Jumping to a Conclusion : Lewis Competing Against Powell Is What Everybody Wants--but Them

For one night in 1991, Carl Lewis and Mike Powell personified the drama and purity of track and field at its best. Before a capacity crowd at the World Championships in Tokyo’s Olympic Stadium, the two best long jumpers went at it to see who was better.

Lewis, unbeaten in the event for more than a decade, jumped farther than he ever had. Even so, he lost to Powell, who jumped farther than anyone ever had in breaking Bob Beamon’s 22-year-old world record.

It was literally a giant leap for Powell, but figuratively, and more significantly, he and Lewis had taken a giant leap for the sport.

Or at least that was the hope of track and field’s followers, who--eager for a marquee matchup in a sport that has had too few in recent years to maintain the interest of any but the most faithful--foresaw a series of Powell-Lewis duels that would captivate the sports world, like boxing’s heavyweight championship fights. HBO’s matchmakers, who have had success with those, were intrigued.

As Lewis and Powell soared, so did track and field.

For one night in 1991. . . .

In the three years, seven months and 12 days since, Lewis and Powell have jumped against each other three times, once since 1992.

An ideal opportunity for another meeting appeared to be Saturday’s Mt. San Antonio College Relays at Walnut, where Lewis will jump. Powell will not, although he lives only a short commute away in Rancho Cugamonga. It does not fit into his schedule this season, he said.

Varying schedules, different agendas, failed promotions, managers who do not seem to speak the same language, injuries, illness--there have been so many obstacles that even Jimmy Carter would not have been able to bring Powell and Lewis together.

Certainly Dan Shrum, the Mt. SAC Relays director, could not.

“That,” he said with a sigh, “is track and field.”

Starting with Great Britain’s middle-distance runners, Sebastian Coe and Steve Ovett, in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, the sport has a recent history of premier athletes in glamour events who avoid competing against each other until compelled to by a major event. By padding their records against inferior competition, they build their mystique, protect their world rankings and drive up their prices with promoters while saving their supreme efforts for the World Championships and Olympics.

In accusing Lewis last week of adding another chapter to that unfortunate history, Powell said, “We’ve got the sport’s marquee matchup, but there’s only one of us who is willing to take advantage of that and that’s me. Being No. 1, I want the ultimate competition because good things happen when we compete against each other. But for one reason or another, he hasn’t wanted to compete against me.”

Lewis refused to counterattack, calling Powell “a nice guy and great competitor,” but he did defend himself, denying that he has ever avoided any athlete in any event. His reasons for not competing more against Powell, he said, are legitimate.

For one, Lewis, unlike Powell, does not concentrate on one event, and his efforts to remain competitive in the 100 meters, 400-meter relay and, occasionally, the 200, have not permitted him to jump as often as Powell. For another, Lewis, never a prolific jumper even when he was younger, reduced his schedule in the ‘90s because of a chronic back injury. For still another, he further limited his jumping after 1991 because of illness and injuries.

Even in ‘91, when he had three 29-foot jumps--including a wind-aided 29-2 3/4 and a career legal best of 29-1 1/4--in finishing second at Tokyo to Powell’s record 29-4 1/2, Lewis jumped in only two meets.

Weakened because of a virus early in the summer, he jumped only four times outdoors in ’92. In the last one, he won his third Olympic gold medal in the event, more than compensating for his loss to silver medalist Powell earlier in the trials.

In ‘93, injuries from a car accident caused Lewis to withdraw from the long jump altogether. And in ‘94, he jumped only twice, cutting his season short after becoming ill from drinking contaminated water in Russia.

But he did not leave Europe until after he had jumped against Powell in Sestriere, Italy, where Powell won for the third time in their last four meetings. Lewis leads the overall series, 16-3.

Starting with Mt. SAC, Lewis said he plans to jump five or six times this season as he builds toward his attempt to win a fourth Olympic gold medal in the event in the summer of 1996 in Atlanta.

He and Powell, however, might not meet more than twice this year. They plan to enter the U.S. championships in June in Sacramento, and, if they finish among the top three there, will qualify for the World Championships in August in Sweden.

Shrum wanted to bring them together at Mt. SAC. But, unable to pay more than expenses, he said that Powell declined because of the absence of an appearance fee.

Not so, Powell said.

“I’d jump for free,” he said. “I thought about it for a minute. In fact, I’m going to the meet to watch, and when the long jump starts, I’m probably going to think about it again. But I’m not going to do it. The timing is wrong for me. I’m going to wait until the real battles begin.”

Powell has competed in 55 meets since breaking Beamon’s record, including 25 in 1993, when he went undefeated and won his second world championship. Last summer, he injured his hamstring and heel. Although he fulfilled all of his commitments, securing his fourth No. 1 world ranking, he took his first extended break. He said he probably will jump only twice before the national championships.

“By the time the World Championships come around, nobody is going to remember what happened early in the year,” he said.

That might be true, particularly if both fulfill their early-season promise. Powell said he believes he is capable of jumping beyond 30 feet this summer, and Lewis’ coach, Tom Tellez, said Lewis still has his best jump in him.

“He’s a better athlete now than he’s ever been,” Tellez said, a startling statement considering that Lewis won eight Olympic gold medals between 1984 and ’92. “He’s more mature, more relaxed. He just knows what to do now. I’ve seen no concession to age, physically or mentally.”

Lewis’ manager, Joe Douglas, said that is a result of strategy.

“Carl didn’t compete as much as others, but that’s paid off in longevity,” he said.

Douglas acknowledged, however, that it would have been entertaining to see Powell and Lewis compete more against each other. With Lewis approaching his 34th birthday and Powell his 32nd, there might not be many more opportunities.

“Some things could have happened to make a difference,” Douglas said. “The HBO thing fell apart for reasons I still don’t know. And Brad Hunt (Powell’s manager) and I didn’t always communicate. But, for the most part, it has been just the situation. One thing I know for sure, though, is that Carl hasn’t been ducking Mike and Mike hasn’t been ducking Carl. They’re too competitive.”

They proved that . . . one night in 1991.