1972 United States Olympic Book (Part 1)
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Athletics (Track & Field) One final word of praise for the star- Mennea is a world class sprinter, Bur- ter handling the running events. In ton had never run in a foot race until the long history of the Olympic January, 1972. Games possibly never before has a more competent job been handled Statistics: 56 participants from 41 under such terrifying pressures. In the countries. World record and Olympic final races, not one single false start record 19.8 sec. against the runners could be recalled. 100 meters (September 1)-Valery Results of 200 m Sec. Borzov, USSR, reigning European sprint champion, was installed as the 1. Valery Borzov, USSR 20.00 pre-Olympic Games favorite. How- 2. Larry Black, USA 20.19 ever, tragedy befell the two best 3. Pietro Mennea, Italy 20.30 sprinters from the USA, Eddie Hart 4. Lawrence Burton, USA 20.37 and Reynaud Robinson whose coach 5. Chuck Smith, USA 20.55 made an error in converting the start- 6. Siegfried Schenke, 20.56 ing time and the pair failed to arrive E.Germany in time to run and thus were elimi- nated. 400 meters (September 7) - Any op- Without Hart and Robinson, the only portunity for the USA to repeat its 1, real opposition facing the Soviet 2, 3 sweep of four years earlier was standout was Robert Taylor, USA, lost on the first turn of the final when National sprint champion, and Jamai- John Smith, college champion, suf- ca's Lennox Miller, educated and fered a recurrence of a leg injury that trained in California. had handicapped him for three weeks. Fast off the mark, Borzov was never Even so the class of the field was Vin- headed in winning his first gold medal. cent Matthews, a 24-year old Brook- Taylor and Miller trailed in that lyn social worker, who won a gold order in the final 50 meters. medal as a member of the winning USA relay team at Mexico. Matthews Statistics: 85 participants from 62 had "un-retired" 15 months before the countries. World record and Olympic Olympic Games and was a surprise in record 9.9 sec. the Olympic trials. At Munich he easily placed second in Results of 100 m Sec. his opening heat, coasted to another second place in the second round, showed his true speed by registering 1. Valery Borzov, USSR 10.14 the fastest time of the 16-man field in 2. Robert Taylor, USA 10.24 the semifinal round. 3. Lennox Miller, Jamaica 10.33 For the final, many of the experts had 4. Alexandr Korneliuk, USSR 10.38 selected Wayne Collett, USA, victor 5. Michael Fray, Jamaica 10.40 in the Olympic trials. Since Matthews 6. Jobst Hirscht, W.Germany 10.40 and Collett ran in adjoining lanes the spectators could see that this was a 200 meters (September 4) - Again two-man race to the wire. Roaring Borzov, a chunky 5-11, 182-pound down the homestretch, Matthews pull- running machine, proved his mettle on ed ahead to score a convincing the track. Larry Black, fastest in the triumph. world prior to the Olympic Games, was primed to test Valery after win- Statistics: 64 participants from 50 ning two heats and the semi-final with countries. World record and Olympic consummate ease. record 43.8 sec. Black drew the inside lane of the track, while Borzov was in the center, a definite psychological advantage for Results of 400 m Sec. the USSR runner. As the sprinters came off the turn, Black definitely had a 1. Vincent Matthews, USA 44.66 small lead over Borzov. As if shot from 2. Wayne Collett, USA 44.80 a cannon, Borzov turned on the heat 3. Julius Sang, Kenya 44.92 and closed so fast that Black, surpris- 4. Charles Asati, Kenya 45.13 ingly, was beaten in the stretch run. 5. Horst-Ruediger Schloeske, 45.31 Italy's Pietro Mennea nosed out Larry W.Germany Burton, USA, for the bronze medal. 6. Markku Kukkoaho, Finland 45.49 368.