European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 2, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse Lewis anchors . To 400-relay record by Bert Rosenthal a track writer Tokyo a put Carl Lewis into a championship and there s nobody better. Lewis capped a sensational series of performances in the world championships by anchoring the . 400-Mctcr relay team to a world record of 37.50 seconds on sunday. A this is the greatest meet in be Ever had a Lewis said. Greater than the 1984 olympics when he won four Golf Medas mate Hong the performance of the legendary Jesse Owens greater than the 1983 and 1987 world championships when he won three golds in each meet greater than the 1988 olympics when he won two golds and one Silver medal arguably yes. Never had Lewis set an individual world record by finishing first. He did it this time smashing the 100-meter Mark by .04 of a second the biggest margin since 1968, when Jim Hines lowered the record from 10.02 to 9,95. Never had Lewis Long jumped 29 feet while compiling a 65-meet winning Streak Over 10 years. He did it this time a not once not twice but three times. And although he surpassed Bob Beamon s world record of 29-2 / a a Mark that had stood Tor 23 years and appeared unbeatable a with a wind aided 29-274, and still failed to become the longest jumper in history he put together the greatest Long jump series Ever. It took a world record 29-41/ by Mike Powell to Saddle Lewis with his second Silver medal a to go along with 14 golds a in olympic or world championship Competition. And never had Lewis run on a relay that put on such a dazzling performance. Lewis followed Brilliant legs by Andre Cason Leroy Burrell and Dennis Mitchell with a devastating Anchor that helped the team shatter the world record of 37.67 set by the foursome of Mike Marsh Burrell Mitchell a a Lewis at Zurich Switzerland on aug. 15. It was the biggest reduction in the record since a team of King Willie Gault Calvin Smith and Lewis dropped it from 38. 13 to 37.86 at the 1983 world championships in Helsinki Finland. Both records fell by ,17 of a second. A it was ours to win or lose Quot Lewis said of the Gold medal. A it was our world record to set or not to set. We ran with that objective. A it was an incredible performance for All of no one was perhaps More incredible than Lewis he was bumped starting his run and nearly fell. But he recovered quickly and ran a powerful Anchor leg especially in the final 5 1 meters As the . Beat i Ranee which began the season As the world record Holder by three meters. A this was my last meet of the season a Lewis said a there is nothing 1 can do to inside sports 39-year-old Connors advances a Page 25 a a outlast tigers for win in 10th a Page 26 Phillies end braves Victory Streak a Page 26 . Tops Sweden in Canada cup opener a Page 27 Carl Lewis starts Anchor leg fur . In 400 relay with France s Bruno Marie Rose at left. Top there also was nothing else the . Could do to show its sprint domination. A we swept the 100, we won the 200 and we set the world record in the relay Quot Lewis said. A we re established the dominance and focus that american sprinters have had in the past. Everyone in the last i / or two years has criticized the americans for having poor Baton exchanges and not winning. Not this time. A it was always american Speed against the smooth passing so and so s. That a not True. There a Only been a few meets when we be had poor exchanges. Quot we be had to hear a lot from the europeans saying we Pul it together. We did the relay teams Victory was one of two by the americans on sunday the final Day of the championships. The other Gold went to Charles Austin Winner of the High jump at 7-9-Yi, tying the championship record. In winning Austin beat Cuba s Javier Stomayor the Only High jumper Ever to Clear 8 feet. After clinching the Gold Austin took three shots at 8-01/but was t close. Sotomayor and american Hollis Conway each cleared 7-874, but Sotomayor earned the Silver medal on fewer misses. The two golds gave the americans 10 the stars and stripes ports september 2,1991 c Page 28 chiefs for the championships one More than the soviet Union. But the soviets had More medals Overall 28-26. Meanwhile 21-year-old Noureddine Morcelia the world indoor Champion at 1,500 meters gave Algeria a sweep of that race in the these championships winning by nearly 15 meters in 3 32.84. Saturday Hassiba Boul Marka became algerians first Winner in a major championship taking the women a 1,500. The africans completed a sweep of the men s distance races on the track a the 800, 1,500, 3,000 steeplechase. 5,000 and 10.000 a when Robes Ondieki took the 5.000 in a meet record 13 14,45. Merlene Ottey finally got a Gold anchoring Jamaica to Victory in the women a 400-meter relay in 41.94. In sunday s other finals Britain won the menus 1,600-meter relay in 2 57.53, the fourth fastest Ever As Kriss a Abusi overtook 400-meter world Champion Antonio Pettigrew of the United states in the final strides Hironi Taniguchi gave Host Japan its Only Gold of the championships winning the men s Marathon in 2 14 57 in hot and humid conditions the soviet Union won the women a 1,600 relay in a championship record 3 18.43, and Demei Xuy of China took the women s discus at 225-8. Kansas City to. A Christian Okoye who maintained throughout training Camp he had no intention of repeating his worst season Ever appears to he a Man of his word. The 1989 nil Rushing Champion ran for 143 Yards scored one touchdown anymore nil openers on Page 27 set up another with a 48-Yard Gallop As the chiefs opened the season with a ragged 14-3 Victory Over the Falcons. The Falcons 5-11 last year carried a 30 Lead into the third period but in keeping with the tone of the game gave up the Ball and subsequently the Lead on a mistake. Chris Miller who passed for Only 45 net Yards in the first half was scrambling away from pressure when Chris Marlin knocked the Ball out of his hands from behind and Deron Cherry fell on it at the Falcons 27. Three straight Okoye rushes Pul the Ball on the 4, and then the 250-Pound fullback went around right end untouched for the touchdown with 8 48 remaining in the period. Conc rack Albert Lewis had three interceptions for the chiefs tying a personal Best he recorded in 1985, also against the Falcons. The chiefs staged the games Lone sustained drive Midway through the fourth period going 91 Yards in eight plays. Steve do Borg hit Jonathan Hayes for 20 Yards and then found Stephone Paige for 10 before Okoye got Loose on a 48-Yard run 16 More than his longest play of a disappointing 1990 season when his Rushing total declined by More than 600 cards from 1989. After Okoye carried to the 9, two More running plays set up Debergh a 6-Yard scoring pass to Emile Harry who beat safety Brian Jordan in the end zone. The games Sloppy tone was set before the first play was run when the Falcons Keith Jones Drew a 15-Yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty in the end zone on the opening Kickoff. Cunningham might miss season Green Bay wis. Apall pro Randall Cunningham could be lost for the season after suffering a knee injury during the eagles season opener against the packers on sunday. Cunningham the eagles quarterback and emotional Leader will undergo a magnetic resonance imaging test Fri in Philadelphia As soon As possible to determine inc extent of the injury. However a preliminary diagnosis by eagles team physician Vince Destefano said Cunningham suffered two torn ligaments in his left knee. The injury occurred when he was hit by Bryce Paup on the first play of the second Quarter while dropping Hack to pass. Alter the Fri it will he determined if surgery is needed an eagles spokesman said sunday Quot Cunningham stayed on the ground for a minute and then hobbled to Quot the eagles Bench after the tackle. Paup hit him just As he was releasing a pass. Alter several More minutes on the Bench. Cunningham was wheeled off the Field on a cart and taken for a rays 1 Here was no score at the time of the injury. Cunningham the pfc pro bowl starter the last three years was replaced by Jim Mcmahon who led the eagles to a 13-0 Lead. Cunningham 28, is in his seventh year with the eagles and is one of the games most versatile players. Last season he rushed for 942 Yards and passed Tor 3,466, leading the eagles to the a Lavotus for the third straight year
