ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, July 28, 1996 TAG: 9607300052
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: ATLANTA
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK STAFF WRITER
The ``world's fastest human'' isn't just a title now. It was history Saturday night.
Donovan Bailey, a United States-trained native of Jamaica running for Canada, established a world record in the 100-meter dash on the fast track at packed Olympic Stadium.
On an Atlanta Games day that began with a bombing that brought death and injury, the glamour event of the Olympics for 100 years had a stunning development even before Bailey ran into the record books.
The 100 final began with three false starts, the first and third by defending Olympic champion Linford Christie of Great Britain. That disqualified the 36-year-old grandfather, who had followed a silver medal at the Seoul Games of 1988 with gold in Barcelona.
``I smile now,'' Christie said on the track afterward. ``Inside, I hurt.''
With Christie shirtless in disgust and pacing in a runway at trackside, Bailey bolted to the lead and won in 9.84 seconds, nipping the world record of 9.85 set by Leroy Burrell of the United States in July 1994 in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Bailey's victory reminded many in the capacity crowd of more than 80,000 of another Jamaican-turned-Canadian - Ben Johnson, who won the 100 in Seoul, but left those Games in disgrace and without a medal after testing positive for steroids.
There is no suggestion Bailey's mark isn't legitimate, however.
``I'm not trying to do what Ben did or undo what Ben did,'' Bailey said after his first Olympic appearance. ``No matter what happens, that will be there in history, and no matter what happens in our sport, it will always come up.
``It will always come up to me, because I'm Canadian, and I'm Jamaican. I understand that. Whatever I do, what Ben did will be there.''
Bailey, whose personal coach is the University of Texas' Dan Pfaff, said he ``wasn't thinking world record. Any time I think times, I always screw up.
``What the big thing was, was Dan kept warning me to hold my hip. Just for me to relax made a difference. I just wanted to relax, because lately, my starts hadn't been all that good.''
All three medal winners on this night were faster than the former Olympic record, Carl Lewis' 9.92 eight years ago in Seoul.
Frankie Fredericks of Namibia, a former Brigham Young University star, got the silver in 9.88, with Ato Boldon of Trinidad and Tobago third in 9.90. Boldon's 9.93 in one semifinal heat was the fastest in a preliminary in Olympic history, too.
Boldon had the false start sandwiched by the two belonging to Christie. It took a hamstring-searing 10 minutes to get the 100 out of the blocks cleanly, but less than 10 seconds to run it.
Minutes earlier, Gail Devers of the United States defended her Olympic gold title, winning the women's 100 meters in 10.94 - by the narrowest of margins, one-hundredth of a second.
Devers, with her trademark long fingernails, climbed to a track and field pinnacle reached by only one other female Olympian. Devers joined U.S. great Wyomia Tyus as the only women to win back-to-back 100s in the Games. Tyus did it in 1964 in Tokyo and '68 in Mexico City.
Devers and Merlene Ottey of Jamaica crossed the finish line almost simultaneously, and they and the rest of the field stood in the track's turn waiting for the official announcement of the gold medalist.
The in-house closed-circuit telecast showed Devers' name with ``gold medal'' beneath it on the screen. But it took about 10 times Devers' winning time for the official decision to come.
American Gwen Torrence took the bronze in 10.96, and Devers again outshone the long Ottey-Torrence rivalry.
All three runners posted slower times than they had at the Barcelona Games, however, where Torrence and Ottey didn't medal (fourth and fifth, respectively) in the Games four years ago.
``The wait [after the race] felt like a flashback to 1992,'' Devers said. ``I just waited and hoped. I didn't have the best start today, I had no idea where I was, or where anyone else was. I just ran.''
Devers not only won gold, but her boyfriend, triple-jumper Kenny Harrison, won one as well. He set an Olympic and American record of 59 feet, 41/4 inches, beating world-record holder Jonathan Edwards of Britain.
Harrison's leap was the second-farthest legal jump ever, behind Edwards' world record of 60-1/4. Harrison returned to the pit and scooped up a bag of sand afterward. Yoelbi Quesada of Cuba won the bronze.
In the womensemifinals earlier in the evening, Devers posted the third-best time, 11.0 seconds, behind Ottey's 10.93 and Torrance's 10.97.
Bailey, 28, burst into the world picture in 1994 when he improved his personal-best time from 10.36 to 10.03. His ascent to the top was completed last year when he won the 100-meter title at the world championships in Gothenburg, Sweden.
The transplanted Jamaican - he moved to Canada with his family at age 13 - ran the world's fastest time of 1995 in win the Canadian title. He also set the world indoor record for 50 meters on Feb.9 in Reno, Nev., with a 5.56-second clocking.
Bailey said he really didn't get serious about track until he went to Louisiana State and met Pfaff in 1993. Pfaff since has moved to Texas, where Bailey has followed for training purposes.
As at last year's world championships, the United States was shut out of the medals in the world's fastest race. Dennis Mitchell and Michael Marsh placed fourth and fifth, respectively, on Saturday night.
LENGTH: Long : 110 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP 1. Canada's Donovan Bailey (front) reacts afterby CNBbeating Namibia's Frankie Fredericks to set a world record Saturday
in the men's 100.
2. U.S. sprinter Gail Devers (right) leans at the tape to edge
Merlene Ottey of Jamaica by one-hundredth of a second and win the
women's 100-meter dash Saturday night. Gwen Torrence of the United
States was third. color.