LEWIS LAMENTS TRACK'S DECLINE.

Byline: Kirby Lee Special to the Daily News

As Carl Lewis nears the finish line, he worries his sport is pulling up lame.

Lewis, winner of nine Olympic gold medals and eight world championships, ends more than 20 years of competition Aug. 26 in Berlin. And track and field is in turmoil.

A year after Michael Johnson became the first man to win the 200 and 400 meters at the Summer Olympics in Atlanta, the sport has been rocked by dwindling sponsorship, drug use, poorly organized meets and inner conflict within its governing body. Moreover, attendance is falling in Europe - long a hotbed for the sport.

``Just running and winning is not enough,'' said Lewis, who is attending but not competing at this week's World Outdoor Championships in Athens.

``It's not just, `Look at me, I'm the best in the world,' and not dealing with kids and charities and making appearances. I don't see any young athletes doing that right now. I just hope some people step up or the sport is going to disappear in the U.S.''

Other than Johnson, there are few track personalities who register with the American public.

Thousand Oaks High graduate Marion Jones has emerged as one of the promising newcomers on the American track scene after winning the women's 100 and long jump at the U.S. Championships in June.

Can the 21-year-old emerge as the heir to Jackie Joyner-Kersee in these championships? Or will Jones fade into obscurity like her American counterparts in the 1996 Olympics?

It isn't just the need for names.

The indoor and outdoor Grand Prix circuits in North America were both disbanded after Mobil withdrew its financial backing last year. Mobil also discontinued its sponsorship with U.S. outdoor championships. At the end of its 15-year international association with the sport, Mobil was investing $5 million to $6 million annually.

Mobil spokesman Tom Cooney said financial concerns prompted the oil company to shift its emphasis from track to health and education with projects such as the Mobil Masterpiece Theatre.

Southern California also lost two major meets in the past decade. The Pepsi Invitational, which later became the Jack In the Box Invitational meet at UCLA, was discontinued because of lack of sponsorship after 12 years in 1990. The L.A. Invitational indoor meet sponsored by Sunkist for 26 consecutive years at the Sports Arena came to an end after a 37-year run in 1996.

Don Franken, promoter of the Pepsi and L.A. Invitational meets along with his father Al, hopes to resurrect the indoor meet at the Sports Arena for 1998. ESPN has agreed to telecast the meet tentatively set for Feb. 7, but no title sponsor has been found.

``Nobody gives a damn and why is it?'' Don Franken said. ``Beach volleyball and the PGA have incredible television rankings. It is strictly national marketing. It is much harder to attract sponsors if track and field isn't constantly in the news.''

Since the Summer Games, the few track headlines have not been favorable.

The highly publicized ``World's Fastest Human'' 150-meter race between Johnson and Donovan Bailey in June was more hype than substance. The event was laced with trash talking on both sides and had a chaotic finish when Johnson injured his leg.

Primo Nebiolo, president of the International Amateur Athletic Federation which governs world track and field, frowned upon the event and discouraged any other challenge races.

``We will not give permission for a rematch under a similar format,'' Nebiolo said. ``This is not sports as entertainment but more something out of a circus.''

The publicity surrounding drug use also has damaged the respectability of track. The 1988 Olympics in Seoul were marred by the disqualification of Ben Johnson in the 100 meters and his world record of 9.79 after the Canadian tested positive for steroid use.

After returning to competition, Johnson tested positive for an elevated level of testosterone in 1993 which resulted in a lifetime ban by Athletics Canada and the IAAF.

Nearly a decade after Ben Johnson was stripped of his gold medal for illegal drug use, American distance runner Mary Slaney and hurdlers Sandra Farmer-Patrick and Stephon Flenoy were banned from national and international meets by the IAAF for positive drug tests.

Johnson, by the way, failed in a bid last month to have an Ontario court overtime his lifetime ban from the sport.

Meanwhile, USATF has drawn attention with its internal turmoil. Ollan Cassell, the sport's executive director for three decades, was voted out of office in December because he allegedly failed to promote the sport.

Three other national staff members, chief financial officer Barbara Rush, administrative assistant Anne Phillips and association services coordinator Elaine McCoy have resigned in the wake of Cassell's firing. There also have been rumors of a recall vote against USATF president Pat Rico and officers elected with her in December.

Interest in track at the grassroots level remains strong. Track and field ranks as the fourth most popular high school sport among boys in California behind football, baseball and basketball, with more than 34,000 participants, according to a California Interscholastic Federation survey. Participation among girls increased by nearly 2,000 from 1993-94 to more than 27,000 in 1995-96, moving track ahead of softball in popularity to third behind volleyball and basketball.

In June, a two-day attendance record of 24,375 was set at the high school state meet at Hughes Stadium in Sacramento. Attendance at major meets, however, has plunged dramatically, creating a deficit of more than $250,000 for the USATF.

The five-day U.S. championships at Indiana University attracted no more than 10,000 in any one session. And the hyped Johnson-Bailey race drew only 25,000 - 20,000 less than what organizers believed.

``The NBA would never let anything like that happen,'' Lewis said. ``The NBA promotes its sport, promotes its athletes and gets involved with the community. Our sport doesn't support one single organization, not one single charity. Our sport has to integrate with the community or it is going to die.''

Pressure abounds for Masback, the 1980 national indoor mile champion and the former U.S. indoor record-holder at 3,000 meters.

Masback, who has signed a contract estimated at $150,000 per year through the 2001 World Championships, was on the USATF's original board of directors and has experience in sports marketing.

An attorney and television commentator, Masback, 42, has vowed to market track aggressively as other professional sports in the U.S. have done. He plans to meet with track and field leaders on all levels, including the U.S. Olympic Committee, track officials, coaches, athletes, reporters and fans for feedback to promote interest.

``Our sport has lost much of its place in the American consciousness,'' Masback said. ``The sport took more than 30 years to slip. . . . It can come back. This is a sport ready to explode with activity and ideas. We have not done enough into moving into the modern age in communicating and marketing the sport.''

MAIN EVENT

WHAT: Sixth IAAF World Track and Field Championships.

WHERE: Olympic Stadium, Athens, Greece, Site of the 13th European championships in 1982.

WHEN: Aug. 1-10.

FRIDAY: Opening ceremonies.

SATURDAY: Men's and women's 100 (first and second round), women's 400 (first and second round), men's shot put, women's 10,000 qualifying, men's 20K race walk final, men's hammer qualifying.

The competition will include participants from a record 200 nations, breaking the all-time high of 197 set in the 1996 Summer Olympics and the world-championship record of 191 set at the fifth World Championships in Gothenburg in 1995.

BY THE NUMBERS

1957: Record number of athletes, 1,225 men and 732 women.

3.3: Number in billions of estimated viewers to 212 countries, making it the most-watched sporting event

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos, Box

PHOTO (1--color) Carl Lewis, near retirement, fears track will lose popularity.

(2) Gail Devers will compete in the 4 x 100 meter relay.

Kirby Lee / Special to the Daily News

BOX: MAIN EVENT (see text)