RUNNING / JOHN ORTEGA : Watts Camp Putting Sprinter’s Health Before Wealth

Quincy Watts is one of the hottest names in track and field after his double gold-medal performance at the Olympic Games in Barcelona, so now is the time for the former Taft High standout to turn his new-found fame into new-found fortune, right?

Well, yes and no.

Yes, Watts will enter at least three races on the lucrative European track circuit in the upcoming weeks, but no, he will not embark on some grandiose victory tour, cashing in as often as possible on his golden feat.

His coach, John Smith, and his business agent, Roger Lipkis, are wary of over-racing him, particularly because of his injury-riddled past that included season-ending or season-hampering ailments in 1988, ’89 and ’90.

“It’s been a long season,” Lipkis said. “We want to make sure (Quincy) gets plenty of rest between each race over there. . . . It would be very easy to get greedy considering everything that’s happened in the last two weeks, but we’re just going to take it easy. He’s got a long career ahead of him.”

Watts, 22, entered the Olympics as a potential medalist after finishing third behind Danny Everett and Steve Lewis in the 400 meters at the U.S. Olympic trials in June.

But after winning the gold medal in 43.50 seconds, the second-fastest recorded time, and running the fastest leg in history (43.1) on the world-record setting 1,600-meter relay team, Watts emerged from the Games as one of track’s brightest new faces, capable of commanding thousands of dollars per appearance in Europe.

“Two Olympic records in the 400, and the fastest leg ever on the world-record setting relay,” Lipkis said. “You couldn’t ask for much more than that.”

Watts, who competes for Nike International, will run in meets at Sheffield, England, on Friday; in Zurich, Switzerland, on Wednesday; and in Copenhagen, Denmark, Aug. 25.

Michael Johnson, the No. 1-ranked 200 and 400 runner in the world the previous two years, is scheduled to run in the 400 with Watts at Zurich and Copenhagen.

Lipkis said Watts might compete in three other races, including the Grand Prix final in Turin, Italy, Sept. 4.

Speed city: The quality of City Section track and field has come under fire after the section’s poor performance at the state championships in June, but there was no knocking the exploits of three former City athletes who won medals in the Olympics.

Besides Watts, Kevin Young (Jordan ‘84), Watts’ roommate in Barcelona, set a world record of 46.78 in winning the men’s 400 intermediate hurdles, and Johnny Gray (Crenshaw ‘78) placed third in the men’s 800.

Watts is the only one of the three to win a City Section title during his career.

Gray finished third behind David Mack of Locke and Jeff West of Crenshaw in the 880-yard run at the 1978 City meet.

Young placed second behind Anthony Reynolds of Fremont in the 300 intermediate hurdles in the 1984 championships.

Expectations rising: The heat is on Antelope Valley College track Coach Mark Covert, and that has nothing to do with the 100-degree temperatures that sear the Antelope Valley every summer.

Covert, the Marauder track and cross-country coach for the past three years, is in the midst of securing an outstanding recruiting class.

Eugene Dreher of Antelope Valley High, the state champion in the long jump, and Kim Nellis of Palmdale, the Southern Section 4-A Division champion in the girls’ 100-meter low hurdles, are among that group.

However, Covert knows that he must get some production out of this year’s incoming crop if he expects the area’s most talented high school athletes to continue coming to Antelope Valley College.

In the past, some of the local high school coaches have been hesitant to send their athletes to the Foothill Conference school.

For example, in 1988 Reggie Betton won the state title in the high jump for Antelope Valley High, but he competed for Ventura College.

“The next two years are going to be very important for us,” Covert said. “Now that we have a few of (the top track athletes from the area) here, we have to take advantage of it. We have to prove to them that we can take good high school athletes and turn them into better JC athletes.”