ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, August 4, 1996 TAG: 9608050146
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: ATLANTA
SOURCE: Associated Press
With Carl Lewis reduced to the role of spectator, the U.S. men's 400-meter relay team was upset by Canada on Saturday for its first outright loss in Olympic history.
Canada, with 100-meter champion Donovan Bailey running a strong anchor leg, finished in 37.69 seconds - the fastest time ever by a non-American team and the sixth-fastest ever.
The Americans won silver in 38.05. Brazil was third in 38.41.
The U.S. men's 400-meter relay team never had been outrun in the Olympics. They were disqualified in 1912, 1960 and 1988, and the U.S. boycotted the 1980 Moscow Olympics.
Tim Harden, who ran the second leg for the Americans, was outsprinted by Canada's Glenroy Gilbert. At one point, Harden fumbled with the baton.
Though Harden ran in the first two rounds of the relay, he was not expected to run in the final. But when Leroy Burrell withdrew Saturday afternoon with pain in his right Achilles' tendon, U.S. coach Erv Hunt chose Harden over Lewis as the fourth relay member for the final.
``I'm glad Carl didn't run,'' said U.S. leadoff runner Jon Drummond. ``If we had lost to Canada [with him], everybody would have blamed Carl Lewis.''
In other events, Gwen Torrence anchored the U.S. women's 400-meter relay to victory, winning her first gold in her hometown. Jan Zelezny of the Czech Republic became the first man to repeat as javelin champion since 1924, Noureddine Morceli of Algeria won the men's 1,500 and Svetlana Masterkova of Russia added the women's 1,500 title to the 800 gold she won six days earlier.
Drummond gave his team a lead of a tenth of a second over Canada. He passed to Harden, who didn't leave enough space on the baton for a comfortable pass to Mike Marsh.
Harden put both hands on the baton to adjust its position. Meanwhile, he was being run down by Gilbert, who ran a leg of 9.02 seconds compared to 9.36 for Harden. Then Harden's baton pass to Marsh was sloppy, allowing the Canadians to build their lead.
At the end of the third leg, Canada's Bruny Surin was comfortably ahead of Marsh. Surin raised his arms in triumph immediately after passing to Bailey.
``It was over,'' Bailey said.
Dennis Mitchell had no chance of catching Bailey, the 100-meter world record holder, down the homestretch.
Mitchell and Drummond insisted that the best U.S. team was on the track - but not Marsh, a friend and training partner of Lewis.
``I think the important thing is not to answer that question,'' Marsh said. ``It's not important to look back and complain. It's disappointing, but foreigners are getting a little stronger. We have to go back to the drawing board.''
Lewis cramped up and finished last in the 100 at the trials, then refused an invitation to attend a relay squad training session in North Carolina in mid-July. But he began campaigning for a spot on the heavily favored squad after winning Monday's long jump.
Running in the relay would have given Lewis a chance to break the record of nine Olympic gold medals he shares with Finnish distance runner Paavo Nurmi, Soviet gymnast Larysa Latynina and American swimmer Mark Spitz.
The start of the relay was delayed six minutes when Ghana tried to use an ineligible runner and was disqualified. Ghana's runners sat on the track and refused to move, then had to be escorted off by security guards.
Torrence, who had hoped to win three gold medals at her hometown Olympics, finally got her first as the women's 400-meter relay won in 41.95 seconds. The Bahamas got the silver in 42.14 and Jamaica got bronze in 42.24.
``For me to get on the top podium in my hometown, that's fantastic,'' Torrence said.
Torrence, the 1992 Olympic champion in the 200 and the reigning 100-meter world champion, began the summer favored in both races at the Olympics. But her legs were hurting at the U.S. trials and she failed to qualify for the 200 by a thousandth of a second. She settled for a bronze medal in the Olympic 100 behind Gail Devers and Jamaica's Merlene Ottey.
Morceli of Algeria, a three-time world champion and the world-record holder, won the men's 1,500 in 3 minutes, 35.78 seconds.
Zelezny won the javelin with a throw of 289 feet, 3 inches.
LENGTH: Medium: 87 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. 1. Donovan Bailey (left) of Canada celebrates hisby CNBteam's victory in the 400-meter relay as he crosses the finish line
ahead of Dennis Mitchell (center) of the U.S. and Andre Silva of
Brazil. color. 2. Carl Lewis (right), who didn't run, and U.S.
teammate Gwen Torrence, who anchored the gold-medal women's relay
team, discuss strategy Saturday at the Olympics.