THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, April 6, 1996 TAG: 9604060411
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Tom Robinson
LENGTH: Medium: 80 lines
Next comes Atlanta. And then in Lawrence Johnson's master plan, Tokyo, Helsinki, Moscow and other international cities where track and field champions are not only recognized but revered.
Today comes first, though, and it is special. Because today comes Williamsburg, the most important place to be.
Johnson could be in Tempe, Ariz., instead with his University of Tennessee teammates. But with his college career winding down, and his next life as a global pole-vaulting professional taking shape, Johnson noticed a void.
Johnson, the NCAA's indoor and outdoor record holder and reigning champion, has stuck a pole into Virginia ground just once - Fairfax, two years ago - since leaving Great Bridge High School in 1992.
This year's Colonial Relays at William and Mary gave Johnson a final chance to do something about that. He received special permission to skip Tempe and fly solo to Hampton Roads for a farewell appearance of sorts.
You'd better believe bigger and better things are on Johnson's plate - Olympics, national records, Bubka-like world acclaim. But before all that, Johnson said the pull to do it before the home folks, to thank the Lake Taylor and Great Bridge people who have influenced his life, was too great to ignore.
``I sort of wanted to do something for the people at home,'' said Johnson, who attended Lake Taylor and Great Bridge two years apiece. ``This is a way to give something back, something I'm kind of doing to remember my roots, if you will.''
There will be no American record falling today, especially in light of William and Mary's short runway. But for where Johnson is in his gradual, meticulous training, scripted for a roaring crescendo at the Atlanta Olympics, he hopes for a jump worthy of his reputation.
``I wasn't really coming to this meet to try to set a record or anything,'' said Johnson, whose career best is 19 feet, 1 1/2 inches, compared to American record-holder Scott Huffman's 19-7. ``It's just to revisit the old before I get on with the new.''
And such new business; defense of his Southeastern Conference and NCAA titles in May, then Johnson's first Olympic Trials in June, from which three vaulters will make the U.S. team.
And such grand standards; ``I want to have a nice cushion between me and all the other American competitors'' by the Trials, said Johnson. ``I pretty much know what it's going to take to win the Trials and the gold medal at the Olympics. That's what my training's been geared for all year.''
His crystal ball says 19-2 should take the Trials, but Olympic gold will go off at 19-10. ``Maybe I'm overshooting it a little bit,'' Johnson said, ``but I want to go in prepared to jump 19-2 and higher.''
Regardless, he'll enter Olympic season as a pup of 21, many years younger than the country's top vaulters. A pup with a mended paw, no less.
Johnson had surgery to reattach two tendons in his left foot in August, 1994. He won his conference and NCAA titles last spring anyway, despite being far from physically and mentally mended.
Johnson says his confidence is back, though. And those grapevine whispers he hears about how he'll never be the same as before the injury swim through his brain, serving motivational purposes. As if Johnson needs that kind of help.
This is a man who got sufficiently psyched as a freshman to win the SEC's decathlon title with the sixth-best point total, 7,576, in school history. A man to whom you say ``Olympics'' and he says ``stepping stone.''
``I have higher goals than just winning an Olympic gold medal,'' Johnson said. ``I dream to be the first man over 21 feet and establishing my own era in the pole vault.
``The pole vault is a very technical event. The longer you're in it the better you're going to become. I feel like I have a whole lot to look forward to. My technique is far from perfect. There's a whole lot of potential there, even though I'm doing as many things wrong as I am now.''
Oh well. Indulge his ``lousy'' technique, if you must. But know that, with his visit to Williamsburg, Johnson has done something just right. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
KEYWORDS: PROFILE by CNB