Greatest athlete, greatest sprinter.
Dan O'Brien and Michael Johnson are within reach of their Olympic goals.Although he didn't do as well as he would like, O'Brien, of Moscow, Idaho, finally was in the Olympic Games and was in command Wednesday after an erratic first day of the decathlon.
Johnson, meanwhile, moved just as easily through the early rounds of the 200 meters as he did en route to the 400 gold.
"Michael's the guy to beat," said Johnson's chief challenger, Frankie Fredericks of Provo, Utah, and Namibia. "He's the world record holder and he's got 80,000 fans watching."
They'll be watching again tonight as Johnson moves into the 200 semifinals and, presumably, the finals in his quest to be the first man to win double gold in the 200 and 400.
Lost in the hoopla of Johnson's performance is the double effort of Marie-Jose Perec of France, already a gold medalist in the 400 and a favorite tonight in the200.
Gail Devers didn't get the double she was after.
She faltered to a fourth-place finish in
the women's 100-meter hurdles and Americans didn't win any of the five gold medals that were awarded in track and field on Wednesday.
But O'Brien provided the near-capacity crowds with some day-long entertainment.
After five events, O'Brien had the lead with 4,592 points, 124 ahead of Frank Busemann of Germany. Erkie Nool of Estonia was third with 4,457, just nine points better than American Chris Huffins.
It was behind his world record pace but good enough, O'Brien figured, especially since it is his first Olympics. Four years ago, O'Brien was heavily favored to win the gold but failed to make the team because he didn't clear an opening height in the pole vault at the U.S. trials.
"I fought all day to forget it was an Olympic Games," he said after completing the 100 meters, long jump, shot put, high jump and 400 on Wednesday. "When I thought about the Olympic Games and trying to win the gold, it was just overwhelming."
Johnson won both of his heats in the 200 Wednesday, even though he shut down near the finish to conserve energy for the later rounds. He was in such good spirits, that even had good words for Carl Lewis. The two are far from close friends, but Johnson came out in favor of adding Lewis to the 400-meter relay team.
Lewis has been lobbying to be added to the relay, which would give him a chance at a record 10th gold medal.
"I've always believed that you put the best four people out there," Johnson said. "Carl has more experience than the other four people out there put together. If I was the coach, I'd put Carl Lewis on that relay team."
Devers, barely a winner of the gold medal in the 100 Saturday, was trying to gain redemption from 1992, when she was headed for a sure victory before crashing into the final hurdle and crawling across the line in fifth place.
This time, she got off to an excruciatingly slow start and never was really in it.
Ludmila Engquist of Sweden, a native Russian who came off a ban for steroid use last December, won the gold medal in 12.58 seconds, Brigita Bukovec of Slovenia won the silver and Patricia Girard-Leno of France outleaned Devers for the bronze.
"My start was terrible. I never found my speed, I never got into the rhythm of my mechanics. Obviously, it was not to be," Devers said. "But I finished fourth, better than I did in Barcelona, and I finished on my feet."
The pole vault lost its biggest name when Sergei Bubka withdrew because of an injured right Achilles tendon. It was the second consecutive Olympic disappointment for Bubka, who failed to make an opening height in the 1992 pole vault finals.
The Ukrainian great has set the world record 35 times and is a five-time world champion, but he has just one gold medal to show for three Olympic appearances.
"For me," he said, "it is great tragedy."
Another gold medal contender, Okkert Brits of South Africa, was knocked out of the qualifying in the pole vault. Americans Lawrence Johnson, Jeff Hartwig and Scott Huffman all advanced to Friday's finals.
Bubka wasn't the only noted casualty Wednesday.
Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia pulled out of the 5,000 preliminaries before they started. Gebrselassie already had won the 10,000 gold medal and was the favorite in the 5,000. But he withdrew because of sore feet.
In the women's 400 hurdles, Deon Hemmings upset two Americans - world-record holder Kim Batten and Tonja Buford-Bailey - for the first individual gold medal ever for a Jamaican woman.
Norway's Vebjoern Rodal was a surprise winner in the men's 800, finishing in an Olympic record of 1 minute, 42.58 seconds. Hezekiel Sepeng of South Africa won the silver medal - the first medal for a black South African - and Kenyan Fred Onyancha won bronze. American Johnny Gray led for 700 meters, but faded to seventh on the final straightaway.