James Carter is the most likely candidate to keep that streak going.
The BALCO doping scandal threatens to obscure anything good about American
track and field, to the detriment of veterans like Carter, an irrepressible
native of Baltimore who overcame illness as a child and the lack of a track at
Mervo High to finish fourth at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia.
Georgia Tech’s Angelo Taylor won that Olympic final, in 47.50 seconds. The
only American to approach that level of performance since has been Carter, who
went 47.57 in August 2002. That’s when Carter was second in a Grand Prix meet
in Zurich, Switzerland, to Felix Sanchez, the only man who has consistently
broken 48 seconds in recent years.
“Other than Sanchez, who’s gone faster than me?” said Carter, who focuses
on his own agenda. “I basically don’t try to worry about him. I work hard, to
stay in shape, and stay healthy.”
Sanchez, a two-time world champion from the Dominican Republic, was Track &
Field News’ 2003 Man of the Year. Carter spent much of that campaign on the
shelf, nursing a strained ligament in his lead leg, but he is quite
enthusiastic about the start of this Olympic year.
On May 8, the day after he turned 26, Carter was second to Japan’s Tamesue
Dai at a Grand Prix meet in Osaka, Japan, but Carter’s time of 48.99 was his
fastest season opener.
“I was behind the eight ball, too, running in Lane 8,” said Carter, who
should be accorded more respect than that at an invitational. “I thought so,
but they went off of what happened last year.”
Carter came up lame a year ago, then somehow managed to finish fourth at
the national championships. That place kept him out of the world
championships, and he spent some of last season’s down time studying the
history of his event.
Anyone who has ever sprinted and then gone over a barrier knows of Edwin
Moses, who won 107 finals from 1977 to 1987, but Carter is channeling the
karma of Kevin Young, and not because he set a still-standing world record of
46.78 at the 1992 Olympics.
“That was Young’s second Olympics,” Carter said. “Four years earlier, he
was fourth. That’s where I finished in 2000.”
That in itself was heady stuff for Carter, who was in the seventh grade
when he had his thymus removed because of myasthenia gravis, a neuromuscular
disease. He went to Hampton University with no experience in the 400 hurdles,
which didn’t seem like a big deal, because Mervo didn’t have a track.
Four years ago, Carter posed for photos at Mervo, where the grounds were
being graded for a track. It has been built, but a lawsuit regarding that
project means that the Mustangs still can’t run there.
“I was in Baltimore last weekend,” Carter said. “It’s frustrating to see
that the school has something, but that the kids still can’t use it. I got out
of Mervo in 1996. It’s time that thing opened.”
Maturity and weight training, incorporated into his regimen starting in
2001, have added 10 pounds to Carter since 2000. He has spent the past eight
years at Hampton, where he’s a volunteer assistant coach some springs. “I’ve
found a comfort level here,” Carter said. “If I get attention, I appreciate
it. If I don’t, that’s OK, too.”
Baltimore City was rich in talent eight years ago, when Carver had Bernard
Williams (Carver), an Olympic gold medalist in the 400 relay. Both he and
Carter have circled Aug. 26, when the finals of the 200 sprint and 400 hurdles
will be conducted at the Olympics in Athens, Greece.
Both brought home an unflattering image from Sydney, where Williams was on
a winning relay team that was reprimanded for an over-the-top celebration, and
Carter was booed after taunting the men who trailed him in a semifinal.
“I’m out for gold,” Carter said, “especially in a year when they’re
cracking down on drug usage. A lot of people are going to be mortal.”
Olkowski comes on
More Top Picks Best Pet Cameras With Treat Dispenser
Ryan Olkowski will be joining Carter at the U.S. Olympic trials in July in
Sacramento, Calif.
A stellar jumper at Calvert Hall who added sprinting to his portfolio at
Penn State, Olkowski has blossomed into a decathlete to watch. A year ago, he
had never pole-vaulted higher than 13 feet. Last weekend, he soared 15-5 1/2
en route to scoring 7,895 points and winning a decathlon at his home track.
Olkowski has the 10th highest score among qualified American athletes
heading into the U.S. trials.
Countdown
The U.S. swimming trials open in 38 days. It could take 45 to find out
exactly what Michael Phelps of Rodgers Forge plans for his Olympic program.
… Add PowerBar to his list of sponsors. … Phelps and eight other members
of the North Baltimore Aquatic Club are spending two weeks in the altitude of
the U.S. Olympic Committee’s training center in Colorado Springs, Colo. … At
the rate NBA All-Stars are dropping off the U.S. men’s basketball team,
Carmelo Anthony (Towson Catholic) could get an invitation to Athens.
Games at a glance
When: Aug. 13-29
Where: Athens, Greece
Sports: 28
Countries: 202
Athletes: 10,500
Events: 296
TV: NBC, MSNBC, CNBC, Bravo
Web site: www.athens2004.com