25 years ago on this day my alarm clock was going off at 4 in the morning, waking me up for the much-anticipated duel between the two fastest men the world had ever seen. As I jumped out of bed, with no need whatsoever for the customary snooze, I quietly made my way to the TV room and turned on the BBC coverage. The eloquent Ron Pickering was commentating on Khristo Markov’s 5th round foul in the Triple Jump. And then it was over to David Coleman:
“Sprinters are out for the final of the 100m, the fastest 3 men of all time clashing in this Olympic final.
Ben Johnson, the World Record holder, Calvin Smith, the former World Record holder and no. 3 on the list is Carl Lewis, the reigning Olympic Champion. There’s never been a sprint quite like this; it’s almost got the atmosphere, in fact it has, of a heavyweight championship world title fight with such a degree of expectation. They’re so closely matched on paper.
Ben Johnson, the start to him so important. Linford Christie, the only European in the final, from the Thames Valley Club in London, coached by Ron Roddan, at 28, one of the oldest men in the field. In fact the oldest man is 29, Desai Williams of Canada. Calvin Smith, the 2nd fastest sprinter of all time. Actually when I say that, I’m doing a slight injustice to Lewis ‘cause Lewis has equalled Calvin Smith’s former World Record at least twice so they’re really joint no. 2s. This is the way they’ll line up:
Robson Silva of Brazil. He’s the slowest qualifier on the times clocked here so far
Ray Stewart. He’s the second slowest but in fact on paper he’s got an outside chance of a medal because don’t forget Ray Stewart of Jamaica was third behind Johnson and Lewis in the World Championships in Rome last year
Carl Lewis. He’s the fastest qualifier, 9.97 in the semi final. He goes in lane no. 3
Linford Christie, the European Champion from Great Britain in lane 4. He’s the 3rd fastest qualifier with the times clocked here, 10.11 twice, in the quarter final and the semi final
Lane no. 5, Calvin Smith, joint no. 2 of all time, the former World Record holder
And next to him the current World Record holder and the World Champion, the Champion of the Commonwealth, the Champion of Canada, Ben Johnson, who’s the 2nd fastest qualifier behind Lewis; his time 10.03. Lewis did his with a slight following wind inside the legal limit, 0.6. Johnson did it with a slight headwind, so they’re obviously, on their semi final times, very closely matched
Desai Williams in lane 7, the Canadian; he’s in good form
And right on the outside, Dennis Mitchell, United States of America, 10.13 in the quarter finals, no. 2 in the American trials
Well Carl Lewis had the benefit of that 0.6 following wind. The legal limit is 2.2 m/s, 2 m/s rather, so the qualifying times actually can be quite misleading, 9.97. Ben Johnson, the wind against was 1.2 so it’s quite a strong wind. So the 2nd semi final Johnson won in 10.03, so taking a line through that, actually it probably comes out just about even; it’s very close indeed. And don’t forget Christie did 10.11 in that 2nd semi final, also against that headwind.
One or 2 quotes from the semi final:
Lewis said after the semi final: “I didn’t push all the way through but the starter is very inconsistent.”
Linford Christie said: “I feel good, I’ve got a chance.”
Ben Johnson, no comment after being given one false start, which he felt was unjust.
What a fine competitor Linford Christie’s been, or become I should say. And really if you look at the performances of the British team here this is the one man who’s been the star of the team so far. He’s been inside, well he’s done 10.19 and then two 10.11’s in the 3 rounds so he’s hitting peak form.
Carl Lewis, well his coach Tom Tellez was talking to Brendan Foster out on the warm up area a short time ago and he said “well, there’s a bit of a psychological war going on.” When they last met of course in Zurich Lewis beat Johnson and beat him convincingly. But having said that, he said “we haven’t been able to read Ben Johnson properly during the 3 rounds so far.” And that’s quite true, because the first round he coasted; it was easy. The 2nd round Johnson eased down and actually only got the qualifying spot as one of the fast losers, he eased down too much and in the last semi final, he was obviously unhappy with the starter penalising him the first time and he came out of the blocks a bit slower than usual. So there are still a lot of questions to be answered.
That’s Carl Lewis’ mother, his sister’s here as well, Carol, and of course Carl won that 4 gold medals at the last Olympic Games in the 100m, the 200m, the 4x100m relay and the long jump, to equal the record of Jesse Owens set way back in Berlin in 1936 and when his father died a couple of years ago when the lid was put on the casket, the last thing apparently Carl did was to pay his own tribute to his father, he placed one of the gold medals in his hand.
Ben Johnson, much more withdrawn of course than Carl Lewis, who’s an extrovert. They’re such different characters. Calvin Smith, another contrast. Very slightly built. He’s a floater rather than a power man. Quite a good starter but he said he didn’t get a very good start in the semi final and I think that’s quite true. Linford Christie’s been starting consistently. He’s not a brilliant starter but he’s been starting quite well here so he’s had no problems with the starters. He just needs a good one in this final.
Right, the athletes are being introduced so we’ll go through the list with him.
Lane 1, da Silva of Brazil, 10.24 in the semi final
Lane 2, Ray Stewart, the bronze medallist in the World Championship from Jamaica
Lane 3, the reigning Olympic Champion Carl Lewis, away from the blocks, as usual and hidden behind Linford Christie. Carl Lewis the fastest man in the world this year
In lane no. 4 will be Linford Christie. There’s Lewis getting mentally prepared going through the rehearsal. Linford Christie, he goes in lane no. 4, the European Champion, the British Record holder.
Lane 5, the former World Record holder, the world 200m Champion, joint no. 2 of all time at 100m, Calvin Smith
Lane no. 6, from Canada, the no.1 of all time, World Champion, World Record holder, Ben Johnson
Lane 7, his Canadian team mate, always running in Johnson’s shadow, Desai Williams, at 29 the oldest of the finalists
And lane no.8 and he mustn’t be forgotten, 2nd in the American trials, Dennis Mitchell
The starter all-important for Ben Johnson. And he does believe I think that after Rome when there was a lot of criticism of the starter there for not recalling them when he set the World Record and beat Lewis convincingly for the World Championship. Starters are under pressure now and Johnson believes that he’s become a target. So Johnson in the semi final was pulled back for what looked to be a good start but we made some enquiries and the warning light went on to show that Johnson had beaten the gun. Now the tolerance the IAAF has settled for is 0.12 of a second as the fastest a human can react. Is Johnson reacting faster than that is the big question? Johnson believes he is and that’s why he’s being penalised. Looking up at the giant stadium clock they should be under way in the next minute. A request for quiet and there must be between 90 and 100,000 people in the stadium and in fact competitors have jammed into the aisles to watch the race.
The 1988 final of the Olympic 100m. Lewis waiting as long as he can. Now who’s going to be the last to settle? Johnson’s not going to fall for this. The others know that Lewis tries to psyche them out a bit. Ben Johnson with that wide start. And they’re settled.