SUMMER GAMES SPOTLIGHT : BARCELONA ’92 OLYMPICS : WAS PIETERSE RUNNING FOR TWO?

Zola Budd Pieterse is learning, along with her home country of South Africa, about the fickleness of sports fans. She finished ninth in a 3,000-meter heat Friday night, and by Saturday morning the former idol was dismissed in the South African press.

“ZOLA DISASTER” read one headline.

The stories carried the general sentiment that Pieterse had choked.

However, one newspaper offered an explanation for the former world record-holder’s poor performance in Barcelona. It reported: “This showing by Zola confirms reports of her pregnancy.”

Rumors that Pieterse is pregnant have been circulating since she dropped out of a race in England in June. Although Pieterse explained that she suffered a calf injury and had a liver ailment, the British press jumped on the pregnancy story.

Pieterse has not denied the report. That apparently gave the South African media reason to believe the story, which is now being widely reported.

Pieterse is married to a wealthy liquor store owner and lives in her hometown of Bloemfontein. She left the stadium immediately after Friday night’s race and did not speak to reporters.

This a daily roundup of Olympic-related items from reporters in Barcelona from the Los Angeles Times, Newsday, Baltimore Sun and Hartford Courant, all Times-Mirror newspapers.