Fredericks, Johnson Vie, Play Mind Games

Michael Johnson and Frankie Fredericks, the hottest sprinters in track and field, meet for the first time this year at 200 meters in today’s Bislett Games in Oslo.

Fredericks is switching to the 200 after two sizzling races in the 100, including a 9.86-second run into a slight head wind Wednesday at Lausanne, Switzerland. That was only .01 second off Leroy Burrell’s world record.

“This is the only time we’re going to meet before Atlanta, so I think that whoever wins will have the mental edge going into the Olympics,” said Fredericks, who also ran 9.87 last week in Helsinki, Finland, and broke the 100 and 200 world indoor records this year. “It will be a confidence boost for the winner. The time is not relevant. If I run 20.50, 20.30 or 20.10 and I won, I’d be happy because I beat the world record-holder.”

Johnson, who set the 200-meter mark of 19.66 in the U.S. Olympic trials at Atlanta last month and has a 21-race winning streak, respects Fredericks, but says he doesn’t fear him. Fredericks, however, was the last person to beat Johnson in the 200 in 1994.

Others in today’s 200 include Americans Jeff Williams and Kevin Little.

Noureddine Morceli heads the “Dream Mile” field. The Algerian holds world records in the mile (3:44.39) and the 1,500 (3:27.37).

The Bislett meet is the first meet of the Grand Slam of international athletics, that also includes “Golden Four” meets at Zurich, Brussels and Berlin.