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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 27, 2000)
September 27, 2000 Page B3 (Tfyp ^Jortlanò (Observer U urllanù (Obatrucr Metro/Sports HB ■M M M Michael Johnson Gets His Gold in Sidney T he U nited States w ent o ff the gold standard years ago, but M ichael Johnson never has. T he sprinter w ith the M idas touch added to his personal gold reserve M onday w hen he becam e the first m an to w in back-to-back O lym pic gold m edals in the 400 meters. In a rem arkable 11-year career as one o f the w o rld ’s elite track and fie ld a th le te s , J o h n s o n , w h o se O lym pic signature has been his daz zling gold running shoes, has never w on anything but gold medals. O n M onday, he w on his fourth O lym pic gold m edal. Johnson, who has lived in D allas his entire life except for his four years at Baylor U niversity, also has a record nine gold m edals from the W orld Track and Field Cham pionships. " In 1990, w hen I finished univer sity, m y coach, C lyde Hart, and 1 sat dow n and talked about w hat we w anted to ac c o m p lish ,” Johnson said. “ It’s good to know w e can sit back and say w e accom plished ev erything w e set out to do.” John so n ’s w inning tim e o f 43.84 seconds d id n ’t approach his world record o f 43.18 he set in the 1999 W orld C ham pionships or even the O lym pic record o f 43.49 set four years ago. But the w eather in Sydney has been cooler than sprinters like, and this w as a strategically conservative race planned to ensure that he won the gold m edal in w hat he said w ould be h is la s t O ly m p ic s . "T o d a y ’s race w as a lot m ore co n servative than it w ould have been if the w eather had been better and there w as a ch a n ce to b reak a w o rld record,” Johnson said. “But you have to ta k e ch a n ce s to b reak w orld records, and I co u ld n ’t take a chance w ith the w ay A lvin [Harrison] was running and the w ay Greg [Haughton] w as running.” H arrison, Jo h n so n ’s U.S. team m ate, finished second in 44.40 to take the silver medal. Haughton, a Jam aican who has been Jo h n so n ’s training partner under Hart the past tw o years, took the bronze in 44.70. Johnson will run in the 4x400- m eter relay later this w eek in what certainly will be his last O lym pic race. But he h asn ’t decided whether it w ill be his last race o f all or w hether h e’ll try for a fifth consecu tive w orld cham pionship next year ’’Right now I ’ m going to take some tim e o ff before I decide w hat my plans are for the future,” he said. “ At this point, I’m not thinking about the W orldC ham pionships next year. I’m thinking about getting back to my w ife and son tonight. I h av en ’t seen them for a few days.” Jo h n so n ’s wife, K erry; his par ents, Paul and Ruby; his brother and three sisters; Hart; and Jo h n so n ’s physical therapist, Dale Sm ith o f D allas, w ere all on hand to share the m om ent with him. Johnson was the undisputed star o f the Olym pics four years ago, when he becam e the first m an to w in the 200 and 400. He set a w orld record o f 19.32 seconds for the 200. This tim e, Johnson has been som ew hat overshadowed by M arion Jones, who is trying to win five gold m edals, and A u stralian C ath y F reem an, w ho m om ents before Jo h n so n ’s race won the w om en’s 400 and becam e the first A borigine to w in an individual m edal in the O lympics. But Johnson d id n ’t m ind being out o f the glare o f the spotlight. He said he enjoyed not having the pres sure o f trying to be the first to win the two events he w on in ’96. ”1 knew com ing in that this would not be the same type o f situation as A tlanta,” Johnson said. “That was a once-in-a-lifetim e situation. A nd, honestly, it is som ething I w ould not w ant to go through again. Cathy and M arion, these G am es are theirs.” ■ H B M R M a M H H K M B I Disappointing Diagnosis for Injured Player A B eaverton H igh School foot ball player w ho suffered a serious spine injury on the field Friday night w ill be paralyzed from the neck down. D octor R andall Chesnutt an nounced that diagnosis M onday, a full day after Kris T yake under w e n t a s ix - h o u r s u r g e r y at D oem becher C h ild ren ’s H ospi tal. T h e b o y ’s f a th e r, D a rre ll Tyacke, said the fam ily is trying to “look at the pitcher as half-full, Sonics Hope Ewing’s the Answer not half-em pty,” w hen deciding w hat steps to take next. The elder Tyake thanked the com munity for the' ‘incredible support’ ’ the family has received since Kris was in ju red on Friday. Tyacke ran an option around the right end in the first quarter tind landed awk wardly when a Glencoe defender tack led him. The defender reached to help him up, but Tyacke didn’t move. Param edics secured Tyacke onto a flat board, cutting o ff his jersey, pads and m ask. T hey said he was aw ake and talking as they m oved him from the field to the hospital. He spent six hours in surgery, but doctors were unable to restore feeling and control in most o f his body. T he Seattle SuperSonics a re n ’t m aking any guarantees to their fans. Or to P a tr ic k E w in g . W ith the ad d itio n o f Ew ing, the Sonics have a starting center to go w ith G a ry P a y to n , V in B a k er, R ashard L ew is and B rent Barry. But even w ith the 38-year-old Ewing playing w ell, the Sonics are still looking up at the best in the W estern C onference, the defending cham pion Los A ngeles Lakers and the P ortland Trail Blazers. ’’W e’ve got to w orry about w hat helps the Sonics,” general manager W ally W alk er said after the 12- player, four-team trade W ednesday brought Seattle its first legitim ate starting center since Jack Sikm a, who w as traded to M ilw aukee after the 1986 season..” It’s not w ithout risk because o f P atrick’s age and injuries, but we felt w e had to take a risk to get a center,” W alker added. The Sonics m ade it to the NBA finals against M ichael Jordan and Chicago in 1996. But they d id n ’t have a true center, making do with Shaw n K em p and Sam P erkins. A year ago, the Sonics w ere one o f the sm allest teams. T hey tried to m atch up w ith Shaquille O ’N eal o f the Lakers and R asheed W allace o f the Trail Blazers w ith B aker and H orace Grant, two pow er forwards, as their big men. It was a mismatch. D esp ite P a y to n ’s six th stra ig h t A ll-S ta r season, they fin ish ed sev en th in the W est and w ere elim i nated in the first round o f the p lay o ffs . B u t is E w ing the an sw er? He n ev e r w on a ch am p io n sh ip in N ew Y o rk an d is head ed into his 16th N B A seaso n w ith creaky knees and a su rg ica lly rep aired w rist He had a m in o r knee o p eratio n in June. A g ain st Indiana in the Eastern C o n fe re n c e fin a ls la st se a s o n , th e K n ick s w ere 2-0 w hen E w ing sat out injured and 0-4 w hen he played. Ew ing has one year rem aining on a $ 6 0 m illio n , f o u r- y e a r c o n tr a c t an d has s a id h e w o u ld lik e to p la y tw o m o re y e a rs b e y o n d th e 2 0 0 0 - 2 0 0 1 s e a s o n . T h e K n ic k s d id n ’t w a n t h im b e y o n d next seaso n . ’’T h e b o tto m lin e is h e fe lt to ta lly d is re s p e c te d a n d h e f e lt it w as tim e fo r h im to m o v e o n ,” E w in g ’s frie n d , A lo n z o M o u rn ing, said from the Sydney O lym pics. Ew ing will earn $14 m illion next season. The Sonics m ade it clear h e ’s going to have to play w ell to get another contract. on s reliance on modems, wireless W estport have added a Jew ell • new 971 area code to the 503 area. This kind of change is not just occurring in F orest G rove • V an c o u v er Portland Oregon, hut throughout the country. And Because the new codes differ in format from previous codes that contained either a ‘1’ or a ‘0’ in the second digit, you should check all specialized Central Office-based systems for compatibility. Some of these systems may require reprogramming or upgrading. Cellular phones must be reprogrammed by G rande R onde your cellular service provider. * Salem To test your equipment, call the new Oregon area code test line at c new area 1-800-000-0000. If code, please call your operator to assist you in placing your c The Oregon Telecommunications Association and Your Local Telecommunications Providers s' u 1
