16 May 1999Portland, Ore. (AP) - Ato Boldon said he stopped in the middle of
his 100-meter race Saturday. By his standards, that meant he was winning in a cakewalk.
Boldon, the world's fastest man last year at both 100 and 200 meters, ran a relatively slow 10.15, but it was enough for an easy victory at the chilly Adidas Oregon Track Classic. "My coach told me today that if I was clear early, to just stop, basically,'' Boldon said. "I prefer to have a good race in the elements than come up here and run 9.9 and be hurt for the next month.''
Boldon has a career-best of 9.86 - just two-tenths of a second off Donovan Bailey's world-record 9.84 set at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
The Oregon Classic was the first in a five-event Golden Spike Tour, created by USA Track and Field to drum up more American interest in athletics. The series continues next week in St. Louis and ends with the national championships in Eugene, Oregon, June 24-27.
Temperatures didn't get past the mid-50s(F) and there was a light drizzle at times, resulting in few standout performances.
One exception was that of Adrianna Fernandez of Mexico, who won the women's 5,000 meters in a personal-best 15:14.33, breaking Amy Rudolph's 1998 meet record by 17.71 seconds. Fernandez overtook
Deena Drossin with just over two laps to go, and turned it on from there, finishing 3.05 seconds ahead of Kathy Butler. "The conditions were perfect today,'' Fernandez said through an interpreter. "I felt great and decided to attack over the last two laps.''
Inger Miller, a gold medalist on the American 400 relay team in Atlanta and ranked No. 3 in the 100 last year, stumbled out of the blocks and finished second in the 100 to Beverly McDonald of Jamaica, a 200 specialist who was running her first 100. McDonald won in 11.17, four-hundredths of a second ahead of Miller. "I just threw that one away, and I'm upset about that,'' Miller said. "This wasn't important. It's not like the U.S. nationals or the World Championships. But it's irritating."
Larry Wade breezed to victory in the 110 hurdles in 13.38. American record-sharers Roger Kingdom and Allen Johnson finished second (13.52) and fourth (13.71), respectively.
In the women's 100 hurdles, Anjanette Kirkland won in 12.91. Melissa Morrison was second in 12.97. NCAA champion Angie Vaughn was third in 13.19.