Mitchell Goes Lame, Throws Relay Into Turmoil
Dennis Mitchell, two-time 100-meter bronze medalist in the World Championships, injured his left quadriceps Saturday, throwing the U.S. 400 relay team into disarray.
So much disarray that the Americans were thinking of drafting women’s sprinter Gwen Torrence for the relay.
More likely candidates, however, are Carl Lewis, Michael Johnson, Jeff Williams and Tony McCall.
Ironically, the U.S. team is scrambling to piece together a relay team, whereas in the past there has been such a wealth of talent that squabbling for positions has been the norm.
After Mitchell pulled up about 40 meters into the 100 heats, speculation quickly grew over who would replace him as anchor. With Lewis, the first alternate, injured and a question mark, the next name presented was Williams, a member of the 200-meter team.
Then it was mentioned that Johnson, who already is scheduled to run the 200 and 400 individual races and the 1,600 relay, had indicated he would run the relay if asked.
Whoever it is, would join Maurice Greene, Mike Marsh and Jon Drummond on the relay.
“If Carl is OK, stick him in Dennis’ place,” Marsh, the U.S. 100-meter champion and 1992 Olympic 200 gold medalist, said after winning his opening heat in 10.27 seconds and his quarterfinal in a wind-aided 10.03.
“Probably the next best sprinter after Jeff is Gwen.”
Marsh obviously wasn’t aware of Johnson’s availability.
Drummond was, and he said he would welcome Johnson, Williams or even Torrence.
“The world wants to see that,” Drummond said of Johnson running another race, “so it would be great for the world. I wouldn’t mind Michael Johnson being there. He’s qualified.
“If it takes somebody to go ask him, I’ll go over there now. I’ll ask him personally. ‘Yo, Michael, you want to run?’ But I ain’t the coaches.”
Coach Harry Groves said he wouldn’t “want to put him (Johnson) on the spot. He’s doing enough already.”
Torrence, the U.S. 100 and 200 champion, already is ticketed to run four races - both sprints and both relays.
“I’ll give the stick to Gwen and I guarantee you we’ll win,” Drummond said, continuing the joke. “I am confident she can run a 9.9 with a running start.”
Lewis, a member of the long jump team, had a brief workout Saturday, gingerly testing his injured left hamstring.
“In his mind, there is a possibility he could be ready for Friday,” Mike Takaha, a U.S. press officer said, referring to the long jump qualifying. “He’s making progress.”
Lewis said earlier he could sprint much easier than he could long jump.
If he enters the long jump, he must declare by Tuesday. If he does not declare by then, he still could run the relay. If he enters and doesn’t jump, he would be ineligible to run the first round of the relay next Saturday under the sport’s “honest effort” rule.
Williams has earned bronze medals in the 100 at the 1991 Pan American Games and in the 200 at the 1992 World Cup. McCall, 21, never has run on an international team.
At Monte Carlo on July 25, the team of Greene, Drummond, Marsh and Mitchell ran 38.25, the fastest in the world this year.
There were two finals Saturday, the opening day of competition.
Manuela Machado of Portugal, taking the lead twothirds into the race, won the women’s marathon in a career-best 2 hours, 25 minutes, 39 minutes, the secondfastest time in the world this year. And Germany’s Astrid Kumbernuss won the women’s shot put at 69 feet, 7-1/2 inches, her career best and the farthest in the world this year.
xxxx WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS GLANCE A brief look at the second day of the World Championships in track and field: Winners: Astrid Kumbernuss of Germany won the women’s shot put with a toss of 69 feet, 7-1/2 inches, the top mark of the year. Manuela Machado of Portugal won the women’s marathon in 2 hours, 25 minutes, 39 minutes, the second fastest of the season. Losers: Huang Zhilong of China, the two-time defending shot put champion, lost her title to Kumbernuss. Local watch: Spokane marathoner Kim Jones finished 16th with a time of 2:37:06. She was second among U.S. finishers. Mistake: Embarrassed officials said that the women’s marathon was 400 meters too short because the runners had run one lap short at the beginning of the race. As a result, all posted times were declared invalid. A look ahead: Finals today include the men’s 100, 20-kilometer walk and hammer throw along with the women’s long jump and 100 hurdles.