Track And Field

One of the meets likely to be dropped from the circuit for at least a few years is Oslo's venerable Bislett Games, which have produced 62 world records, most of those in distance races. The IAAF wants all the Golden League meets to have a standardized slate of events, a problem for Oslo because its charming 80-year-old stadium—the Fenway Park of track—has a six-lane track that is not well-suited to sprints. The plan is to build a new stadium that is more acceptable to the IAAF, but in the eyes of many critics the demand for uniformity will only further damage the sport. "Why change Oslo?" asks Ray Flynn, once an elite miler and now one of track and field's top agents. "Allow the meets to play to their strengths rather than try to make them the same. This is a great sport with a lack of leadership."

Greene with Envy
Montgomery Still Second Best

Tim Montgomery may be the heir apparent to world and Olympic 100-meter champ Maurice Greene, but he apparently erred this spring when he started woofing about breaking Greene's world record. "I'm going after Maurice Greene's 9.79," insisted Montgomery, second to Greene at the 2001 worlds. "I'm getting ready to do something that no human has ever done before."

Though Greene has not been at his best in the season's first half (losing twice, to Britain's Dwain Chambers), Montgomery has yet to beat him in four races this summer, and frazzled confidence has replaced his braggadocio. After Greene defeated him at the U.S. nationals last month, Montgomery confessed, "I got maybe one hour of sleep last night. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Maurice looking back at me."

Says Jon Drummond, one of Greene's training partners, " Montgomery thinks too much about Mo instead of concentrating on his race. As long as he does that, he's never gonna beat Mo. Mo doesn't care what Tim does. That's why he keeps winning and Tim doesn't."