6/26/08

PORTLAND - Twenty-eight years ago, when the United States Olympic track and field trials were last held at Hayward Field on the University of Oregon campus in Eugene, earning one of the three slots on the American team was the equivalent of a mayoral candidate in Baltimore winning the Democratic primary. Just as the victorious politician was a shoo-in in the general election, the winning athlete had already proved herself among the best in the world. Now that the trials have returned to Eugene, by contrast, America has long since ceded domination of distance running to the Africans. And in events where American athletes still flourish -- the sprints and jumps -- doping has all but destroyed public confidence. In 2008, most elite American track-and-field performers are thrilled to get to the point where they’re suspected of juicing.