Who Buried Whom

TRACK & FIELD

Borrowing a line from the Big Boss's routine a few years ago, a high Soviet sports official announced: "We will bury you." He was only half kidding. Since 1958, the two countries have been doing annual spadework on each other in what has come to be the world's most intensely fought dual track meet. Last year, in Moscow, the Russians almost completed the burial by walloping the combined U.S. men's and women's teams, 189 to 147. Last week the Russians were on U.S. ground and ready for the last shovelful.

"This is the strongest, most experienced team I have ever had," said Russian Coach Gavriil Korobkov, as he marched his athletes into Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Two days later, the strongest, most experienced flew home again--suffering from an acute dose of shellac. The U.S. men, who barely edged the Russians in 1963, trampled them this time by 139 to 97, winning 16 of 22 events, sweeping an incredible first and second in ten events, and capturing all twelve running races. The U.S. girls, who have always been blitzed by the Russians, won four of ten events, were actually leading at the end of the first day before finally going down by a narrow 59 to 48. For the first time, the Russians did not make a point of combining the two scores to show who had overall superiority.

Subs & Walking Wounded. It was hard to pick a hero or a heroine--or even narrow it down to a dozen. Tennessee State University's Edith McGuire, determined to make newsmen eat "all those terrible articles about us last year," led the way to a U.S. sweep in both the women's 100-meter and 200-meter dashes. Cleveland's Eleanor Montgomery launched herself 5 ft. 71 in. up and over the high-jump bar, thus ending the meet's longest string of personal wins (five straight) by Russia's Taisia Chenchik.

The astonishing thing about the men's meet was that the U.S. did not even field everyone on its first team. Injuries forced out the top three 100-meter sprinters, including the 100-yd. world record holder Bob Hayes, who sat it out for fear of aggravating a pulled leg muscle. But they were hardly missed when 200-Meter Man Henry Carr obligingly boomed home first in the 100, then in the 200, finally ran a leg on a 1,600-meter relay team that won by 70 yds. Milers Tom O'Hara and Dyrol Burleson had to scratch from the 1,500-meter run; so Jim Grelle got to tick off that one. Half a dozen others were walking wounded: California Schoolteacher Mike Larrabee forgot an injured pancreas (courtesy of a student's accidental judo chop) long enough to breeze through the 400 meter; World Discus Champ Al Oerter strapped on a brace to protect a pinched neck nerve and beat the nearest Russian by 12 ft.; a pulled hamstring nearly benched Salt Lake City's Blaine Lindgren, but he underwent heat and sound treatments and won the 110-meter hurdles anyway.

Not Quite Right. That was just the warmup. Russia's incomparable Valery Brumel won the high jump as expected, but broke no records at 7 ft. 3 1/2 in. The cheers were for Dallas Long, who put together the greatest series of shot-puts anyone is likely to see for years; four straight times he lobbed the 16-lb. shot farther than his own world record of 66 ft. 3 1/2 in., one put going 67 ft. 10 in., then walked off muttering that he did not quite "feel right." In the pole vault, Fred Hansen reset the world record for the third time in two months with a soaring 17 ft. 4 in. leap. "Next time I'm going to have them raise the bar to 18 ft. and get it over with," he said impatiently.

But these have always been U.S. specialties. Now the U.S. was beginning to show championship strength in a whole list of events that it had never won before, had always more or less conceded to other nations. Philadelphia Insurance Man Ira Davis bounced 53 ft. 11 in. to give the U.S. its first victory in the triple jump (hop, step and jump). For six years, New Mexico Science Teacher George Young has charged over hurdles and splashed through water in hopeless pursuit of the Soviets; this time he caught them for a richly deserved win in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. The U.S. has never produced a better man at 5,000 meters than Bob Schul of Ohio's Miami University; the Russians did not believe it --until he left them staggering with a blazing 54.8 sec. for the last lap.

"Too Young," He Said. The olive in the martini was Gerry Lindgren, a mere babe of 18, just out of high school in Spokane, Wash., and running only his second race at 10,000 meters, twice the length he is used to. "Too young," advised Soviet Coach Korobkov solicitously. "You should not let him run such distances until he is older." For the first 14 laps, Lindgren (no kin to Blaine) stuck doggedly just off the pace. Then, just to see if he could do it, he kicked past both Russians and sprinted a lap. At the 22nd lap, he began to tire. But he heard the cheering crowd and started to worry about disappointing everybody. On he ran, chest heaving, arms pumping, opening his lead with every stride--40 yds., 60, 80. At the finish, he was a full 100 yds. in front, and the roar that erupted must have echoed all the way to Spokane.

"You Americans are foolish to be ready so soon," sniffed the Soviet coach. "We will be ready when it counts--at the Olympics in October." Back home, a Russian sports publication reported: "The fact that we lost can be explained by the unusual--for our athletes--meteorological conditions called smog." There was something else. Despite their fantastic sports program, the Russians have apparently failed to develop much in the way of young athletes. The same faces appear year after year, and they are getting old and tired. This year's Russian men averaged two years older than their U.S. counterparts; the women averaged almost seven years older. Explained a weary Russian veteran in his 30s: "Why am I still competing? I'm still the best we have."

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