MenWhat We KnowMichael Johnson is favored to...

Men

What We Know

Michael Johnson is favored to become the first man in the Olympics to win the 200 meters and the 400. But his campaign became more intriguing with his loss nine days ago to Namibia’s Frankie Fredericks in the 200 in Oslo.

Johnson, 28, of Dallas, is so dominant in the 400 that organizers of a recent meet in London withdrew his invitation out of concern that he would demoralize British quarter-milers. He has won 54 straight finals.

He is expected to have a more difficult time in the 200, even though the 19.66 seconds he ran to win the U.S. trials in June broke a 17-year-old world record. Besides Fredericks, men who have the potential to upset him include defending champion Michael Marsh and Jeff Williams, both of Los Angeles, and UCLA’s Ato Boldon of Trinidad.

What We Don’t Know

Carl Lewis made his fifth U.S. Olympic team in only one event, the long jump. He did that by one inch in a third-place finish. Will Lewis, who turned 35 on July 1, have improved enough to join U.S. discus thrower Al Oerter as the only track and field athletes to win the same event in four straight Olympics?

Someone You Should Know

Four years after Fredericks won silver medals in the 100 and 200 meters in Barcelona, it is inconceivable that hehardly beyond the realm of possibility that he could join such all-time greats as Lewis, Jesse Owens, Valery Borzov and Bobby Morrow to win gold medals in both.

Fredericks is not initimidated by Johnson, as the Namibian proved on July 5 with his victory in the 200 meters. That snapped Johnson’s 21-race winning streak in the event. Fredericks also was the winner in Johnson’s last loss before that, in 1994.

Fredericks, 28, has been preparing all year for his showdown in the 200 with Johnson, setting the indoor world record in February at a remarkable 19.92 seconds. And after training with 1992 Olympic champion Linford Christie of Great Britain, Fredericks recently ran 9.86 in the 100 to equal the second-fastest time ever.

If not for politics, this could be his third Olympics. He won the South African 200 championship in 1987 but could not compete in the Olympics the next summer because of the ban against that country. After Namibia gained its independence in 1990, he competed internationally for the first time in 1991 and won a silver medal behind Johnson in the World Championships.

That also was the year Fredericks became the first foreigner to win both events in the NCAA outdoor championships.

Something You Should Know

The only man to win Olympic medals in the 200 and 400 is Great Britain’s Eric Liddell, later immortalized in the movie “Chariots of Fire.” In 1924, he won the 400 and finished third in the 200. A Scot, Liddell was criticized by his countrymen for not bringing them more glory. He refused to compete in three other events, including two relays, because they fell on Sunday. One year later, Liddell went to China as a missionary. He died there in 1945 of a brain tumor while in a Japanese internment camp.

WOMEN

What We Know

Two U.S. women could leave the Games with three gold medals. But if one does, it will come at the expense of the other.

That is not the reason Gail Devers of Mission Hills and Gwen Torrence of Lithonia, Ga., an Atlanta suburb, are rivals. That goes back to the Barcelona Olympics in 1992, when Torrence, after finishing fourth in the 100 meters, said that two of the three women who finished ahead of her had used banned drugs.

Torrence did not name names, but Devers, the winner, felt unjustly implicated. That will add sizzle to their confrontation in Atlanta in the 100. Torrence is favored after winning their two meetings this year.

Devers’ other individual event, the 100-meter hurdles, is more special for her this year. She was en route to an apparent gold medal in that event in 1992 when she hit the last hurdle and stumbled across the finish line in fifth place.

Torrence also expected to have a second individual event, but she will not be able to defend her Olympic 200-meter title because she finished fourth in the U.S. trials. Torrence, however, has been named to the 400 and 1,600 relay teams. She and Devers will be teammates on the former.

What We Don’t Know

Two-time Olympic heptathlon champion Jackie Joyner-Kersee has established herself in the last decade as the greatest multi-event performer ever. Last summer, however, she struggled to finish the national championships and withdrew from the worlds because of injuries. In the recent U.S. trials, she failed to win a heptathlon she completed for the first time in 12 years with her second-place finish to Kelly Blair. Have the demands of the seven disciplines caught up to her?

Someone You Should Know

If all goes well, Michael Johnson will need barely more than a minute to complete his double. On the other hand, Ireland’s Sonia O’Sullivan will be subjected to Atlanta’s heat and humidity about 20 times longer.

O’Sullivan, 26, is favored to win the 1,500 and the 5,000. She was ranked first in the world last year in both as well as the 3,000.

Her father, who played goalkeeper for a local soccer team in time off from his job as a chemical factory foreman, encouraged her when she was 12 to participate in sports. She joined a running club known for sprinters and jumpers and, according to the records she keeps in her head, finished last in every 100-meter race she entered. Two years later, she discovered cross-country and her destiny.

O’Sullivan is from Cobh, a port village in County Cork that was the departure point for generations of Irish who emigrated to the United States. They are remembered in a museum there. O’Sullivan made her trip across the Atlantic after high school, accepting a scholarship to Villanova. She won five NCAA titles, two in cross-country, two in the outdoor 3,000 and one in the indoor 5,000.

Something You Should Know

Women won a battle when the triple jump was added to this year’s program. But men still have four events for which there is no women’s equivalent--the steeplechase, hammer throw, pole vault and 50-kilometer walk.

At A Glance

Number of athletes: 1,300 men, 700 women.

Changes since Barcelona: Added women’s 5,000 meters, women’s triple jump; dropped women’s 3,000 meters.

Dates: July 26 to Aug. 4

Location: Centennial Olympic Stadium. (capacity 85,643)

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Photo Finishes: The winning runner is the one whose torso crosses the finish line first, not their arms, legs or head.

Fair or Foul Long Jump: Jumpers must avoid stepping beyond the takeoff board where a green, plastic strip would show spike marks, and a foul.

Fast Track: Fast times are expected on Atlanta’s track, thanks to its springy, rubber surface, which is laid atop two layers of aggregate.

Relay Handoffs: Runners in the relay events hand off the baton with either an upward, top, or downward thrust into a waiting palm.

The Glove: Hammer throwers are allowed to wear a leather glove with a reinforced palm and wrist to allow a better grip. Thumb and fingertips must be exposed.

Soaring past 20 feet: Sergei Bubka of Ukraine is the favorite to win the pole vault. After winning the gold in Seoul in 1988, he failed to clear a height in the Barcelona final in 1992. His 20 -1 3/4 current world record is one of 32 he has set.

Water Hazard: Runners in the steeplechase jump off the top of the hurdle to propel themselves into the shallower depths of the pond.

More Flex, More Height: The flexibility of the modern fiberglass poles--which replaced bamboo and then steel poles--has allowed vaulters to add more than 3 feet to the world record in only 30 years.

Runners Know It’s the Shoes: Runners in the sprints and middle distance races wear ultra-light shoes with spikes. There can be up to 11 spikes, limited to 1/3 inch. Running barefoot is allowed.

For the longer distance, no spikes are used on the shoes. The soles have a waffle-like texture and are thickly padded to cushion the feet against the constant pounding.

Women’s: 7 feet, 6 1/2 inches; 1 pound, 5 ounces

Men’s: 8 feet, 10 1/4 inches; 1 pound, 12 ounces

Comparing Weight

Men’s: 8 3/4” diameter, 4 pounds, 6 ounces

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Discus

Women’s: 7” diameter, 2 pounds, 3.5 ounces

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Shot

Men’s: 5” diameter, 16 pounds

Women’s: 4 1/4” diameter, 8 pounds, 13 ounces

The Javelin: Must be released above the shoulder, on the run, and the tip must hit the ground before any other part.

Sources: Summer Games Access; AP; The Complete Book of the Summer Olympics; Time Magazine