European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - July 23, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse Saturday july 23,1988 the stars and stripes Page 23 commentary smashing Griffith joins record Book even in Indianapolis a town famous for Speed no one could have anticipated the kind of Stopwatch explosion flamboyant Florence Griffith Joyner set off last week. And she does t even have an engine. Griffith Joyner motoring on Long powerful legs one Bare the other covered by a striking purple body suit went from Start to finish in the women s100-meter race faster than anyone Ever has before. And she did it four times. She All but flew around the Indiana University track in the . Olympic trials stunning the Stop watch people with a remarkable series of races As Herlong Black hair trailed majestically behind her. The exclamation Point of her Effort came in a astounding 10.49, shattering Evelyn Ashford s world record of 10.76 by an unheard of 27 hundredths of second. It was a perfect race Griffith Joyner said had the Best 30 meters of my life. That s been my goal. Everything was experts tried to put the 10.49 in perspective. One suggested it was the equivalent of running25 Mph. That s not indy car Speed but it will do for human that the 100 in t even Griffith Joyner s Best event. She has been troubled by slow Start Sand that has made her More productive at 200 me ters. But a month ago when she clocked 10.89 in a100-meter race running into a headwind at san Diego it occurred to her that great things were Possi ble at that distance. Her husband olympic triple jumper Al Joyner urged her on. I told her just think if there was no head wind that Day. Let s go for the title fastest woman in the world " and at just about the time Al Joyner the 1984gold medallist in his event was missing the 1988 team his wife was making track history. I go chills he recalled. I tried to catch the moment and hold on to it. The Public address announcer kept saying we re waiting for the wind Reading i did t have to ask names. I knew who it Joyner had reached for history and caught it. I thought i could do 10.60," she said. My Goa was to make four rounds under 11 the result was a series of 10.60 wind aide the remarkable 10.49, 10.70 and 10.61. She passed through a couple of Levels with the 49," her coach Bob Kersee said. That s just not ordinarily but then Griffith Joyner is no Ordinary woman. She once let her nails grow to 6 /2 inches. For the1984 olympics she painted three of them red White and Blue for the Flag and the next one Gold for the medal she was after. She finished second. That Silver was Gold to me she said. It was satisfying but not Good there were More second place finishes after that up Florence Griffith Joyner left alter record 100 race. Congratulated by Gail Devers Roberts and Griffith Joyner now 28, began getting Desper ate. I said to myself Why am i always missing by one spot what will it take " faster starts for one thing. Few races have had Amore perfect beginning than the men s 100-meter race when Ben Johnson set a world record of 9.83,beating olympic Champion Carl Lewis in the world championships last year. Griffith Joyner got the tape and studied it religiously. I watched the men not the women because twas the perfect Start she said. It was so far out of the realm. Why should t i do something different would like to run faster. If copying from Carl and Ben can help me do it then that s what i la do. It leg strength that makes the difference strength to push out of the Kersee put her on a weight program including leg squats with 320 pounds and workouts associated More with an 800-meter runner. Las year i trained harder than i Ever have. I was deter mined. This year has to be my at the olympic trials she punctuated her Point and put the Competition on notice. This is a serious attack on women track standards being conducted by an unorthodox woman. In a sport where athletes Cut their hair Short to reduce wind resistance Griffith Joyner keeps hers Long letting it flow out behind her like a mane As she runs. People have said i ought to put it up but it s Nota disadvantage she said. It s pretty. I run wearing jewelry too. I like pretty things and Bright which brings us to her running outfits and the daring one legged look. A year ago she showed up in a Speed skating body suit Complete with Hood for preliminary rounds of the world championships. So it was no great Surprise when she Cut off one leg of this running suit. Conventional is not for me she said. "1like things that Are uniquely Flo. I like being differ ent. The outfits they give us Are so the ones she wears though Are not. They Are one shot affairs and if she runs in the cutoff look one Day she May come Back with leotards the next. I depends on How she feels. She designs All of the outfits herself. When she approached teammates like Jackie Joyner Kersee her sister in Law and wife of her coach about Wear ing them it took some convincing. Jackie thought it was too different too unique Griffith Joyner said. Then she thought about it and decided to try it. I knew if Jackie wore it the other would. In april we All running in Long hair with fancy rings and Brace lets designing Eye popping running outfits writing and illustrating children s books. Is there anything this talented lady can t do she s a Good Cook too her husband said. Maybe too Good. Kersee said she was Way Over weight for a time perhaps As much As 60 pounds. The charge triggered a Light hearted Exchange during which Griffith Joyner said it was More like a 15 Pound problem. Kersee would t Budge from his assessment though. Sixty he insisted. I could t Tell if you were coming or he can now unless he blinks. Then he might miss the world s fastest woman entirely. The associated press Flutie aiming for Job with patriots 1984 Heisman Winner Doug Flutie. Healthy situation1 by Howard Ulman Smithfield . A Doug flu tie has been a Heisman trophy Winner a would be Savior of a wobbly league and Astrike breaker on his own Home soil. Now he s just another quarterback fighting for a Job in the nil. It s the first time i be been in a nor Mal situation which i like he says. Acquired by new England from the Chicago bears during last season s play ers strike Flutie is in his first full train ing Camp with the patriots. He reported last Friday with the rookies a week be fore Friday s deadline for veterans to show up at the Bryant College Camp. He is expected to do most of the quarterbacking in saturday s Rookie scrim Mage against the Washington redskins in Carlisle a. And coach Raymond Berry says he will be the main Quarter Back in one of the four exhibition games. Flutie also expects to play in others. That s All the Opportunity you can ask for he says. The More i get out on the Field the happier i la be. There s nothing crazy going on around this except for the fact that i m from bos ton and people Are going to make a lot out of it. That s unavoidable but it is a Good healthy situation for for a 5-foot-9 Inch Flutie won the 1984 Heisman trophy led Boston College to a1985 Cotton bowl Victory and became a legend with the 64-Yard nationally Tele Vised Hail Mary pass to beat Miami 47-45 at the final gun. In the Spring of 85, Flutie signed Multi million Dollar contract with the new Jersey generals of the Usel marquee player in a second rate league. He was Hurt during that season and the league eventually folded. He joined the bears seven games into the 1986 nil season and never was fully accepted by their veterans. He started the bears playoff game against washing ton but looked bad in year the bears traded him to the patriots on oct. 13 and he led new eng land to a 21-7 Victory at Houston five Days later in the third and final replace ment game. It was a Little difficult Flutie said. Iwasyn t sure that i d be real solid out there but we just had a limited amount of play sin and everything i had seen before because i d been in a couple of different systems and i picked it up real completed 15 of 25 passes for one touchdown against the oilers but the strike ended the veterans returned for the next game and he did t play Theresa of the season. This year he is with the patriots fro the Start an advantage because players respect you More when you be gone through this part of the season tired of repeatedly having to establish himself with a new club Flutie Hopes to spend his career with the patriots and i beginning to feel a part of the team. Hopefully i can stay with one Tea for a few years and just sit Back and learn and be ready he , he must survive a crowded quarterback has named Veteran Sieve Gro Gan his starter. If Tony Eason can make successful recovery from surgery to re pair nerve damage in his right Arm he figures to be the primary backup. Flutie whose Lack of height is his main drawback then would compete with Tom Ramsey another former us player for the third spot. He s got the Talent to play Berry said of Flutie. But there s Only one Guy who can
