Jones, Greene Feeling Very Dashing Now

A tentful of sweating sportswriters were waiting to interrogate the six men and women who will represent the United States in 100-meter competition at the Sydney Olympics, but Inger Miller beat them all to the first question.

“Where is Michael Johnson?” Miller asked as she plopped into a chair behind a microphone.

Talk about the power of the press. Johnson, ordinarily a man of few extraordinary words, writes a couple of caustic paragraphs in a national newspaper and the fallout threatens to swallow the first weekend of the U.S. Olympic track and field trials whole.

In an already-infamous guest commentary published in Friday’s USA Today, Johnson doubted if Miller would qualify for the U.S. women’s 100-meter team, second-guessed Maurice Greene’s pre-trials competitive strategy and tweaked the HSI track club--Greene and Miller are card-carrying members--for resting too heavily on past laurels.

Saturday, six 100-meter sprinters earned their boarding passes to Sydney, and four of them run for HSI. In the women’s final, Miller ran 11.05 seconds to place second between winner Marion Jones (10.88) and Chryste Gaines (11.15). In the men’s final, it was an HSI sweep: Greene winning in 10.01, followed by club teammates Curtis Johnson (10.07) and Jon Drummond (10.07).

Gail Devers, the two-time Olympic champion, failed to make the team, finishing fifth.

“HSI, baby! One-two-three!” Drummond hollered as he entered the interview tent.

Greene followed closely behind, skipping and singing like a first-grader on recess: “I made the Oh-lym-pic team, I made the Oh-lym-pic team!”

Los Angeles-based HSI stands for Hudson-Smith International, named after manager Emanuel Hudson and coach John Smith, but Saturday, the letters carried a different meaning.

Happy Sprinters Indeed.

And, more than a bit cocky.

Basking in the moment, Miller took a shot at Johnson and his new hairstyle. “I just think Michael has a lot to say,” Miller said, “and maybe he should untwist those beads in his hair. They’re too tight.”

Greene couldn’t resist piling on.

“Maybe he would get some sense if he did that,” he added.

Drummond, owner of the fastest mouth in the sport, was seated next to Greene and clearing his throat when a couple of HSI officials in the audience began frantically flashing slashing gestures at the runners, signaling that enough was enough.

Neither 100-meter final was particularly fast, but for the winners, the ends were considerably more significant than the means.

Jones said she had waited 15 years for this moment, dating back to her childhood chalkboard predictions of one day becoming an Olympic champion. But when she qualified for the 1992 Games only as a relay alternate (Jones declined the invitation) and spent the 1996 Games sidelined by a broken foot, that wait extended longer than she had ever imagined.

“I’m finally there,” Jones said. “Ever since I was 9 years old, I’ve been dreaming of making the Olympic team. But now, I’m not satisfied with just being on the team.”

No, Jones has slightly bigger plans for herself in Sydney. She wears it in the tips of both hands. Five fingernails, each painted gold, one for each gold medal she is hoping to win in September.

Someone asked Jones if she were setting herself up for disappointment if she wins, say, only four golds. Jones puffed out her cheeks and mused, “If I had a penny for every time I’ve been asked that question, I’d be very, very rich.”

“You already are!” Miller interjected.

Jones laughed.

“OK. Maybe that was the wrong choice of words,” Jones conceded.

Greene’s victory also culminated a long personal quest. In 1996, Greene failed in his first bid to compete in the Olympics, flaming out in the first round of qualifying at the U.S. trials.

“This is my first Olympics,” Greene said, beaming as he savored every syllable. “It’s a different feeling than I had in ’96. I’m not crying like I was in ’96.”

Finally, he’s on the U.S. team, in one event, with designs on qualifying in another: the men’s 200 meters, otherwise known as Michael Johnson territory.

“The first half is done,” Greene declared. “Now I’ve got to take care of the other half.”