OLYMPICS 19 DAYS TO THE GAMES : Kenyan Great Fails to Make the Team

Ismail Kirui, a gold medalist in the 5,000 meters at the 1993 and 1995 World Championships, failed to make the Kenyan Olympic team after finishing eighth in 14 minutes, 10.41 seconds at the trials in Nairobi.

Tom Nyariki was the surprise winner of the 5,000 in 13:28.30. Paul Bitok, the silver medalist at the 1992 Barcelona Games, was second in 13:29.25.

This year’s Boston Marathon champion, Moses Tanui, did not finish the 10,000-meter race. He pulled out before the halfway mark because of a left tendon injury.

The first two finishers gained automatic berths; third athlete is chosen through a wild-card system.

*

Don Myrah of Saratoga, Calif., overcame fatigue and former world champion Ned Overend of Durango, Colo., in Bellaire, Mich., to earn the final spot on the U.S. Olympic mountain bike racing team. Myrah finished in 10th place, earning enough points to pass Overend. . . . The Georgia National Guard may have found Atlanta’s cheapest room rates during the Olympics--$49 a day for a cell at the DeKalb County Jail. Guardsmen who will provide security during the Games began moving into the jail Friday. The 275 men who will provide security during the games have a floor to themselves, away from the inmates.

Perks--such as free meals and laundry service, not to mention air conditioning--make the jail a preferable location to the barracks and tents guardsmen are used to living in, said a spokesman.