Gray Area in the 800 Might Be in the Lead and on Medal Stand

Believe it or not, there was a Santa Monica Track Club before Carl Lewis. Johnny Gray knows because he was part of it.

“We were mainly a club for middle-distance and distance runners then,” Gray said Tuesday on a day off from the Olympic track and field competition. “A bunch of us were running in Europe in 1979 when we heard that we’d just signed a sprinter named Carl Lewis. We wondered if he’d ever amount to anything.”

By the 1984 Summer Olympics, Lewis already was known within the sport as “King Carl.”

That also was Gray’s first Olympics. He was a surprise finalist in the 800 meters, finishing seventh in front of a hometown crowd. He is from Crenshaw High.

“My only goal then probably was to make it to ‘88,” he said.

Gray made it to Seoul in ‘88, finishing fifth. Then he made it to Barcelona in 1992, finishing third. Now that he’s in his fourth consecutive Olympic 800 final tonight, it doesn’t take a numerologist to realize that his progression from seventh to fifth to third leaves only one place for him here.

“This is one time that I can tell you to put your money on me,” said Gray, who lives in Agoura.

Too much is made of his age. Gray, 36, is getting older and slower. But he is also getting smarter.

“I’m the grandfather of the 800 meters,” he said. “But as long as I’m fit, all that means is that I’ve got more experience than anyone else. I know what to do and what not to do.”

One thing he knows not to do is expend too much energy in the qualifying rounds. Gray was thrilled to see three of the 10 fastest times in the world this year in Monday night’s semifinals, especially since none of them were by him. In an intense third heat, Cuba’s Norberto Tellez ran 1 minute 43.79 seconds, Kenya’s David Kiptoo 1:43.90 and Norway’s Vebjoern Rodal 1:43.96.

“Those guys went all out, while I was trotting,” he said of his second-place finish in the second heat in 1:44.0. “I don’t think they can run that hard again.

“I know what they’re hoping, that there’ll be a slow pace in the final so that they can steal the race at the end. But I’m not going to let that happen. I’m going to take it out. If they’re going to run with me, it’s going to take all the energy they’ve got. I know I’m going to win the gold.”

He might not be so confident if 1995 world champion Wilson Kipketer were here. But Kipketer could not compete for his adopted Denmark because he is not a citizen and refused an invitation to represent his native Kenya. Without Kipketer, Gray said that he believes his strongest challenge will come from South Africa’s Hezekiel Sepeng, who won the conservative first heat of the semifinals in 1:45.16.

Gray’s talent for running was discovered because he was in the wrong place at the right time. As a junior at Crenshaw, he was sitting beside the track, watching his older brother work out when the coach, Merrill McGee, became angry at his runners and threatened to recruit an entire new team. To prove his point, he pointed to Gray and told him to run a few laps. McGee liked what he saw and has coached him ever since.

Gray has been ranked among the world’s top 10 in 10 of the last 11 years, missing 1994 when he took so many aspirins to soothe the pain from four impacted wisdom teeth that he developed an ulcer. He finally summoned the courage to have the teeth removed and returned late last year to rank second in the United States and 10th in the world.

Because he didn’t compete in last summer’s World Championships, he was not considered a medal contender in this summer’s Olympics. Doubters be damned, he said. He is looking forward to Sydney in 2000.

“I went from seventh to fifth to third and now, hopefully, first,” he said. “Then I’m going to go backward--from first in ’96 to third in 2000 to fifth in 2004 and seventh in 2008. I’ll be 48 in 2008. Now that would truly be amazing.”

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WOMEN’S 100 M HURDLES / LEAVE IT TO DEVERS

Gail Devers seemed assured of a 100 / 100 hurdles double in the 1992 Olympics until she tripped over the final hurdle in Barcelona and finished fifth. Once again, Devers has won the 100 meters in Atlanta, and she is one of the favorites for tonight’s hurdles.

*

A Change of Pace

A change in Devers’ rythym is the largest adjustment she has to make as a sprinter when running hurdles.

ACTION: Hurdler steps, rather than jumps, over hurdles.

Between hurdles, hurdler takes three steps, keeping knees high, using the same lead leg at each barrier. * Step 1; step 2; step 3.

HURDLES: Lightweight. Height: 33 inches.

Sources: Times staff, Associated Press

Gail Devers seemed assured of a 100 / 100 hurdles double in the 1992 Olympics until she tripped over the final hurdle in Barcelona and finished fifth. Once again, Devers has won the 100 meters in Atlanta, and she is one of the favorites for tonight’s hurdles.