THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, June 18, 1996 TAG: 9606180427
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
DATELINE: ATLANTA LENGTH: 71 lines
As the media's midnight bus ride was about to begin, there came a vision in orange - a dark man in a blazing sweat suit, an equipment bag over his shoulder.
It was Gulliver among the little people, and they stared as Lawrence Johnson slipped into a window seat. Because America's best pole vaulter had to get home, too.
Earlier, Chesapeake's Johnson had become an Olympian for the first time. Yet a humble hotel shuttle was his first ride into a future that should glitter, one way or the other.
His sport only resurfaces in the public eye every four years, but it is no reach to say that this kid, 22 last month, is about to become the next big thing in American sports and sports marketing.
So many pieces of national celebrity are already in place:
Johnson is known as LoJo, a play on Florence Griffith-Joyner's Madison Avenue moniker, at the University of Tennessee and on the track circuit. Perfect.
He is a demographer's dream - young and handsome with a showman's flair; polite and well-spoken; cocky and colorful without being boorish. And, as is regularly noted, the first African-American vaulter to make a U.S. Olympic team.
He is poised to dress up an event that has stagnated in America. The last U.S. Olympic gold medalist in the pole vault was Bob Seagren in 1968 as world record-holder Sergey Bubka, other former Soviets and South African Okkert Brits have dominated.
Further enriching the payoff, Johnson is about to join such track elite as Michael Johnson, Gwen Torrence, Butch Reynolds and Dan O'Brien in the stable of agent Brad Hunt. Which means a big Nike or Reebok deal isn't far behind.
``Americans are just waiting for a 20-foot (vaulter),'' O'Brien said of Johnson. ``He'd be bigger than Carl Lewis. Just imagine the pole final, 20 feet, he and Bubka the last two guys competing. That's Wheaties stuff, right?''
Johnson has cereal box written all over him. And TV commercials, Leno appearances and magazine covers. It's all out there for him, and he seems to have the personality and sense of humor to ride the publicity rocket in style.
He keeps his head, for one thing. Johnson's work ethic is formidable, and he is meticulous at making and meeting goals. He scheduled his moment at these track and field trials long ago, which is why he was proud but matter-of-fact over becoming an Olympian.
``We've been planning all along to make the team, so it's really no surprise,'' Johnson said. ``I don't think I've shown all I can do yet. My best vaults have been in practice.''
How good?
``That's something that's going to have to remain between me and my coach,'' Johnson said with a cackle.
That's about all that's going to remain secret. The national media have launched their first probes into Johnson's life story. NBC has ``Today Show'' footage ready to roll. He's big. He's only going to get bigger.
Sunday at midnight, though, Johnson was just another Olympian looking for a lift. It was funny. It was cute. It was strange and ironic - if not a slap to the people who are running these trials. Would Michael Johnson get stuck riding the press bus?
Anyway, when he unloaded and was about to venture two downtown blocks to the Ritz, I offered a bold prediction.
``Man, I gotta believe your bus days are almost over.''
Johnson, as he does so easily, laughed again.
``You have a hunch, huh?''
Yeah, LoJo. Just a hunch. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
ASSOCIATE PRESS
Olympic pole vaulter Lawrence Johnson is poised to become a
marketing gold mine. And if he clears 20 feet? ``He'd be bigger than
Carl Lewis,'' says decathlete Dan O'Brien. by CNB