World champions Carl Lewis and Michael Johnson are the centers of controversy surrounding the U.S. men's Olympic track and field relay teams.
Head coach Mel Rosen tried to soften the furor over the 400-meter and 1,600-meter relay teams by insisting that neither team had yet "been solidified."Rosen said Sunday that the coaching staff would decide by Aug. 5, two days prior to the first-round heats in both events at the Barcelona Games, who would run in all the rounds, including the finals.
Neither Lewis nor Johnson finished in the top four at the relay qualifying events during last month's U.S. trials at New Orleans.
Lewis, the world record-holder, two-time Olympic gold medalist and two-time world champion at 100 meters, finished sixth. Johnson, ranked No. 1 in the world each of the past two years in the 200 and 400 and the 1991 world champion in the 200, won the shorter race at the trials, while skipping the 400.
In Lewis' case, he qualified for an alternate spot on the relay. In Johnson's case, he is eligible to run the relay, just like any other member of the U.S. team, because of a rule passed last year.
That rule was adopted after the U.S. team was upset by Britain in the 1,600-meter relay at the World Championships in Tokyo as Kriss Akabusi outkicked 400 world champion Antonio Pettigrew on the anchor leg. Many observers felt that if Johnson had run the anchor instead of Pettigrew, the U.S. would have won.
Johnson was ineligible for the relay because he did not run the 400 in the qualifying meet.
Now that he's eligible, he reportedly has been told he will anchor the relay at Barcelona. Rosen denied it.
"The decision has not been made," he said at the team's pre-Olympic training site. "There are no secrets. We're not trying to fool anybody."
Possibly fooled was Andrew Valmon.
Valmon, the fourth-place finisher in the 400 at the trials, behind Danny Everett, Steve Lewis and Quincy Watts, said that upon arriving in camp Saturday night, he was told by other athletes that the decision already was made.
"If so, I would not have come here (for practice)," Valmon said. "I was told that Mel (Rosen) had told Michael already. Every indication is that he's going to take Michael."
Valmon also was bypassed for the relay final in 1988, after finishing fifth at the trials. At that time, Valmon was told that if he showed better fitness prior to the Games than Kevin Robinzine, the fourth-place finisher at the trials, he would run the final.
He did show stronger form, but "the decision was made on the practice field before we went into the stadium for the final," Valmon said. "They made the decision to go with the first four after Lee McNeill dropped the stick in the 400 relay."
Actually, McNeill, the eighth-place finisher in the 100 at the trials, ran out of his zone after taking the handoff for the anchor leg in the first round of the 400 relay, and the U.S. team was disqualified.
He was used by relay coach Russ Rogers despite protestations from Lewis that the first four finishers in the 100 at the trials should run all rounds of the relay.
This time, after his relatively poor showing in the 100 at the trials, Lewis said he would give up his alternate's spot on the relay team. A short time later, his coach, Tom Tellez, told Rosen that Lewis "would be available if needed."
Lewis' return gave the 400 relay team four members of the Santa Monica Track Club. The others are Mark Witherspoon, Leroy Burrell and Mike Marsh, the 2-3-4 finishers, respectively, at the trials, behind Dennis Mitchell.
The Santa Monica group was in camp briefly before leaving for a meet at Nice, France, July 15. The foursome was supposed to run a relay there, but withdrew at the last minute because of what Rosen called "many difficulties, such as plane connections . . . lost baggage . . . (unavability of) traveling uniforms . . . only one day of practice."
"I was in Nice and prepared to run," the surprisingly left-out Mitchell said. "That was a decision Mel Rosen and his staff made."
The Santa Monica team went on to Ingoldstadt, Germany, and won a relay in 38.12 seconds Sunday.
Mitchell won't be running a relay either at Sestriere, Italy, Tuesday night. After an apparent misunderstanding with Rosen, he is off that relay team which includes Witherspoon, Burrell, fifth-place trials finisher James Jett and Marsh.
Mitchell said he was asked to run the relay by Rosen and had not made a decision when the coach made it for him. Rosen said three days was sufficient time to decide.
Thus, for the first time in recent memory, the 400 relay team, usually the top four at the trials, will go into the Games without having run a race as a unit. It will work on its critical handoffs during four days of practice, July 24-27, at Barcelona.
The practices might not include Mitchell, the U.S. 100-meter champion. If the relay workouts interfere with his preparation for the individual 100, "I will tell them (the coaching staff) they can have it," Mitchell said.
"I'm not letting anything get in the way of the 100," he said. "That's my priority."