Leap For GloryIn her last hurrah, Jackie Joyner-Kersee won a bronze in the long jump, her sixth olympic medalby Tim Layden
SHE INTERRUPTED the night's clatter with a quiet, graceful farewell, a gently resonating harp's chord played in the midst of a rock concert. A mystery hung in the air at Olympic Stadium last night: Will Carl run the relay? That answer waits another day, but last night Jackie Joyner-Kersee asked one more favor of her scarred body, offering in return the promise that this Olympic competition would be her last.
Joyner-Kersee stood at the end of the long jump runway, sixth in a field of eight, with only the last of her six attempts remaining. Her right leg was wrapped from knee to mid-thigh, a bandage supporting the same fickle hamstring that six days earlier had forced her tearful withdrawal from the heptathlon, an event in which she had won the gold medal in the previous two Olympics. "The last two weeks have been very tough for me," she would say later. And as she began her run, she looked every day of her 34 years.
Galfione was one of three pole vaulters to set an Olympic record, but he won the event on fewest misses.
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She had won five Olympic medals before this, the same number as Evelyn Ashford and Florence Griffith Joyner, but since her heptathlon gold and long jump bronze in Barcelona four years ago, her body has slowly broken down. After her withdrawal from the heptathlon, President Clinton phoned with his condolences; the call took on the feel of a long-deserved goodbye. Last night the longest of her first five jumps had been 22'61/4"—10 inches out of first place, 4-1/2 inches out of a bronze and far off her American record of 24'7".
Yet it is chilling what deeds can be performed by a great athlete at the edge of defeat, even at retirement's door. "I said to myself, 'This is it, Jackie, this is it,'" said Joyner-Kersee. "'This isn't the way you wanted it to be, but this is your last shot. If the leg is going to pull, it's going to pull.' I just wanted to give it my best effort." She tore down the runway and left the takeoff board on her wounded leg, reached back with her hands as she fell toward the sand and desperately extended her legs. Her distance was 22'113/4", a bronze medal by one inch. Her six medals are the most ever won by a female U.S. track and field athlete, one fewer than only Shirley Strickland de la Hunty of Australia (1948 to '56) and Irena Szewinska of Poland (1964 to '76).
The long jump was won by Chioma Ajunwa of Nigeria, a 25-year-old policewoman who became the third track and field gold medalist at these Games to have previously been handed a steroid suspension. (The others were U.S. shot-putter Randy Barnes and Swedish hurdler Lyudmila Engquist). Ajunwa's suspension ended only this year.
Yet even as Joyner-Kersee's bronze was won, as Portugal's Fernanda Rebeiro rolled through the stretch to win the 10,000 and as France's John Galfione won the pole vault with an Olympic-record leap of 19'5", the question of Carl Lewis's possible inclusion in today's 4¥100 relay buzzed about. The U.S. sailed easily through yesterday's first two rounds with the team of Jon Drummond, Tim Harden, Tim Montgomery and Dennis Mitchell. The scheduled team for tonight's final is Drummond, Mitchell, Mike Marsh and Leroy Burrell, but the possibility that Lewis might join the team to seek his record 10th gold has shadowed the relay since his victory Monday night in the long jump.
"If the top four can run, they'll run," U.S. coach Erv Hunt said. "If one of them can't, chances are good that Carl will run." Burrell is the most likely to drop out. He withdrew from yesterday's early rounds with acute tendinitis in his right Achilles tendon, prompting suspicion that he had stepped aside for Lewis. Burrell bristled at the notion. "Would you give up a Pulitzer Prize?" he asked a reporter. "It's ridiculous."
Ajunwa stood out from the rest of the women long jumpers.
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Yesterday morning, Mitchell, captain of the U.S. team, said that he would give Lewis his anchor spot, but that it would crush him to do so. The intrigue will continue into this afternoon. Hunt said Burrell will run warmup sprints before the U.S lineup is submitted. Lewis was scheduled to meet last night with Mitchell and then with Mitchell, Hunt and assistant team leader Charlie Greene. "I'd just like to hear from Carl that he supports us, right here," said Mitchell, pulling at the portion of his track singlet that covers his heart.
The issue has lingered through the week, clouding a remarkable competition. Yet even in the murk of controversy, one never need look far to find sweet clarity. Last night's reminder came when Joyner-Kersee walked to the awards podium, wearing blue pants that covered sore legs, a white top and a red bow in her hair. A medal was draped around her neck for the final time, and bronze has never looked more like gold.
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