CATCHING UP; `FASTEST-MAN' FIASCO STILL HAUNTS JOHNSON.

Byline: Kirby Lee Special to the Daily News

Marion Jones and Maurice Greene emerged as the new American track heroes Sunday night with victories in the men's and women's 100 meters at the World Championships.

Meanwhile, another, Michael Johnson, is struggling to return to the heights of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, which saw him pull off an unprecedented sweep of the 200 and 400 meters, with a stunning world record of 19.32 seconds in the 200.

Public perception was mixed on the idea of Johnson racing Donovan Bailey of Canada at 150 yards to determine the ``world's fastest man.'' Johnson's image was further tarnished when he pulled up with a quadriceps injury and failed to finish that $1 million spectacle in Toronto on June 1.

Primo Nebiolo - president of the International Amateur Athletic Federation, which governs world track and field - forbade any rematches under the format, labeling the event ``something out of a circus.''

Johnson called it a boost to awareness to track and field in America.

``Based on the type of exposure and the interest, it should be looked at closer,'' Johnson said. ``Whether there should be races like that is definitely dependent upon the promoters. There is a lot of risk. I think we have to find some other ways of marketing the sport - but maybe not that drastic.''

It's been a downward spiral for Johnson since his showdown with Bailey. The leg injury forced him to miss the U.S. national championships in Indianapolis.

When he did return to competition, at the Gaz de France Grand Prix meet in Paris on June 25, he suffered his first loss in the 400 meters in eight years.

``It's too late to second guess. I've been there and it's over,'' Johnson said. ``I can't go back and not run the race. There's no sense for me putting energy (toward) whether I should have or shouldn't have gone. My focus is on moving forward.''

Johnson, 29, appeared in far from top form Sunday, barely surviving the second round of the 400 - he was the 15th qualifier into today's 16-man semifinals.

Johnson, who has recorded seven of the top-10 performances of all time in the 400 and dipped under 44 seconds more times than any man in history, won his first-round heat in 45.66 after assuming command by the 250-meter mark.

In his second-round race Sunday night, Johnson came off the turn running third behind Jamie Bautch of Great Britain and Davis Kamoga of Uganda. Johnson eased up in the final 50 meters, and Ibrahima Wade of Senegal passed him at the line by .01 to finish in 45.38, earning the final automatic qualifying berth.

Johnson had to wait for two remaining heats to determine if he had advanced to the semifinals as one of four other runners.

``I was sure I had a firm grip on my position, I just didn't see him,'' Johnson said. ``It surprised me that he was suddenly beside me.''

Sunday marked the first time Johnson had competed in two 400 rounds in the same day. The races were also only his third and fourth 400s of the season.

Johnson, who set a World Championships-record 43.39 for the No. 2 mark ever, appeared on track to challenge Butch Reynolds' 1988 world record of 43.29 before suffering his injury against Bailey.

In his season opener, he posted a world-leading 43.75, the fastest 400 ever run in April, in the Michael Johnson Open in Waco, Texas. He followed it with a 20.05 clocking in the 200 at the Drake Relays before his injury felled him.

``I don't know if some greater power said, `Mike, you were not focused enough and not excited enough,' '' Johnson said. ``Then I got injured. Now I have my work cut out for me and I am real excited - more than I was at the beginning of the season because the challenge is much bigger. My focus is getting back to where I was before I was injured, starting here with the world title.''

Johnson cited lack of conditioning as his downfall in Paris. He took two weeks off because of his leg injury. In the two weeks leading up to the the showdown with Bailey, Johnson said he did not do any workouts geared for the 400.

``The focus in Paris was how I was as far as the injury was concerned and not conditioning,'' Johnson said. ``I was anxious to go out there and run again. Normally, I can get back to 85 percent and win races off that. I knew going into the race I was vulnerable. When you're a warrior, you have to put it on the line.''

Johnson's lone tuneup for Athens was a 45.03 ``time trial'' in a race which included three high school runners and a coach in an all-comers meet at Rice University on July 19. He proclaimed himself fit prior to the start of the World Championships.

Johnson, the 1993 and 1995 world champion, needed an unprecedented move by the IAAF, which issued wild-card berths to defending champions to compete in the World Championships even if they did not qualify in their national meets. The move has created friction between Johnson and American teammates who earned World Championships berths by competing in the U.S. national championships.

``I don't think it's fair,'' said Tyree Washington, one of four Americans - along with Antonio Pettigrew, Jerome Young and Johnson - to advance to the 400 semifinals. ``A lot of the guys work hard at the rounds to be here. It's just politics and I have to deal with it. (Michael Johnson) is just another body on the track.''

Wild-card critics also claim the national championships could be jeopardized if high-profile athletes like Johnson opt not to compete because they're assured automatic berths to the World Championships.

``I would be willing to (compete at the U.S. meet) knowing the only thing I am going to get out of it is to know that I have helped to elevate the sport,'' Johnson said. ``The only way that can be done is if the USATF would make as much of a commitment as I have. If that doesn't happen, there is no incentive. I would treat it as another meet and it would have to be beneficial to me.''

Johnson apparently has the support of Craig Masback, the newly elected USATF president. The former indoor national mile champion finds merits on both sides of the arguments but supports wild-card berths and inclusion of athletes like Johnson in hopes of benefiting the sport in the long run.

``You don't want to stick a carrot in front of somebody or hit them with a stick to compete in the national championships,'' Masback said. ``They should be motivated themselves to want to compete and make the team. But this is a professional sport and you want your best athletes to be there (at the World Championships).''

Johnson was hard pressed to make that cut Sunday.

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos

Photo: (1) Michael Johnson, whose career has been stuck in neutral since an exhibition sprint with Donovan Bailey, barely qualified for the 400-meter semifinals at the World Championships.

(2) Michael Johnson, right, shown in his first-round 400 heat, did not look impressive but managed to advance.

Associated Press