|
 |   |
|
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Multimedia Central Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities Work in Sports
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE |  |
Inside Olympic Sports
Posted: Friday May 26, 2000 06:25 PM
In a steamy trials marathon, Rod DeHaven grabbed the only U.S. ticket to Sydney By Tim Layden
Props to Rod DeHaven. His victory on Sunday in the U.S. Olympic Trials marathon in Pittsburgh was rich in the courage and drama that make the trials so compelling. DeHaven, a 33-year-old part-time computer programmer for a Madison, Wis., insurance company, endured ghastly heat and humidity and a tough, hilly course to win in 2:15:30. In a race that bludgeoned the country's best marathoners into submission -- "You knew, with the heat, that the course was going to eat people alive," said fourth-place finisher Scott Larson -- DeHaven ran with patience and confidence, taking the lead just past the 22-mile mark and running away from second-place finisher Peter De La Cerda. It's a shame, then, that DeHaven's feat will find a notorious place in U.S. marathoning history. Because no runner bettered the Olympic qualifying standard of 2:14, DeHaven will be the only U.S. male marathoner in Sydney. It will be the first time since 1896 that the U.S. has sent fewer than the maximum of three runners. "It's a sad day," said Dan Grimes, chairman of USA Track and Field's long-distance running committee. "Everybody feels a little depressed." Three things helped cause Sunday's disaster: With times at a premium, the tough Pittsburgh course was a poor site for the trials. However, the choice was made two years ago -- before the IAAF lowered its standard -- and Pittsburgh submitted, according to Grimes, "the only viable bid" to host the trials. Among the guarantees made by Pittsburgh were ones for housing, prize money (including $75,000 for the winner) and television coverage. "If guaranteeing three Olympic team members is to become the most important factor, then the process needs to be reconsidered," says USA Track and Field CEO Craig Masback. One answer is to hold the trials on a fast, flat course with predictable weather. This might mean eliminating prize money. Asked if he would sacrifice his $20,000 third-place check for an Olympic spot, Mark Coogan said, "In a second."
Khannouchi came excruciatingly close to getting his citizenship early enough to skip London. After more than three years of trying to gain citizenship through the efforts of two New York legislators, Khannouchi began working with Houston lawyer Harry Gee in January. Gee expedited Khannouchi's case through Section 319(b) of the Immigration and Naturalization Act, which allows for swift action when a candidate's American spouse is employed by a U.S company and posted overseas. Khannouchi's wife, Sandra, was hired in March by Elite Racing, a San Diego road race promotion firm, and assigned to Madrid. Just before the London Marathon, Gee told Khannouchi that his chances of getting citizenship in time for the trials were "80 percent." The odds evidently weren't good enough to persuade Khannouchi to pass up what turned out to be a reported $150,000 appearance fee. Less than three weeks later, Khannouchi was a citizen but too injured to run. Yet the time and Khannouchi factors are only diversions from a more substantial issue: There's nothing like embarrassment to spur action. "Maybe this is the low point for marathoning in this country," said DeHaven on Sunday. "We can only go up from here."
Keeping Up with
Jones
Rather than fleeing from pressure to win five gold medals in Sydney, Marion Jones is embracing it. In the weeks leading up to the Penn Relays, where on April 29 she anchored a U.S. team to a world record in the seldom-run 4¥200 meters, she sat for photo shoots and interviews with GQ, Newsweek and Rolling Stone. It was a typical week of talking the talk for an athlete who is widely expected to be the breakout star of the Games and has spoken of winning five Olympic events for two years now. Jones's spectacular early-season form has only added to the pressure. On April 16, showing no sign of the back injury that cut short her appearance at the world championships last August, she won the open 400 meters at the Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut, Calif., in a sensational 49.59 seconds -- the fourth-fastest time ever by a U.S. woman -- all but nailing down a spot on the U.S. 4x400-meter relay team in Australia. At Penn she was midseason-sharp in the 4x100 and 4x200 relays. Photographers and interviewers momentarily satisfied, Jones can now concentrate on her biggest test so far this year: doubling in the 100 and the long jump on Saturday at a meet in Osaka, Japan. In the long jump Jones has struggled with landings; she finished third in the 1999 worlds. That event most imperils her plan for five Olympic golds and makes Osaka a significant barometer of her readiness.
Issue date: May 15, 2000
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
