U.S. Aces Stay Right On Track Although Tactics Differ Greatly, Johnson, Lewis Look Impressive

Two American track superstars took dramatically different paths Sunday to reach tonight’s Olympic finals.

For Michael Johnson, who has no apparent equal in running 400 meters, the occasion required what for him was a typically low-key semifinal race. He raced to a huge lead and then jogged the final 100 meters to conserve his energy for Monday night’s race.

For Carl Lewis, who has no historical equal in the long jump, there was no opportunity to conserve energy. Entering his final qualifying jump, Lewis was in 15th place and in danger of seeing his fourth Olympics end prematurely.

Displaying his championship heart, the 35-year-old Lewis responded with a leap of 27 feet, 2-1/2 inches to move into first place.

“It took a situation like that to make me do my best,” said Lewis, who won gold medals in the long jump in 1984, 1988 and 1992. “It brought out the best in me and I needed that.”

Tonight, Lewis could join discus legend Al Oerter, who is the only man to win track and field gold in four Olympics.

This week, Johnson will try to become the first man to win gold in the 200 and 400. His dominance in the 400 is such that after winning the event in 53 straight meets the only question left for tonight is whether he will set a world record.

“My objective is to win the race,” Johnson said after coasting to a time of 44.59 seconds in winning his semifinal heat. “I certainly hope when I look at the clock that it’s a world record.”

At the same Olympic stadium in June, Johnson set a world record in the 200 in the U.S. Olympic Trials.

In previewing the 400 final, Johnson attempted modesty in claiming “anybody that gets to the finals in the Olympics is going to be a worthy competitor.”

U.S. teammate Butch Reynolds won’t join him in the final. In his heat, Reynolds fell to the track after 70 meters with hamstring injuries to both legs.

The U.S. also won gold in the high jump on Sunday. Charles Austin, the U.S. outdoor record holder, set an Olympic record with a jump of 7 feet, 10 inches. Austin missed on three attempts for the world record at 8-0.

In another U.S. highlight, Lance Deal won silver in the hammer throw.

Sunday’s schedule began with the women’s marathon. Fatuma Roba, a policewoman from Ethiopia, won with a personal-best time of 2 hours, 26.05 minutes.

The only other finals Sunday were the men’s hammer throw, the women’s 5000-meter run and the heptathlon.

Hungary’s Balazs Kiss won the hammer throw, followed by Deal, who moved from eighth to second with his final throw of 266 feet, 2 inches.

China’s Junxia Wang won the 5000 at 14:59.88. Lynn Jennings and Amy Rudolph of the U.S. placed ninth and 10th, respectively.

The heptathlon field opened Saturday with the departure of Jackie Joyner-Kersee due to a hamstring injury. With the holder of world and Olympic records on the sideline, Syria’s Ghada Shouaa won gold with 6,780 points.