Editor’s Note: This story was published in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Saturday, July 27, 1996, as Olympic Stadium was packed twice — drawing 160,748 total spectators — for the start of track and field events. This is a daily take of the events that transpired on the 25th anniversary of the Games in Atlanta.
Whoever wants the world’s fastest woman title will have to chase Gail Devers down. The defending Olympic champion made that clear Friday by posting a pair of bullets on the board in the 100-meter qualifying rounds.
What did she think of her performance? Who knows? Silent and focused, she was just as quick escaping the warm-down area as she was in the lanes. Her morning heat of 10.92 seconds, followed by an evening 10.94, were the only sub-11-second qualifying times and capped a good day for the American sprint corps.
Gwen Torrence and D’Andre Hill moved on with identical times of 11.11, the fifth fastest of the day. The biggest U.S. challenge in today’s semifinals and finals may come from the Jamaican tandem of Juliet Cuthbert and Merlene Ottey, who won both of their heats. It won’t come, however, from international stalwart Irina Privalova, who got smoked in her two heats and was the last of 16 qualifiers.
“I felt something in my leg. My coach and I will decide if I should continue,” said Privalova, who also is entered in the 200 and is a member of Russia’s 400-meter relay team.
Credit: AJC
Credit: AJC
While Torrence focused on technique and holding together a sore and battered body, Hill showed she belonged with the world’s fastest sprinters. In the spring, she won the NCAA 100-meter title for LSU and then gutted her way on to her first Olympic team.
“It’s been a long year, but I’m just going to keep doing what I’ve been doing,” said Hill. “I always knew I could run at this level, so I just need to keep moving on.”
Cuthbert and Ottey, who at 36 calls herself the “grandmother of the track” and has a bronze medal from the 1980 Moscow Games, confessed they were tense during the opening rounds. Cuthbert has been concerned about her recent training and turned to her long-time friend for support.
“I was upset and she tried to calm me down,” said Cuthbert, who lives in Atlanta. “There’s some days I don’t think I could perform if she’s not on the track.”
Day 7: Italian cyclists fly around ‘Superman’ style | Day 9: Double sprint thrill
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