Posted: July 16, 2004

Athletics: Johnson On Cruise Control As Hurdles Competition Begins At U.S. Trials

By Bob Ramsak, Track Profile

(c) 2004 Track Profile all rights reserved TrackProfile.com

While the vast majority of prospective U.S. Olympians spent late June and early July quietly preparing at home, 1996 Olympic high hurdles champion Allen Johnson was making a lot of noise in Europe.

"You know, right now, I feel great," he said after crushing the field en route to his world-leading 13.05 in Lausanne, Switzerland last week. In Lausanne, the usually low-key Johnson ran through the finish and leapt directly into the arms of appreciative fans in the stands. The scene more closely resembled a mosh pit, and the spectators and TV cameras relished the moment. "The fans here are fantastic," Johnson said.

After two highly competitive races in a tight four day stretch, Johnson said he was very confident heading to the U.S. trials. The three-time world champion begins competition tomorrow morning (17-July) in Sacramento. "Right now, I’m right where I want to be to make the Olympic team.”

His toughest test of the year was at the Golden Gala in Rome on July 2, where several photo re-readings were required to put him ahead of Ziang Liu of China. At that point, the 20-year-old Chinese was the fastest in the world this year after an early May 13.06 in Osaka, Japan, where he defeated Johnson.

Running side-by-side, Johnson was clearly ahead by the second hurdle in Rome, but Liu made up substantial ground by hurdle seven. Johnson hit the eighth hurdle straight on, giving Liu the opportunity to catch up and even gain a slight lead over hurdle nine. But Johnson powered over the final hurdle, and with his superior raw speed, rebounded to claim the win. Both clocked 13.11.

"Yeah, I hit that eighth hurdle, that’s always been a problem of mine," he said after the race. "The start felt pretty decent, and overall it was pretty good race, but there’s some little things I need to work on. And I’ll have two weeks to straighten them out."

While he was credited with the win, Johnson nonetheless viewed the race as the virtual tie it indeed appeared to be. "I still haven’t beaten yet this year," he said, referring to Liu. "Technically, the guy's fantastic. But I think I have better speed between the hurdles."

But in Lausanne, despite a brief mid-race challenge by Latvian star Stanislav Olijar, Johnson was dominant.

"It felt really good," he said of his Lausanne performance. "I felt good in Rome the other night, but for some reason, in the race I just didn’t feel my rhythm. Here I felt a little bit better."

And he looked better two, taking out "just" five hurdles, a marked improvement from the eight he battered in Rome.

"That’s one thing I wanted to concentrate on here," he said, laughing. "I wanted to come here and run a cleaner race, and I felt like I did that."

With the U.S. trials and their demanding schedule so close to the Rome and Lausanne meets, less than a handful of Americans were present. But for Johnson, the thought to not compete didn't even cross his mind.

"I figured, why not come? Just come over, and get a couple good races," he said. "I came over here to run some fast races to better prepare me for the Olympic Trials. When you’re at home training, you run mostly repetitions, so physically it’s different too. You need to have some quality races to stay in tune."

Even if the trials schedule wasn't in his favor, the Lausanne competition, Johnson said, is one that's virtually always remained on his schedule since he first competed here ten years ago.

"At the time it was GPI, and it was the first Grand Prix meet I’ve ever been to in my life," he recalls. "I remember warming up in the warm up field, and as I was walking back they were about to start the men’s 100. So I stopped in the tunnel to watch the men’s 100, and Leroy Burrell breaks the world record. So this place has always had a special feeling for me."

As for Sacramento? No worries.

"I feel great," he emphasized. "I feel like at the trials all I want is to get top-three, because if I can just run what I’ve run in the past five or six races, I doubt very seriously that there’ll be three people that will finish in front of me."

The TRACK PROFILE REPORT is a news and feature service published by the Track Profile News Service. In addition to regularly dispatched news, profile and interview features, subscribers also receive exclusive on-site updates from major national and international competitions, usually within 24 hours. Copyright (c) 2004 by Bob Ramsak and TRACK PROFILE. All rights reserved. Reproduction, republication, reposting and retransmission in ANY form is strictly prohibited without express permission from the editor.