WORLD TRACK NOTES : It Is Johnson, Not Watts, Who Proves to Be Shoo-In

Imagine this Reebok or Adidas shoe commercial:

Narrator: “Quincy Watts, why didn’t you win the world championship?”

Watts, holding his Nike spikes in front of the camera: “This is the answer.”

In reality, which must have seemed unreal to him, that is what a disgusted Watts, of Calabasas, told reporters as he left the track Tuesday night after finishing fourth in the 400 meters in track and field’s World Championships.

As Watts entered the final turn, the sole of his left shoe was flapping like the flags above Gottlieb Daimler Stadium. He almost could not wait until he crossed the finish line to take off the offending shoe, glaring at it as if it had given him a hotfoot.

Watts, the 1992 Olympic champion, made no further comments to reporters.

There is a chance, though, that he would have fared no better if his shoe had remained intact.

The United States’ Michael Johnson won in 43.65 seconds, the third-fastest time ever. Teammate Butch Reynolds, running on the five-year anniversary of his 43.29 world record, was second in 44.13. Kenya’s Samson Kitur was third in 44.54. Watts’ time was 45.05.

Johnson, who won the 200 meters in Tokyo two years ago, became the first athlete to become a world champion in two running events.

“This will put me up there as, if not the best, one of the best sprinters of all time,” he said.

Neither Johnson nor Reynolds was eager to comment on Watts’ situation. They reported no problems with their shoes, which also are made by Nike.

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Jearl Miles and Natasha Kaiser-Brown finished 1-2 in the women’s 400 meters, becoming the first Americans to win medals in that event in the World Championships.

Not since Valerie Brisco was first and Chandra Cheeseborough second in the 1984 Olympics, which was boycotted by most of their potential rivals, had the United States won a medal in that event in any major meet.

Both Miles and Kaiser-Brown ran personal bests. With her 49.82, Miles became the ninth-fastest performer ever. Kaiser-Brown finished in 50.17. Jamaica’s Sandie Richards was third in 50.44.

Neither Miles nor Kaiser-Brown credited her performance to the sunglasses each wore, even though their race was in the evening.

“They’re our sponsor,” Kaiser-Brown said of the company that manufactures the sunglasses.

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During the medal ceremony Tuesday afternoon for the women’s 100-meter final, a crowd of 46,200 gave Jamaica’s Merlene Ottey, the silver medalist, a five-minute ovation, moving her to tears.

Ottey and American Gail Devers were so close at the finish line Monday that a jury appointed by the International Amateur Athletic Federation, which governs the sport, needed 1 hour 45 minutes after the race to determine that Devers had won.

The jury needed another three hours Tuesday morning to decide that Devers’ time was 10.811 and Ottey’s was 10.812, a difference of about one-third inch. Both times were rounded to 10.82.

“The applause of the spectators in the stadium has done me good,” Ottey said Tuesday, after advancing easily through the first two rounds of the 200. “The people know that I would have deserved gold. I have seen the photo finish from two sides, and I’m still certain that I won.

“But I’m now focusing upon the 200 meters, where I want to get the gold medal.”