Boldon Believes His Time Will Come Dazzling Sprint Victory May Make Runner A Challenger For Bailey-Johnson Winner

Three weeks before the ballyhooed showdown in Toronto to crown the “world’s fastest man,” Ato Boldon set himself up as the top challenger to the winner of that match race.

Boldon ran the 100 meters in 9.89 seconds Saturday at the Modesto Relays, becoming just the sixth man in history to go faster than 9.90 seconds. His time was five-hundredths of a second off the world record.

But Boldon will be merely a spectator when Olympic 100 champion Donovan Bailey meets Olympic 200 and 400 champion Michael Johnson in the June 1 race in Toronto that organizers boast will determine the fastest human.

And that’s fine with Boldon, who won bronze medals in the 100 and 200 at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and claims Bailey and Johnson earned the right to be in the showdown, which Boldon hopes will help promote the sport.

“I’ve said from the beginning that I realize fully why Donovan and Michael need to run for this title,” Boldon said. “I’d go there just to see them. I’d pay for a ticket, so the gate gets better.”

Once the “world’s fastest man” is crowned, Boldon will have a clear target. And Boldon’s mentor, UCLA track coach John Smith, thinks the 9.89 in Modesto will make the challenge much more viable.

“What it does, it says to everyone, ‘Oh, there’s someone lurking on the outside. There’s someone sitting on the outside to take on the winner of that race,”’ Smith said. “They didn’t invite us, so we’ll wait our turn.”

Boldon, a native of Trinidad who went to high school in San Jose, Calif., and attended UCLA, made his first big impact as a sprinter by winning bronze in the 100 at the 1995 world championships.

Boldon’s two-medal performance at the Atlanta Games was overshadowed by Bailey’s world record of 9.84 in the 100 and by Johnson becoming the first man to win the 200 and 400 in an Olympics. Johnson also smashed the world record with a stunning 19.32 in the 200.

Boldon easily won the 100 in Modesto, a fast track on which a steady tailwind traditionally helps sprinters. The wind during Boldon’s race was light enough to make the 9.89 a legal time.

The time was one-hundredth of a second better than Boldon’s previous best, which he set while winning the bronze medal in Atlanta.

Boldon and Smith think the big news this summer could come in the 100, and believe Boldon is the man ready to break Bailey’s record. Boldon, who ran his first 100 of the season on Saturday, thinks he can go under 9.80.

Boldon plans to run against Johnson in the 200 at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Ore., on May 25. He probably will not run another 100 in competition until this summer during the European Grand Prix circuit.