With A Lot Of Help From Their Friends

The Wanamaker Mile was supposed to belong to Steve Scott, who won at the Sunkist the week before and has been dominant in the event this indoor season. But it was Coghlan who found his old self. He had won three of the last four Millrose miles, but he came to the 1981 season about 10 pounds overweight. Just a month ago, in Johnson City, Tenn., Scott and Flynn beat him by nearly five seconds. "I remember down in Tennessee they all ragged me about how I was getting fat," Coghlan said. "I said, 'You wait. I'll be there at Millrose.' " He was almost there at the Sunkist, where Scott beat him by only .6 second.

As they say about race horses, Coghlan was returning to form. Craig Masback went to the front, as Flynn had hoped he would, and made the pace almost to the final quarter. Then Flynn sprinted past him, opening up a five-yard lead, with Coghlan and Scott in pursuit. With two laps to go, Flynn sensed victory. "I thought I had everybody broken," he said. "With two to go they weren't coming. One and a half to go, they still weren't there. Before these indoor meets, I was sort of a no-name. Now, I thought, 'This must be it!' " In the final lap, though, Coghlan set out for Flynn. Down the back side, Coghlan came to him in a full sprint. "I didn't expect him to go by at all. I expected Scott," said Flynn. He yielded at once, and Coghlan sailed home alone. Scott, coming up fiat, finished fourth. (The next night in Louisville he would catch fire again, setting a world indoor mark of 4:58.6 for 2,000 meters.)

"The zip was back," an ecstatic Coghlan said. "There was something about coming here that made a difference."

Nyambui sensed it, too. He could hear the thunder of the crowd as he overtook Salazar, and it urged him on. At the end of the night he talked about going after Henry Rono's world outdoor record of 13:08.4 in the 5,000. He was fairly striding about the arena, full of himself and looking for someone to whip. Seeing Coghlan at the edge of the track, Nyambui approached him, wound up one arm like a windmill and slapped Coghlan's outstretched hand.

"Next, I race you!" cried Nyambui.

"Three miles," said Coghlan.

"No, no! Mile!"