Records Gone With Wind

Michael Johnson and Dan O’Brien came tantalizingly close to world records Saturday in the U.S. Olympic track and field trials. Johnson failed because there was too much wind at his back in the 200 meters, O’Brien because he did not have enough wind left to finish the decathlon at more than a weekend jogger’s pace.

There was nothing wrong with Johnson’s speed. He ran his semifinal in 19.70 seconds, faster than the 17-year-old world record of 19.72 held by Italy’s Pietro Mennea. But it will not count as a world record because of a tail wind of 2.7 meters per second (6.04 mph), well over the legal allowable of 2.0 (4.47).

Johnson, at least, has another chance in the 200 final today on the 10th and last day of the trials to select the team that will return to Centennial Olympic Stadium for the July 19-Aug. 4 Summer Games.

O’Brien, however, will not test himself again until then. After competing in the scorching sun--the temperature at one point was 112 degrees on the track--for Saturday’s final five events of the 10-event decathlon, that was fine with him. The heat scored a technical knockout. As Rocky Balboa said after his first meeting with Apollo Creed, “Don’t want no rematch.”

O’Brien, a three-time world champion, held up well for most of the day. He began it in second place behind Chris Huffins but moved into the lead after the eighth event. That was the dreaded pole vault, which cost O’Brien a berth on the Olympic team and possibly a gold medal when he failed to clear a height in the 1992 trials at New Orleans.

He entered that competition at a respectable 15 feet 9 inches and for four years has defended that decision against Monday morning pole vaulters who said that he should have started at a more easily attainable height. But despite his protests, O’Brien started a full foot lower Saturday, at 14-9, and cleared it by a couple of feet.

With that behind him, he went on to tie his career best at 17-0 3/4. In his next event, the javelin, he shattered his career best with a throw of 214-0. That not only all but cinched that he would win his fifth national championship, tying Bill Toomey’s record, but gave O’Brien a nine-point advantage over his pace when he set the world record in 1992.

All he had to do in the final event, the 1,500 meters, was run 4:43.38, 10 seconds slower than his best. No way. He knew it less than a lap into the race. “It just got hotter and hotter and hotter,” he said. He loped home in 5:12.01 and finished with 8,726 points, his fourth best but no threat to his record of 8,891.

Huffins was even slower, 5:27.42, and dropped to third place with 8,546 points behind Steve Fritz at 8,636. Dave Johnson, the other half of the Dan-vs.-Dave advertising campaign in 1992 and a bronze medalist that year in Barcelona, finished sixth at 8,189.

The top three decathletes were the only Olympians selected Saturday, a day in which most events were qualifiers for the nine finals today.

There were some interesting results in front of a crowd of 26,871 that was constantly reminded by the public-address announcers to use plenty of suntan lotion and drink a lot of water.

Jack Pierce upstaged his more illustrious 110-meter hurdlers such as Mark Crear, Allen Johnson and Roger Kingdom by running the fourth-fastest time ever, 12.94. World champion Gail Devers almost faltered in the 100-meter hurdles, colliding with a hurdle and stumbling before recovering to finish third in her semifinal heat. Gwen Torrence clearly favored her left leg, hurting her because of a strained thigh muscle, but easily advanced past the quarterfinals and semifinals.

As usual, Johnson overshadowed all of them in the 200 semifinals. Even though he started shutting down with about 50 meters to go, he still ran the second-fastest time ever under all conditions. Leroy Burrell ran a wind-aided 19.61 in 1990.

Johnson, who has won 53 consecutive finals in the 400--including one here last week--and 20 in a row in the 200--still has no world record. He thought that he had finally caught Mennea when he saw the clock by the finish line flash 19.70. He said later that he was “extremely disappointed” to learn moments later that the wind was over the allowable.

It is perhaps impossible to scientifically gauge the effect of the wind on 200-meter runners. Those who took a stab at it Saturday said Johnson might have benefited by as much as .21. If so, that means he would have run 19.91 on a still day.

That is undoubtedly fast but more palatable to other finalists such as Michael Marsh, Carl Lewis and Jeff Williams, who like to think they can run with Johnson. Marsh, the defending Olympic champion, has run a legal 19.73 for the American record.

Williams, who won the other semifinal heat into a slight head wind at 20.02, has been particularly vocal about his chances.

Sitting next to Lewis and Marsh at a news conference, Williams said: “I think the three people up here right now think the streak is over. We’re laying in the kudzu.”

“Speak for yourself,” Lewis said, laughing.

“No,” Williams said, “I’m bringing ya’ll in with me.”

Johnson does not seem worried. He said that he believes he can run a legal 19.60 today. Take that, Jeff. Take that, Pietro.

* MIKE DOWNEY: With height cleared easily in pole vault, Dan O’Brien shakes off demons of ’92 trials. But this time there’s no Dave. C3

* CUBA: Tiny nation shakes up powerhouse baseball team, but still figures to have little trouble winning the gold. C3

* OLYMPIC SCENE: Fencer Peter Westbrook is even prouder of his foundation than he is of qualifying for the Olympics again. C10