Jim Ryun

LONDON - The U.S. is becoming a middle-distance and distance force at the Olympic track and field competition. Leo Manzano of Marble Falls, Texas, surged from sixth at the top of the stretch to finish second in the men's 1,500 meters Tuesday night, the first American man to win a medal in that event since Jim Ryun in 1968. Earlier, Americans Nick Symmonds of Eugene, Ore., and Duane Solomon of Rosemead had advanced to the finals of the men's 800, marking the first time the U.S. has had two men in that final since 1992.

Like hall of fame baseball or football players who never made it to a World Series or Super Bowl, Jim Ryun never won an Olympic gold medal. Twenty-seven years ago today, the table seemed set for the great Kansas miler, the dominant track and field athlete of his time. In his third Olympic Games, he was competing in a preliminary heat, the fourth of seven heats that day, in the 1,500 meters. Virtually everyone believed the only way Ryun, the world-record holder at 3 minutes 33.

The 800-meter time of 1 minute 50.25 seconds run by Mt. Miguel High School's Mark Senior on Saturday in the Golden West Invitational in Sacramento was fast enough to set a San Diego Section record. Whether it will be remains a question. The existing section record of 1:51.1 was set by Bob Hose of Madison in 1964. It is the county's oldest remaining record. Two weeks after the state meet that year, Hose ran a 1:49.2 in an open pre-Olympic meet at Balboa Stadium. Jim Ryun of Wichita (Kan.

Athletes from five national teams--Australia, New Zealand, Japan and the United States--will be involved in the two-day Foot Locker Summer Games and Pacific Conference Games next Saturday and Sunday at the University of California's Edwards Stadium in Berkeley. In addition to the 35-men and women national teams, the meet officials have put together eight invitational events, which are expected to draw most of the attention.

I wholeheartedly agree with Chris Dufresne's statement of Oct. 7, "The common goal, I think we'd all agree, is to prevent Kansas State vs. Virginia Tech for the national title." In fact, I think we'd all agree that the national title should be decided by regional population and television ratings, rather than the skills of the athletes and coaches. Until that happens, however, we, the people of the nation's most populous state, should either put more political muscle into ensuring that there are more BCS "computers" like the Seattle Times (read "Go Pac-10")

Julie Krone had just won the 1993 Belmont on Colonial Affair, and right after she crossed the finish line, she said to her escort rider: "When do I stop crying?" Tears of joy, of course. Krone, 29, after 2,500 winners, had become the only female jockey to win a Triple Crown race. She still is. Colonial Affair was ninth after half a mile before Krone urged methodically toward the leaders. Suddenly, at the top of the stretch, it occurred to her that her 13-1 horse was going to win it.

It was a leap of a lifetime, yet few people remember it today. At the time, it was compared to Jim Ryun's sub-four-minute mile--still a high school record--but now it is nearly forgotten, even among high school coaches. Thirty-one years ago, 17-year-old Jerry Proctor of Pasadena Muir High had a long jump of 25 feet 10 1/2 inches at the L.A. Invitational indoor track meet. The clamor over Proctor's leap was justified.

Rarely is the world mile record broken by more than fractions of a second. Noureddine Morceli of Algeria did it by nearly two seconds on Sunday. His time of 3 minutes 44.39 seconds at the Rieti Invitational track and field meet bettered the mark of 3:46.32 set by Britain's Steve Cram at Oslo in 1985. It was the second year in a row that the Algerian has set a world mark at this small stadium in the hills north of Rome.

These days, when a politician throws his hat into the ring, it's likely to land among football helmets and baseball caps. The trend of athletes-turned-politicians is on the rise and, judging by Tuesday's results, their success seems to translate well to the political arena. At least seven prominent former athletes were involved with national and state elections. Four were victorious.

It was a stunner, and when it ended, baseball followers could only count the improbable developments that added up to the Dodgers beating the favored Oakland Athletics in a five-game World Series. Eleven years ago today, Orel Hershiser pitched and Mickey Hatcher batted the Dodgers to a 5-2 Series-clinching victory at the Oakland Coliseum.