U.S. Track Athletes Are Running Downhill

For the first time in eight World Outdoor Track and Field Championships, the United States was not represented in the men’s 400-meter hurdles final.

No U.S. woman made it to the final of the 400 meters, and none medaled in the 400-meter hurdles.

Is there a crisis in track and field in the U.S.? Or are other countries simply catching up?

“I don’t think you can look at an individual development, positive or negative, and draw any conclusions,” said Craig Masback, chief executive officer of USA Track and Field. “If you look at our sweep in the men’s 100, you’d say we’re healthier than ever, and if you look at the 400, you’d say we’re in bad shape. Neither necessarily is true.”

That said, Masback acknowledges the U.S. team’s performance at this year’s world meet concerns him. Through Saturday, U.S. athletes had won 17 medals. Although a number of events remain in which U.S. athletes are medal contenders, including today’s relays, the final total is unlikely to reach its old heights. The U.S. medal haul peaked at 29 at Tokyo in 1991 and declined to 25 in 1993, 18 in 1995 and 1997, and 17 in 1999.

“I would say we are not performing at the level we’d like to be performing at,” Masback said. “But I’d rather have this happen in the year after the Olympics than the year before, or in the Olympics.

“The trend that began two years ago in Sydney has accelerated. The spreading of medals in track and field has gone further and further, and that’s a credit to the [International Assn. of Athletics Federations]. In Sydney, 43 countries won medals, the most ever. That has come from a conscious effort by the IAAF.”

Masback said that in many events in which U.S. athletes didn’t win medals at Edmonton, they rank in the world’s top 25. “The goal is to move more people into the higher ranks,” he said, “so if they get a lucky break, they have a chance to medal, as opposed to moving from 75 to 55

“This team was, from Eugene [site of the national championships] forward, a mixture of veterans and newcomers. Some of the veterans came up just short. Tonja Buford-Bailey and Antonio Pettigrew’s accumulated time in missing medals was .03. You wanted that leadership, but you also want Brenda Taylor to have a good experience because four years from now we’re going to be counting on her more than Tonja Buford-Bailey. And you look at [sprinter] Angela Williams, and what she has accomplished, and there’s no reason she can’t continue to move up.”

Masback met last autumn with athletes, coaches and agents to determine what is needed for athletes to improve their performances. “A lot of those things are already in place or are in place to be put in place,” he said. Those include specialized training centers for distance runners and supporting a pole vaulters’ development program.

“Every event requires a different approach for us to succeed,” Masback said. “In women’s javelin, where we don’t have an ‘A’ [level] qualifier, we have much more fundamental problems than in the men’s 400-meter hurdles.

“We have to do things for the very best people to help them perform at their best at the biggest events.”

Stretch Drive

For Michelle Kwan, changing choreographers for her long program was a radical step--one she hopes will expand her artistic horizons and help her come home from Salt Lake City with the gold medal that eluded her at Nagano.

Kwan, the five-time U.S. figure skating champion and four-time world champion, will debut her new program at the Goodwill Games next month in Brisbane, Australia. To avoid changing too many things at once, she will keep the evocative “East of Eden” short program that brought her seven perfect scores of 6.0 at the U.S. national championships in January.

“I wanted to stay focused on the long program at the beginning of the year,” said Kwan, who turned 21 last month and had a low-key celebration with family and friends. “I have plenty of time to change the short program later if I decide to do that.”

She won’t give many details about the new program, except to say she will portray a character. She plans to do her trademark triple toe loop-triple toe loop combination jump at the Goodwill Games but might add a second triple-triple before the Olympics to boost the technical difficulty.

The routine, devised by Kwan with her longtime coach, Frank Carroll, and choreographer Sarah Kawahara--renowned for her work with Scott Hamilton and the “Champions on Ice” tour--is no bit of froth.

“It’s pretty serious,” said Kwan, who lives in the South Bay. “Nothing I do is light. I like to be heavy and dramatic. It’s kind of dark and mysterious. It’s fun to play unique roles.

“What I’ve found is no role is one-sided. You learn more about yourself and your skating and what you feel the more you do the program.”

She’s comfortable with her decision to work with Kawahara, who lives in Southern California, instead of her previous choreographer, Lori Nichol, who lives in Toronto. Being far from Nichol factored into Kwan’s decision to switch, but she also wanted a new perspective.

“I’ve worked with Sarah before, and I’ve always enjoyed working with someone who has a different artist’s point of view,” Kwan said. “I know I’m not going to be skating until I’m 50, so I want to really see what I’m capable of now.”

She also feels more ready to begin the season than she did a year ago. “Last year, I was sort of saying, ‘I have plenty of time.’ This year, I want to be ahead instead of playing catch-up,” she said. “Last year I started to feel ‘on’ by the end. I want to feel ‘on’ all year. . . .

“There’s this never-ending road of improvement. What frustrates a lot of athletes is you hit this high peak and it seems you reach the top and you want to keep improving and going beyond that, but your improvements are smaller and smaller. You have to recognize it’s going to be that way and you might see changes not in a week, but maybe in a year.”

It’s Greek to Him

Preparations for the 2004 Summer Games are on schedule, according to Spyros Capralos, executive director of Athens 2004.

Capralos said last week the organizing committee has exceeded its goal of sponsorship money with guarantees of $180 million. That’s fine, but that doesn’t solve such problems as the need for hotel rooms and new and better roads.

Organizers trying to minimize road congestion said Olympic spectators and staff will be required to use public transportation to reach venues and the number of cars allowed near venues will be limited. That’s going to be tough if tram and rail lines intended to ease vehicle congestion aren’t completed in time--and work hasn’t begun on either project.

“Through hard work, dedication and the close cooperation of the Greek government, we have reached the point where Athens is back on track and is gaining speed,” Capralos said.

Here and There

Organizers of the World Outdoor Track and Field Championships hoped attendance would average 38,000-40,000 for the final weekend and help them reach their target of $12.5 million in ticket sales. The stands at 60,000-seat Commonwealth Stadium were often barely half-full, but Edmonton 2001 Chairman Jack Agrios considers the event a success. “I was at Seville and Athens, and attendance at Edmonton compares exceedingly well with Gothenburg and Seville,” he said, referring to previous sites. “We are in an area that’s less familiar with athletics than other centers.”

Tiffany Scott and Philip Dulebohn, second in the pairs competition at this year’s U.S. figure skating championships, withdrew from the Goodwill Games. Dulebohn has a stress fracture in his lower back and left hip and is expected to be off the ice three weeks. Matt Savoie, third in the men’s competition at this year’s national meet, also withdrew from the Goodwill Games. He has a groin pull.

Willie Ito of Huntington Beach won the junior men’s all-around title for the 14-and 15-year-old division at the U.S. Gymnastics Championships last week in Philadelphia. Jamie Henderson of Kansas City won the junior men’s 16-18 division all-around championship. . . . Results of the Phillips 66 national swimming championships, which will take place in Fresno on Tuesday through Saturday, will help determine the U.S. team for the Goodwill Games. However, many swimmers have said they won’t make the long trip to Brisbane; Brooke Bennett, who won two golds at Sydney, will compete at Fresno but might not go to Australia.

Skier Bill Johnson, who suffered head injuries in a fall as he attempted a comeback, is in rehabilitation in Bakersfield but might be moved to a facility in Oklahoma City next month. He still has short-term memory problems and needs help with basic tasks.

Only 180 days until the Salt Lake City Winter Games.