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Second chance Jacobs hoping to shine at Millrose Games
NEW YORK (AP) -- The 2000 Olympics were to be Regina Jacobs' crowning glory. But her chance to compete was derailed by a respiratory ailment and asthma problems, and now Jacobs hopes to show that she still is among the best distance runners in the world. "I want to prove I would have won the gold medal [at 1,500 meters]," Jacobs said Monday. "I hope to come back stronger than ever." Jacobs will get a chance to show her fitness Friday night in the star-studded women's mile at the Millrose Games at Madison Square Garden. Among her seven rivals will be Marla Runyan, the legally blind runner who finished eighth in the 1,500 at Sydney; two-time Olympian Amy Rudolph, the fourth-fastest American miler indoors; and Olympians Haseg Sidehil, Sinead Delahunty and Julie Henner. The 37-year-old Jacobs is the two-time defending Millrose champion. She also is a four-time Olympian, the World Outdoor Championship 1,500 silver medalist in 1997 and 1999, the 1995 World Indoor Championship 1,500 gold medalist, the 1999 World Indoor 3,000 bronze medalist, and an eight-time U.S. Outdoor 1,500 champion. However, she never had a year like 2000 ... until she had to withdraw from the Olympics. "To have it all fall apart was incredibly disappointing," Jacobs said. "I had prepared for it with a lot of passion and a lot of love. I had done it methodically each year. It was like nurturing a dream." Until her illness, Jacobs had been dominating. Indoors, she was unbeaten and set an American record for 1,000 meters of 2 minutes, 35.29 seconds. Outdoors, she won the Pontiac Grand Prix Invitational 1,500 at 4:11.24, won the Adidas Oregon Track Classic 3,000 at 8:42.55, was second at the Prefontaine Classic 800 with a career-best 1:58:08, and punctuated her season by winning both the U.S. Olympic trials 1,500 with a career-best 4:01.01 and the 5,000 with an American record 14:45.35. Jacobs withdrew from the Olympic 5,000 to concentrate on the 1,500 and was heading into the games as one of the favorites. In the previous three Olympic 1,500s, she had failed to make the final in 1988 and 1992 and finished 10th in 1996. This, she hoped, would be her Olympic breakthrough. In August, however, she experienced breathing difficulties during a meet at Zurich, Switzerland, and returned home to Oakland, Calif. "I was feeling very fatigued and sluggish," she said. After a while, her condition appeared to be improving, until she had a relapse and couldn't even complete a workout. Jacobs had hoped to get the condition under control before the games but ran out of time. In agreement with her husband and coach, Tom Craig, Jacobs withdrew for fear of further injury. "I didn't have my health," she said. "I couldn't breathe and my eyes were burning." Jacobs said the asthma apparently is hereditary, since her father and grandmother also were plagued by it. "It's something I had as a youngster, but I was never treated for it," she said. Jacobs was at home when little-known Nouria Merah-Benida of Algeria won the Olympic 1,500 in a slow 4:05.10, and "when I read about the race, I had tears in my eyes," she said. "I had missed an opportunity to win the gold." Now, Jacobs is ready to formally begin her comeback. She competed in a meet at the University of California this year, but ran only 500 meters of a 1,500, 600 of an 800, and anchored a 1,600 relay. "I'm probably not as fast as last year - that was perfect," she said. "I'm getting older. But I feel in very good shape. My speed is great, my endurance is very good." If only the respiratory illness and asthma don't flare up again.
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