WORLD SPORTS SCENE : Sprinters Say Nationals Out of Order

Santa Monica Track Club Manager Joe Douglas said he is not making a threat. But, as best we can tell, he is threatening to make a threat because of the schedule for the national track and field championships in June at Sacramento.

USA Track & Field scheduled the 200 meters for early in the five-day meet and the 100 for the weekend, which, Douglas said, is disadvantageous for sprinters, including Santa Monica’s Mike Marsh, Leroy Burrell and possibly Carl Lewis, who are considering running both.

“The last time the 200 was before the 100 was in 1987, and five sprinters got injured,” Douglas said. “It’s less taxing on their bodies to run the short sprint first. So those who prefer the 100 will sit out the 200, and that’s not fair to them.”

Also, because the 100 is late, it bumps against the long jump--another of Lewis’ events.

When Douglas complained to USATF, he said he was told that television officials wanted the long jump and 100 on the weekend because that is when their coverage will be most extensive.

But the Santa Monica camp suspects that USATF placed the 200 early so that it will not interfere with the 400 on the weekend, enabling Michael Johnson to run both.

“Nobody ever did any favors like that for Carl,” Douglas said.

Santa Monica’s headliners have boycotted the nationals twice to protest USATF’s administration, and while that might not be practical this time because the Sacramento meet determines the U.S. team for the World Championships in August in Sweden, Douglas is making no commitments.

“I haven’t made a decision about what we’re going to do, but I’m not cutting off any options,” he said. “Someday, we’re going to get rid of the amateurs running track and field.”

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Lewis recently settled his lawsuit against a German magazine, Stern, which alleged that he used anabolic steroids. He would not reveal the amount, but he said it was enough that he could compete without compensation for the rest of his career and still retire a rich man.

“I am very, very, very pleased,” he said. “I don’t know how many ‘verys’ you can put in, but put in as many as you can.”

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While it is possible that Ross Perot will be involved in one race in 1996, his son, Ross Perot Jr., might have more than a fleeting interest in another--the 100 meters in the Olympic Games at Atlanta.

Unlike his father, Ross Jr. definitely will not be running. But he is providing financial support to one of the most promising young U.S. sprinters, Henry Neal.

Earlier this year, Neal complained that the shoe company that sponsors him was pressuring him into moving from his home in Greenville, Tex., about 50 miles northeast of Dallas, to Westwood to work with Coach John Smith. Not only would Neal have had to leave his family and coach, he, a quiet sort, feared that he would be intimidated by Smith’s gonzo sprinters, Dennis Mitchell and Jon Drummond.

Perot, also a Texan, read about Neal’s situation and offered to pay some of his expenses so that he can continue to live at home and train with his former high school coach, David Gish.

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L’Equipe, the well-connected French sports daily, calls Stanford the favorite for track and field’s 1997 World Championships. Seven candidates entered the bidding after the original choice, Mexico City, withdrew because of the country’s financial crisis.

According to L’Equipe, two candidates, Rome and Helsinki, are longshots because they have played host to the championships before, while Athens also is doubtful because it has been selected to stage the indoor world championships that year. Split, Croatia, has obvious problems because of the war in the former Yugoslavia.

That leaves Stanford, New Delhi and a Spanish city to be determined--Barcelona, Madrid or Seville. Stanford has the edge, L’Equipe said, because the International Amateur Athletic Federation wants to determine whether staging the World Championships in the United States, one year after the Summer Olympics in Atlanta, would revive the sport in this country. If not, the IAAF will give up on the United States and focus its attention on other Third World track and field nations. The decision will be made in late May.

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Mark Lenzi, a gold medalist in diving in the 1992 Olympics, is beginning a comeback but predicted it will take him at least a year to return to form. “I’m not Michael Jordan,” he said. “I can’t walk in one day and the next night score 55 points.”

Times staff writer Elliott Almond contributed to this story.