitration is binding. If the athletes win, U.S. bobsled officials will have to find a place for them on the team or repeat the push trials.

No date has been set for the arbitration, but USOC spokesman Mike Moran said that it will be scheduled before Jan. 19.

As for the athletes’ chances, it is too close to call. Complaining of improprieties in the selection process for the team, they appealed to the bobsled federation. A panel ruled on their behalf but was overruled by the federation’s board of directors.

After being named the USOC’s sportsman of the year for the first time Saturday, Carl Lewis announced that he would retire from track and field competition after the 1993 World Championships at Stuttgart, Germany.

Maybe.

“Naturally, I’m looking forward to other things in life because I’ve been around so long,” he said. “But I don’t want to cheat myself athletically. If I continue to improve, I’ll just have to see.”

Lewis, 30, obviously believes he can improve this year because he has set his goals at 30 feet in the long jump and 9.83 seconds in the 100 meters. The time of 9.83 is significant because that was Ben Johnson’s winning time in 1988 at Seoul before he was disqualified for using steroids.

“I want to prove that hard work and dedication can produce as fast a time as drugs,” said Lewis, who holds the official world record of 9.86.

He said that he will compete in three individual events in the U.S. trials in June at New Orleans, then decide which two, along with the sprint relay, he will enter in the Summer Olympics at Barcelona, Spain. He has virtually ruled out the possibility he will compete in four events, as he did in 1984 at Los Angeles and in 1988 at Seoul.

Trivia question: In 1984, when Lewis won four gold medals in the Summer Olympics, who was the USOC’s Sportsman of the Year?

Continuing the wrenching process of self-appraisal that began with Robert Helmick’s resignation as president due to conflict-of-interest charges, the USOC named William Pierce Rogers, a former Secretary of State and Attorney General, as chairman of its new Ethics Oversight Committee.

Other members announced Sunday were Admiral William James Crowe Jr., former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Col. Malham M. Wakin, an ethics expert from the Air Force Academy. Previously announced were Don Porter, executive director of the Amateur Softball Assn., and Sheila O’Dougherty, a member of the USOC’s Athletes’ Advisory Council.

The USOC will create a position for a full-time staff member to serve as a liaison to the committee.

Trivia answer: Edwin Moses, who won his second gold medal in the intermediate hurdles.

Book reviews: According to the cover, The Times called it “the ultimate Olympic source book.” So we suppose it’s true. One thing for certain is that David Wallechinsky’s “The Complete Book of the Olympics” has made this job easier.

First published in 1984, it was updated and re-released four years later. Available at bookstores is the third edition, which includes particularly informative and well-written sections on the Ben Johnson scandal at Seoul and the “Battle of the Brians” between figure skaters Boitano and Orser at Calgary.

As for the upcoming Olympics, the best source books on the market now are “The 1992 Informational Please Sports Almanac” and Sports Illustrated’s “1992 Sports Almanac.” Both have Olympic sections as well as complete international results from numerous sports in 1991.

Upcoming events:

Tuesday--The U.S. figure skating championships, which will determine the Olympic team, begin at Orlando, Fla.

With former world champion Jill Trenary and former world bronze medalist Holly Cook retired, and 1991 Olympic Festival champion Nicole Bobek recovering from an emergency appendectomy, the women who swept the medals in last year’s World’s Championships--Kristi Yamaguchi, Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan--are virtually certain to make the team.

Two-time men’s national champion Todd Eldredge is a heavy favorite to win again. Three others--Christopher Bowman, Paul Wylie and Mark Mitchell--are expected to challenge for the final two spots.

Defending pairs champions Natasha Kuchiki and Todd Sand will have to prove themselves against Calla Urbanski and Rocky Marval, who easily won a head-to-head meeting in September at Skate America. Defending dance champions Elizabeth Punsalan and Jerod Swallow are favored to repeat with April Sargent, who skates with Russ Witherby, recovering from surgery to remove an ovarian cyst.

Tuesday--The Goodwill Games will announce five U.S. cities that are finalists to stage the event in 1998. Groups from Los Angeles and Orange County declined to bid.

Saturday--U.S. Olympic luge trials resume at Lake Placid, N.Y.

Sunday--New Zealand’s John Walker, the 1976 1,500-meter champion, will try to become the first 40-year-old to run a four-minute mile on his birthday at Auckland. Four months after he turned 40 in 1989, Kenya’s Wilson Waigwa ran the mile in 4:05.39, the fastest time recorded by a man of that age.