A LEAP OF FAITH : FINAL JUMP SAVES LEWIS.Byline: Jon Wilner Daily News Staff Writer The two biggest names in American track and field will go for gold tonight, although they took disparate paths to the finals. Michael Johnson Michael Johnson or Mike Johnson may refer to:
``I didn't want (not qualifying) to be my last experience in the Olympics,'' he said. ``That was a lot of motivation. . . . It was a situation where I had to do it, and I hadn't been in one like that before.'' It was a big day for Texas, home of Lewis (Houston), Johnson (Dallas) and Charles Austin Charles Austin (born December 19, 1967), is an American athlete who won the gold medal in the men's high jump at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. He is also the 1991 world champion. The 190 cm Austin cleared 2. (San Marcos San Marcos (săn mär`kəs). 1 City (1990 pop. 38,974), San Diego co., S Calif., a northern suburb of San Diego; settled 1880s, inc. 1963. ), who won the high jump with an Olympic-record 7 feet, 10 inches. Austin had the bar raised to a world-record 8 feet, -3/4 inches but missed badly. ``I came wanting to break the world record here at home,'' he said. Lewis' leap of 27 feet, 2-1/2 inches was the best of the day, and sent an ominous warning to his competitors: Each time he has led after the qualifying round, he's won Olympic gold Olympic Gold is the official video game of the XXV Olympic Summer Games, hosted by Barcelona, Spain in 1992. It was released for the Sega consoles, Mega Drive/Genesis and Master System, and Sega's handheld, Game Gear. . A victory tonight would give Lewis his ninth gold medal gold medal traditional first prize. [Western Cult: Misc.] See : Prize and fourth straight in the long jump - tying him with discus thrower Al Oerter This article is about a recently deceased person. Some information, such as the circumstances of the person's death and surrounding events, may change rapidly as more facts become known. Alfred Adolf Oerter, Jr. as the only Americans to win gold in four straight Olympics. ``I know I can jump 28 feet, and no one here has done that this year,'' he said. ``They know not to ignore me.'' Johnson, meanwhile, eased through his last 400 tuneup. He went out hard, planning to work on the third curve. But at 200 meters he looked around, saw his competitors lagging behind, and backed off to finish in 44.59 seconds. ``Normally I don't look around that early, but I didn't want to waste too much energy,'' said Johnson, who's also in the 200 meters later this week. Tonight there will be no strategy, no working on his start, or his finish, or the third curve. It will be Johnson against the field - and against Butch Reynolds' eight-year-old world record of 43.29. ``I want to say the fact that I'm out there means there might be a world record, but that would sound arrogant,'' Johnson said. ``I hope to look at the clock and see a world record, but it's not my objective.'' Reynolds won't be able to do anything about it. He pulled out of his semifinal heat after 70 meters with a leg injury. ``I'm disappointed he's not in the race,'' Johnson said. ``If he were out there, it'd be a lot more interesting. I was looking forward to an American sweep.'' In other news from Olympic Stadium, Ethiopia's Fatuma Roba won the women's marathon in 2:26.05. American Jenny Spangler did not finish because of a recurring Achilles' tendon injury. ``The hills just locked it up real bad,'' she said. |
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