THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 28, 1996 TAG: 9607280226
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C19 EDITION: FINAL
SERIES: Olympics '96 from Atlanta
SOURCE: Tom Robinson
From Atlanta
LENGTH: 75 lines
The stadium announcer asks for quiet, but he doesn't have to. When eight runners step into the blocks for a 100-meter Olympic final, quiet comes naturally.
Saturday night, silence draped Olympic Stadium five times - once for the women, four others for the men because of three false starts. Then the noise that quickly followed each pop of the starter's pistol resounded in and out of Olympic Stadium well after the races.
American Gail Devers edged Jamaica's Merlene Ottey, 36, in a photo finish in 10.94 seconds for the women's gold medal, though Ottey did not go down lightly. She officially protested the reading of the picture, and thus Devers' defense of her Olympic title, saying that her torso beat the lean of Devers' braided hair to the finish line.
Moments later, another 36-year-old, England's Linford Christie, was the one figuratively jumping up and down in protest. Also chasing an Olympic repeat, Christie was detected beating the gun on the first start and then the third.
His second infraction doomed him to the DQ file - racers are disqualified on their second false start - and then Christie's lingering refusal to leave the blocks clearly irritated the rest of the field.
``Grossly immature,'' said American Michael Marsh, who was fifth beside fourth-place American Dennis Mitchell. ``Linford false-started twice. If he had a protest, that's not the appropriate way to go about it.''
Finally forced into the tunnel beside the starting line, Christie's awkward departure cleared the way for Canada's Donovan Bailey to claim the gold medal and a world record of 9.84.
Bailey's Jamaican birth and Canadian citizenship links him forever with disgraced '88 gold medalist Ben Johnson - who forfeited his medal on a positive steroid test.
Now that Bailey's mark has removed Leroy Burrell and his two-year-old record of 9.85 from the books, it's time to see if Canada warms to the 28-year-old, who endures indifference in his country.
``I'm not trying to undo what Ben did in Seoul,'' said Bailey, who fired down the stretch from a poor start to overtake Namibia's Frankie Fredericks (9.89) and Ato Boldon (9.90) of Trinidad and Tabago.
``I mean, my name's Donovan Bailey. I think that no matter what happens in history, because it was such a huge story, it's always going to come up. No matter what we do, no matter what goes on, it's always going to come up to me as long as I'm running because I'm Canadian and Jamaican-born.''
He is also as intent as they come when it's time to race. Somebody asked him about Christie's disqualification. Bailey, with a straight face, replied: ``What? Did Linford false-start twice?''
If Bailey wasn't bothered by Christie's on-track antics, the 22-year-old Boldon admitted he was, and blamed his inexperience. Later, though, Christie gave the stiff upper lip treatment to his stunning failure, which marked his farewell from international 100-meter sprinting.
``I made a protest, obviously, but what can you say?'' Christie said. ``That's how it goes.''
While Christie squandered his chance to do what only Carl Lewis has done among the men - win back-to-back Olympic 100-meters - Devers made good on her historic bid.
Before Saturday, Wyomia Tyus in 1964 and 1968 was the only woman to do it. Devers ran at the front of the pack from the start and edged the closing Ottey and Atlanta's Gwen Torrence, who was third in 10.96.
Fourth place in 11.00 went to Chandra Sturrup of the Bahamas and Norfolk State. Sturrup, who graduated last spring, had the fastest time in the world at one point this year. Saturday, though, she was no match for Devers, who again fought off Torrence in a gripping renewal of their American rivalry.
``When people see Gwen and me on the track, they know they're going to see a show,'' Devers said. ``People say it's a rivalry, but to me rivalry is something negative. There's nothing negative about it.''
Said Torrence: ``I don't really even know Gail. I only see her when we're running, and I'm not going to dislike someone because of track. It's not that important to me. When you see us for 10 seconds we're there for work. But when it's over, it is over.'' by CNB