ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, August 1, 1996 TAG: 9608010079
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: ATLANTA
SOURCE: Associated Press
Michael Johnson and Gail Devers both wore gold accessories Wednesday night. Only one will have a chance to wear the real thing today.
Johnson, wearing gold shoes made just for the Atlanta Games, moved within two races of his historic Olympic double by advancing to the semifinals of the 200-meter sprint.
But Devers and her two-inch gold-painted fingernails fell short of completing her own double triumph.
Devers, the 100-meter winner, finished fourth in the 100-meter hurdles. No woman has won both races in 48 years.
``I came in here for two golds, or three golds for that matter,'' said Devers, who will run in the women's 400-meter relay this weekend. ``The fact that I already have a gold doesn't make it any better.''
Devers came excruciatingly close to pulling off the double in the 1992 Olympics, winning the 100 and leading the hurdles until she tripped over the final barrier and scrambled across the finish line in fifth place.
This time, she wasn't even close. Ludmila Engquist of Sweden won the gold medal in 12.58 seconds, Brigita Bukovec of Slovenia won the silver and Patricia Girard-Leno of France nipped Devers - who brushed the 10th hurdle - at the finish line for the bronze.
``My start was terrible. I never found my speed, I never got into the rhythm of my mechanics. Obviously, it was not to be,'' Devers said. ``But I finished fourth, better than I did in Barcelona, and I finished on my feet.''
Also Wednesday, Dan O'Brien took the lead at the halfway point of the decathlon, and an injury forced the great pole vaulter Sergei Bubka to withdraw before attempting a single vault.
``For me it is a great tragedy,'' said Bubka, a Ukrainian who has set 35 world records - 18 indoors and 17 outdoors. ``It was incredible pain, pain not only in my injury but in my heart.''
The greatest pole vaulter in history left his second straight Olympics in disappointment. Bubka, the world-record holder and five-time world champion, withdrew with a right Achilles tendon injury.
In the second round of the men's 200, Johnson took a big lead coming off the turn, then began coasting with 80 meters remaining and won in 20.37. Johnson set a world record of 19.66 on the Olympic Stadium track in June to win the U.S. Olympic trials.
He looked so impressive that the man with the fastest qualifying time of the day, 100-meter bronze medalist Ato Boldon of Trinidad, said Johnson had the gold all but locked up.
``He's vulnerable in the 200 if he loses a shoe,'' Boldon said with a laugh after running a 20.25. ``If Michael runs the race he's supposed to run, he'll win.'
Johnson, who won the 400 on Monday, is trying to become the first man to win the Olympic 200 and 400. The 200 final is tonight.
Joining Johnson in today's semifinals were defending Olympic champion Mike Marsh and 1992 silver medalist Frankie Fredericks of Namibia, who broke Johnson's 21-race winning streak in the 200 in early July.
Another bid for an Olympic double ended when Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia dropped out before the start of the first round of the men's 5,000 meters with sore feet. Gebrselassie, who won the 10,000 on Monday, had been a favorite in the 5,000.
After five events in the decathlon, O'Brien led with 4,592 points and Germany's Frank Busemann was second with 4,468. American Chris Huffins was fourth with 4,448.
In the women's 400 hurdles, Jamaican Deon Hemmings upset two Americans - world-record holder Kim Batten and Tonja Buford-Bailey.
Norway's Vebjoern Rodal was a surprise winner in the men's 800, finishing in an Olympic record of 1 minute, 42.58 seconds. Inessa Kravets of Ukraine won the women's triple jump and Germany's Lars Riedel won the men's discus.
LENGTH: Medium: 76 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Sprinters in a men's 200-meter heat are reflected inby CNBthe steeplechase water jump Wednesday at the Olympic Stadium.|