Lewis Will Make Last Dash At Trials
Carl Lewis is calm as he approaches the event that four years ago seemed to signal the end of his glorious Olympic sprinting career.
Seventeen days shy of his 35th birthday, Lewis wants to prove he’s still the fastest man in the world by winning the 100 meters at the Atlanta Olympics. To do that he first must qualify in the U.S. trials that begin today. That’s something he couldn’t manage in 1992.
Lewis will be trying to make his fifth Olympic team, something no American male track and field performer has accomplished. He made the 1980 team that boycotted the Moscow Olympics, and won the 100 in 1984 and 1988.
Then came the 1992 Olympic trials in New Orleans. His strength sapped by a virus, he failed to place in the top three in the 100 or 200 and could not qualify for the Olympics in those events.
He made the U.S. squad as a long jumper, and won that event along with a relay title in Barcelona to give him eight gold medals overall. The last few years have been difficult, as the next generation of sprinters tries to push Lewis aside. After showing flashes of his old speed this spring, though, he’s again a top contender in the 100 and 200 - as well as the long jump.
Among his top opponents will be world-record holder Leroy Burrell, 1992 Olympic bronze medalist Dennis Mitchell, 1992 Olympic 200-meter champion Mike Marsh, and the brash Jon Drummond, the top-ranked American last year.
When the male sprinters compete in the first two rounds of the 100 meters this evening, Jackie Joyner-Kersee already should be more than halfway toward a spot on her fourth and final Olympic team.
Joyner-Kersee, who has won the past two Olympic heptathlons, is again the favorite this summer. Despite nagging injuries the past two years, she is clearly the best American in the event.
The first four events of the heptathlon are today, with the remaining three on Saturday.
Dan O’Brien of Moscow, Idaho, begins competition next Friday.
xxxx HARRIS TESTS POSITIVE Hurdler Danny Harris, his Olympic hopes dashed by cocaine use once before, is seeing it happen again. Harris admitted Thursday he tested positive for cocaine after winning a race last month and said he’ll skip the Olympic trials. The 1984 Olympic silver medalist in the 400-meter hurdles, Harris missed the 1992 Games while serving a two-year suspension for cocaine use.