More Than Just One of the Johnsons

ATHENS â€”  Allen Johnson got the good news early, as soon as he saw Thursday night’s schedule at the IAAF World Championships and didn’t see any mention of that other Johnson, the one with the big thighs and the 200-meter world record.

“He never wants to run a final the same night Michael Johnson runs,� said his coach, Curtis Frye.

Allen Johnson has been there before, at Atlanta in 1996, and got the short, short, exceedingly short end of the marquee.

Johnson & Johnson?

Not even close. Last summer, it was: Michael Johnson Wins The 400, Michael Johnson Scores Historic Double, Michael Johnson Makes A Lot of Money For Nike . . . and, oh, right, This Other Guy Named Johnson Did Pretty Well Too.

Actually, on the night Allen Johnson won the Olympic gold medal in the men’s 110-meter hurdles, he didn’t even manage second billing. That evening, Carl Lewis also won his ninth--and final--Olympic gold medal with an upset victory in the long jump.

Thursday night, Allen Johnson became the first high hurdler to win two world titles and an Olympic gold medal in three years--and nearly equaled the world record in the process. Johnson ran 12.93 seconds--two hundredths of a second off Colin Jackson’s 1993 mark of 12.91.

“Allen was brilliant,� said Jackson, the British 1993 world champion who finished second in this race at 13.05. “He made no mistakes. . . . I thought I might be able to sneak the gold medal, but Allen had a phenomenal race.�

Still, he is unable to outrun the Johnson named Michael.

That considerably richer Johnson was mentioned during Allen Johnson’s postrace news conference, when a foreign journalist asked, “Who is the No. 1 Johnson now?�

“Well, there are a lot of Johnsons out there,� was the diplomatic reply. “Lawrence Johnson [the U.S. pole vaulter]. Michael Johnson. All I can do is be the No. 1 Allen Johnson.�

In this final, Johnson was so good, Jackson was elated just to have finished a respectable second. Seated next to Johnson in the interview room, Jackson joked with his rival and giggled, carrying on so giddily that a puzzled moderator had to ask, “Aren’t you a little upset you did not win the gold medal?�

Jackson’s coach, Malcolm Arnold, answered that one for his athlete.

“Had Colin beaten [Johnson] today, he probably would have had to beat his own world record,� Arnold said. “That puts it in context.�

Jackson, who hadn’t won a medal at a major international meet since the 1994 Commonwealth Games, explained, “If you look at the season I’ve had, I was lucky to make the final. I achieved the time I wanted. I wanted 13.05.�

Third place went to Igor Kovac of Slovakia in 13.18. Americans Terry Reese and Mark Crear finished sixth and seventh in 13.30 and 13.55.

Jackson’s 1997 season had been hampered by a knee injury and a nagging lack of confidence, which Johnson hopes was corrected Thursday, for the benefit of the sport.

“I’m excited to see that he’s back,� Johnson said. “With both of us running the way we are, we have a chance to move hurdling to some place entirely new.�

Where would that be, exactly?

Johnson has already picked out the place.

Remembering the 1996 Olympics, Johnson said, “It’s an honor to take the same track as Carl Lewis and Michael Johnson. Maybe, someday, they’ll say they were on the same track with me.�

*

Tonight’s 200-meter finals shape up as a battle between American Inger Miller and Jamaica’s Merlene Ottey on the women’s side and a three-way race among Ato Boldon of Trinidad and Tobago, Frankie Fredericks of Namibia and Jon Drummond of the United States for the men.

Ottey ran the best semifinal time Thursday--22.26 seconds--in winning one heat, Miller winning the other in 22.59.

Boldon, Fredericks and Drummond--grouped in the same semifinal heat--recorded the three best times of the day. Boldon won in 20.09, followed by Fredericks in 20.18 and Drummond in 20.29.

Michael Johnson, the 1995 world champion at 200 meters, is skipping the event this year, saying he didn’t want to overextend the left leg he injured in June.