Americans were possibly cheated of three golds and flat out beaten in every other event on the worst track and field day for the United States in Pan American Games history.
While the best U.S. sprinters were cavorting in Europe, America's "B" team showed up Monday and watched Cubans and Brazilians dance gleefully to the victory stand in Havana.The United States won 26 Pan Am golds in track and field in 1987, but after 14 events so far this year it has only one - a 3,000-meter victory by Sabrina Dornhoefer.
The U.S. posted easy wins in baseball and men's and women's basketball. But in nine track and field events, the Americans came out without a single gold.
Cuba won six gold medals and Brazil three. The United States collected five silvers and four bronzes.
The U.S. team's biggest disappointment was in the most glamorous event, the men's 100 meters, where Andre Cason finished second behind Brazil's Robson da Silva's 10.32 clocking.
Twice called back to the starting blocks after dubious false starts by other runners, Cason simply couldn't keep up his strength the third time.
"My explosiveness wasn't there," said Cason, who complained that he had lost six pounds in the two days since he arrived because he couldn't adjust to the food. "It was just a bad day at the office."
He led at 20 meters on the second false start, which was charged to John Mair of Jamaica.
"If that start was valid, I would have lost," da Silva acknowledged.
A more blatant injustice ruined the chances for an American gold in the long jump as Llewellyn Starks lost because of an official's error.
Starks leaped to about 27 feet, 7 inches on his second jump, enough to give him the gold. But an official ruled that Starks' toe had touched the foul line, voiding the jump. Sweepers immediately cleared his mark while he went back to argue with the official.
After a long look at the line, the official agreed with Starks, but the mark was gone and Starks had to settle for an extra jump.
"They covered up the mark before he said, `You're right,' " said Starks, from Jonesboro, La.
Starks wound up winning a silver with a jump of 26-31/2, shy of the 27-13/4 winning jump of Jaime Jefferson of Cuba.
"I don't want it, because I deserve the gold," Starks fumed. "They know I deserve the gold. Because if I didn't deserve the gold I wouldn't have got the jump over. So they know I deserve the gold. That's why I don't want the silver. If I'd have gotten the silver legitimately, I'd accepted it with pride. I can't do that now. I'm mad."
Starks came out to the medal ceremony waving an American flag, but said he would put the silver "in a drawer somewhere or give it away."
American Chryste Gaines complained that foul play by officials thwarted her in the women's 100 meters. A false start was called at least 20 meters into the race, with Gaines way out in front.
"If we'd gone with the first one, I'd had won," said Gaines, who finished second to Cuba's Liliana Allen. "We didn't false start."
Asked if she'd ever seen so many false starts in a meet, she said, "Yes, I've run in Cuba before. In '87, we had a lot of false starts like this. They just like the Cubans to win."The most popular victory with the crowd was by another Cuban, Ana Quirot, in the 400-meter dash.
In women's basketball, the Americans reacted to the shock of defeat with no less viciousness than a swarm of killer bees, mercilessly attacking an unfortunate Argentine team that happened to get in their way.
After seeing their streak of international victories end at 42 games Sunday against Brazil, the U.S. women stung Argentina 97-40 to guarantee a spot in the medal round, where all records are wiped clean.
Brazil also moved on by beating Canada 74-66.
The men's team pulled away from a six-point halftime lead to beat Venezuela 91-66. All 12 players scored for the Americans, who received strong support from the crowd.
The U.S. baseball team opened by beating the Dominican Republic 6-1 behind Jeff Ware's six-hitter. Dan Melendez and Chris Gomez, the last two hitters in the lineup, each had two RBI.
Michelle Granger pitched a no-hitter in women's softball, leading the United States over Puerto Rico 10-0. In the U.S. team's first game on Saturday, Debbie Doom pitched a perfect game.