JOHNSON WITHIN BREEZE OF RECORD : O'BRIEN CLEARS OBSTACLE, WINS DECATHLON.Byline: Daily News Wire Services For nine sultry days, the scarcest commodity at these U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials has been a breeze. Unfortunately, Michael Johnson Michael Johnson or Mike Johnson may refer to:
A fleeting, fickle wind denied Dallas' Johnson a world record in the semifinals of the 200 meters Saturday. The track-side wind gauge wiped out Johnson's 19.70-second clocking and allowed Italian Pietro Mennea's 17-year-old record (19.72) to survive another day. Few, however, seem to be giving Mennea's mark much chance of lasting the weekend. ``This encourages me that I can run 19.60, which is what I felt all along,'' Johnson said. His quest will continue in today's 200 final. But for decathlete de·cath·lete n. An athlete who participates in a decathlon. Dan O'Brien
Daniel ("Dan") Dion O'Brien (born July 18, 1966 in Portland, Oregon) is a former American decathlete. , the long crusade of redemption is over. O'Brien eased over the pole vault pole vault Track-and-field event consisting of a vault for height over a crossbar with the aid of a long pole. It became a competitive sport in the mid-19th century and was included in the first modern Olympic Games. bar at an opening height of 14 feet, 9 inches, to a round of healthy and history-mindful applause. O'Brien pumped his fists, punctuating the occasion. And somewhere on Madison Avenue Madison Avenue, celebrated street of Manhattan, borough of New York City. It runs from Madison Square (23d St.) to the Madison Bridge over the Harlem River (138th St.). In the 1940s and 50s, some of the major U.S. , the poor soul who dreamed up last Olympics' aborted, $25 million ``Dan or Dave'' ad campaign must have been saying, ``Oh, now he clears a height.'' There was more than a little irony in the fact that the pole vault - O'Brien's Waterloo at the 1992 trials in New Orleans New Orleans (ôr`lēənz –lənz, ôrlēnz`), city (2006 pop. 187,525), coextensive with Orleans parish, SE La., between the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain, 107 mi (172 km) by water from the river mouth; founded - proved to be the event that turned this decathlon decathlon (dĭkăth`lŏn), in modern Olympic games, a contest for men held over two days and composed of 10 track-and-field events. in the world champion's favor. For seven events, O'Brien had been forced to trail 26-year-old upstart Chris Huffins Chris Huffins (born 15 April 1970 in Brooklyn, New York) is an athlete from the United States who competed in the field of Decathlon. He was the Director and Head Coach of the Men's and Women's Track and Field and Cross Country programs at the University of California from 2002 to of Berkeley. Huffins picked the Olympic Trials to score personal bests on seven of the 10 events. ``It was a nice story,'' Huffins reflected later. ``But after a while, if you keep messing with the dragon, he's going to wake up.'' Duly wakened, O'Brien lurched back on to world-record pace, throwing 214-0 in the javelin before running out of gas in the final event, the 1,500 meters. No disgrace there. The combination of a TV-induced early wakeup call Wakeup Call is a morning radio program produced in New York City by the WBAI station of the Pacifica Radio Network. The program is hosted by Deepa Fernandes and airs Monday through Friday. and Atlanta's muggy mug·gy adj. mug·gi·er, mug·gi·est Warm and extremely humid. [Probably from Middle English mugen, to drizzle; akin to Old Norse mugga, a drizzle. 92-degree temperatures sapped nearly every decathlete who made it to the finish line. To benefit NBC's live telecast, the decathlon had to resume yesterday at 9 a.m. Huffins, who eventually finished third, said he got all of 4-1/2 hours' sleep. Third-place finisher Steve Fritz Steve Fritz (born 1 November 1967 in Salina, Kansas) is a retired American decathlete. Achievements Year Tournament Venue Result Extra 1991 Universiade Sheffield, England 1st Decathlon 1993 World Championships Stuttgart, Germany 7th Decathlon got 5-1/2 hours, but ``I skipped breakfast.'' Randy Barker, who finished seventh, said he slept for a little more than three hours and, before the day was through, twice needed intravenous fluids. ``If I had run any faster in the 1,500,'' Barker said, ``I would be dead right now.'' He was joking. Maybe. The decathletes, as a group, were having a hard time wondering how Johnson's or anybody's possible world records yesterday could have been wiped out by wind. Wind? What wind? ``About 250 meters into the 1,500 I felt pretty good,'' said O'Brien, who finished with 8,726 points. ``But it just got hotter and hotter and hotter.'' For record purposes, the maximum allowable aiding wind for the sprints is 2.0 meters per second, roughly 4.473 mph. The wind reading during Johnson's semifinal was 2.7 meters, which translates to slightly more than 6 mph. By contrast, the gauge in the other 200-meter semifinal recorded the wind at 0.3 meters into the runners' faces. If the wind was aiding him, Johnson certainly didn't feel it. ``Not .02 of a second worth,'' he said. ``But those are the rules.'' Again, Johnson surged through the curve and came into the straightaway straight·a·way adj. 1. Extending in a straight line or course without a curve or turn. 2. Unhesitating; immediate: a straightaway denial. n. well ahead of the field. Near the finish, he looked to his right and eased his final two or three steps. But when he saw the time on the Swatch timing clock, Johnson's arms shot jubilantly into the air. The crowd of 26,871 came roaring to its feet. The Baylor graduate happily rushed back up the track, convinced that he had finally wiped track's oldest world record from the books. Johnson was standing at the side of the track doing a TV interview when he heard the announcement about the wind reading. When asked if he was disappointed, Johnson answered, ``Extremely. Very much so.'' Only one 200 meters has been run faster under any conditions. In 1990, Houston's Leroy Burrell Leroy Russel Burrell (born February 21, 1967) is a former American athlete who twice set the world record for the 100 meter sprint, setting a time of 9.90 seconds in June 1991. This was then broken by Carl Lewis within a month. Burrell set the record for a second time when he ran 9. ran a 19.61 with a wind of 8.95 mph at his back. ``I'm going to go out there to win the race,'' Johnson said of today's final. ``And I'm going to go out there to run as fast as I can.'' In other highlights: Jack Pierce Jack Pierce may be:
Gwen Torrence reached the final of the women's 200 despite a thigh injury that her husband said has left her ``running on one leg.'' Carlette Guidry had a time of 22.29 seconds in the semifinals of the women's 200, fastest in the world this year. Carl Lewis, saying he ``felt incredible,'' joined Johnson in the 200 final with a semifinal time of 20.29. Also advancing were 1992 Olympic champion Mike Marsh (20.20) and 1995 world champion bronze medalist Jeff Williams (20.02). The finals in those events are today, the last day of the trials. U.S. Track and Field Trials at a Glance Highlights of Saturday's events at the U.S. track and field trials: Heroes: Dan O'Brien used a heroic pole vault performance as a springboard to win the decathlon; Michael Johnson ran a wind-aided 19.70 seconds in the 200 semifinals; Curt Clausen won the men's 20-kilometer walk and Debbi Lawrence won the women's 10k walk. Goats: The weather - the 108-degree heat hurt O'Brien's chances of breaking his decathlon world record and the wind robbed Johnson of a world record in the 200. Surprises: Jack Pierce ran 12.94 seconds in the men's 110-meter hurdles semifinals, fourth-fastest in history. Stat of the day: If O'Brien had run 29 seconds faster in the 1,500, he would have broken his decathlon world record. Quote of the day: ``She's feeling bad. Right now she's running on one leg.'' - Manley Waller, husband and coach of Gwen Torrence, who reached the women's 200 final despite a left thigh injury. Today's highlights: Finals in 10 events, including the men's and women's 200. Today's TV: NBC NBC in full National Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. commercial broadcasting company. It was formed in 1926 by RCA Corp., General Electric Co. (GE), and Westinghouse and was the first U.S. company to operate a broadcast network. , 11 a.m. 3 p.m. SOURCE: Associated Press CAPTION(S): 2 Photos, Box Photo: (1--color) Dan O'Brien celebrates his decath lon win with a victory lap at the Olympic Trials in Atlanta. (2) Gail Devers clears a hurdle during the second round of the 100-meter event. A time of 12.69 advances her to the next round. Associated Press Box: U.S. TRACK AND FIELD TRIALS AT A GLANCE (see text) |
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