ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, July 27, 1996 TAG: 9607290049
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: ATLANTA
SOURCE: Associated Press
Michael Johnson's gold shoes were a bit overstated for a guy who looked as though he was out for a weekend jog. Randy Barnes, on the other hand, can wear his gold around his neck.
Barnes won the shot put on his final throw Friday night, moving up from sixth place to leave stunned American teammate John Godina with the silver medal.
Johnson nonchalantly passed his first test in the men's 400-meter run - the opening step in his quest for an unprecedented Olympic double triumph in the 200 and 400.
The man who has won 54 consecutive finals in the 400, a streak that stretches to Feb.24, 1989, took a comfortable lead coming off the final turn. With 50 meters left, he glanced twice to his right. With 20 meters to go, he slowed to a trot.
At the finish he was second, letting a Sri Lankan runner pass him. He grinned after crossing the finish line in a mediocre 45.80 seconds.
``There's no sense in doing anything but to get to the next round,'' Johnson said. `` ... I'm trying to get to the final as easily as possible.''
Godina, who had been seeking his own double in the shot put and discus, took the lead in the fifth round of the shot with a toss of 68 feet, 21/2 inches. He thrust his right arm in the air in triumph.
But Barnes, who lost the 1988 Olympic title to East Germany's Ulf Timmermann on the final throw and missed the 1992 Olympics while serving a drug suspension, unleashed a toss of 70-111/4 on his last attempt.
Barnes, whose previous best throw in the competition was 66-8, leaped into the air and spread his arms wide in excitement. Godina, standing nearby, lowered his eyes to the ground.
``I knew he would do what he did,'' Godina said. ``I knew it was gone.''
Barnes, who at 319 pounds outweighs Godina by 59, empathized with his teammate's disappointment. ``I know what John's going through exactly,'' he said.
``It's been a long road back,'' said Barnes, who holds the world record of 75-101/4. ``It's definitely a pinnacle. It basically solidifies my career.''
There were a couple of spectacular runs in the men's 100 on the opening day of track and field. Gail Devers and Gwen Torrence advanced to the women's 100 semifinals, but Torrence, who was hampered by a sore left quadriceps at the U.S. trials in June, grimaced and grabbed her right thigh after each heat.
``Medically, I feel as good as I did at the trials, about the same as the trials,'' Torrence, 31, said after her race. ``It gets harder and harder as I get older and older.''
The Olympics ended quickly for Mary Slaney this time. Slaney, perhaps America's greatest female distance runner but never an Olympic medalist, was seventh in her 5,000 heat in 15 minutes, 41.30 seconds and failed to advance to Sunday's final.
The day's fastest 100 time was 9.93 seconds by Frankie Fredericks of Namibia, who slowed in the final 12 meters and missed Carl Lewis' Olympic record by a hundredth of a second. Ato Boldon of Trinidad ran a 9.95.
Americans Dennis Mitchell, Mike Marsh and Jon Drummond joined Fredericks and Boldon in Saturday's semifinals. So did reigning Olympic champ Linford Christie and world champion Donovan Bailey.
Boldon promised Leroy Burrell's world record of 9.85 seconds will be broken in the final tonight.
``I guarantee, 100 percent, there'll be a world record in the 100 meters tomorrow,'' said Boldon, who won an NCAA title for UCLA in the spring.
Johnson, who is favored to become the first man to win the Olympic 200 and 400, got off to a decent start and led the field coming off the final turn.
Though he maintained his upright running style until the end, the piston-like efficiency of his arms and legs slowed nearly to a halt at the end of the race, when Sugath Thilakaratne of Sri Lanka edged him to win in 45.79.
``I knew I was in the top two or three and I wasn't concerned about the others. I had enough to kick back into another gear if they came for me,'' Johnson said.
Johnson, who calls himself ``the story'' of the Olympics, wore gaudy gold shoes, a change from the purple ones he sported at the trials. ``I felt like gold was a good color,'' he said.
Also advancing easily to today's second round were Americans Butch Reynolds, who holds the world record of 43.29, and Alvin Harrison. The United States has a good chance of sweeping the medals in the 400; the semifinals are Monday and the final is Tuesday.
There were no big surprises in the two preliminary rounds of the women's 100. All three Americans advanced - defending Olympic champion Devers, world champion Torrence and NCAA champion D'Andre Hill.
Devers was the only woman to go under 11 seconds, running 10.92 in the first round and 10.94 in the second round.
Jefferson Perez earned Ecuador's first Olympic medal by winning the men's 20-kilometer walk, the opening track zand field event.
LENGTH: Medium: 96 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP American runner Mary Slaney reacts after failing toby CNBadvance to the 5,000-meter final. color.