Lewis Sluggish, but Relay Teams Shine

It was not the kind of tuneup Carl Lewis was looking for in his final meet before defending his Olympic long jump title.

Lewis, the three-time gold medalist seeking a record-tying fourth title this month, won the event in the Gold Rush meet Saturday night in Durham, N.C. But it came on one of the poorest performances of his 17-year career.

Lewis’ best jump was 26 feet, 3 inches--nearly three feet short of his career best of 29-2 1/2.

While Lewis was not at his best, the U.S. men’s and women’s 400-meter relay teams turned in glittering efforts.

In their first competition as units, the men ran 38.16 seconds, the fastest in the world this year, and the women, despite missing regular anchor Gwen Torrence, clocked 42.34, also the year’s best.

The men, with a team of Jon Drummond, Leroy Burrell, Mike Marsh and Dennis Mitchell, appeared to have fluid stickwork.

The women, with Chryste Gaines, Gail Devers, Inger Miller and D’Andre Hill, were not as smooth, with an unsteady handoff between Devers and Miller.

Another world best was turned by a makeshift U.S. 1,600 relay team. The foursome of LaMont Smith, Alvin Harrison, Jason Rouser and Anthuan Maybank was timed in 2:59.29. Smith and Harrison are regular members of the team, while Rouser and Maybank are alternates. The other regulars are world champion Michael Johnson and world-record holder Butch Reynolds.

Lewis, 35, did not seem to have the aggressiveness nor the pop he usually exhibits. He took all six attempts, fouling twice because his steps were off, and jumped 25-10, 25-2 3/4 and 17-7 on an aborted attempt on his other tries.

Despite his relatively poor performance, Lewis is not worried.

“We came here and figured some things out and I’ll be ready for the Games,” said Lewis, who also appeared displeased with the runway, occasionally changing the distance of his run-up.

Lewis also was scheduled to compete in the 100, but withdrew. Marsh, a 100-meter qualifier for the Games, won the event in 10.15 seconds.

Torrence, the 1995 world 100 champion and 1992 gold medalist in the 200, withdrew from the relay because of a recurrence of the upper thigh injury she suffered in the U.S. trials.

After giving Torrence an MRI exam, U.S. team doctors said the injury was a slight strain to the left thigh, caused by fatigue after Torrence’s first full-speed workout at the U.S. training camp.

Doctors said Torrence would be fully recovered in time for the Olympics.

Javelin throwers Breaux Greer and Lynda Lipson failed in their attempts to make the Olympic qualifying standard. Although each finished third in the U.S. trials, neither will compete in the Games.

Greer, who missed the standard of 259-2 by an inch in the trials, didn’t come close Saturday night. His best throw was 243-11. Lipson, needing to throw 196-10, also failed miserably. She fouled five times, and her only fair throw went 161-4.

Dave Stephens, the fourth-place finisher at the trials who threw 269-10 on July 6 at Walnut, will replace Greer in the Games. Lipson’s failure opened the way for Erica Wheeler to make the team. Wheeler threw 205-11 on July 6, also at Walnut.

Eric Nedeau, the fourth-place finisher in the trials in the 1,500, failed to take advantage of third-place finisher Jim Sorensen’s failure to meet the qualifying standard of 3:38.00. Nedeau finished second in the 1,500 in 3:40.03, meaning that fifth-place finisher Brian Hyde, who has run 3:35.84, will go to the Olympics.

Meanwhile, Hezekiel Sepeng of South Africa set a national record in winning the men’s 800 in 1:43.47, the third-fastest time in the world this year. Einars Tupuritis of Latvia and this year’s NCAA champion at Wichita State, was second in a national record of 1:43.49, and third-place finisher and Olympic qualifier Johnny Gray clocked 1:43.93, the fastest by an American this year.

Maybank won the 300 in 31.61, the fourth-best time in history.

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This time, it’s final. World 800-meter champion Wilson Kipketer definitely will not run in the Games. Kipketer, who now lives in Denmark, turned down a last-minute offer from the International Olympic Committee to compete for his native Kenya.

“He wants to compete for Denmark,” IOC Sports Director Gilbert Felli said in Atlanta. “He sees himself as Danish. Unfortunately, the Danish do not see him as Danish.”

Kipketer is not due to receive Danish citizenship until next year, meaning he is ineligible to run in the Olympics for Denmark.