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But then he did go out on a stretcher again in the final, lasting to the bell lap in the thick of the field before casually stepping into the infield and melting. Neither Cruz nor South African Expatriate Sydney Maree made it even to the starting line, the strapping Brazilian having to excuse himself from the semis with flu, and Maree waiting until the last week to give in reluctantly to a slow-healing knee. Black or white, the South Africans who changed countries in search of sport found no glory in Los Angeles. Coe won the milers' race, emitting a defiant and uncharacteristic shout at the finish, presumably toward Fleet Street. The penny press has given Coe a couple of rough years, but he is the first man in Olympic history to repeat in the 1,500. "It took me back to some of my better races," he said.
The men's 400 was advertised not only as a splendid match but as a juicy grudge between Jamaican World Champion Bert Cameron and chatty Antonio McKay of the U.S. "I just set my sights on the guy in front of me and chew him up, blip, blip, blip," boasted McKay. "I'm going to destroy Bert Cameron." Dismissing McKay's threat, Cameron checked the field, including two beautifully named Nigerians, Sunday Uti and Innocent Egbunike, and mused, "Alonzo Babers is so relaxed when he's running. Maybe McKay should be watching him instead of me." So it happened that Cameron was injured in the semifinals, and in the end McKay finished third to Babers, a U.S. Air Force lieutenant about to begin pilot training-jets, naturally. McKay pushed his forehead into the track and rocked with embarrassment.
Gabriel Tiacoh's silver medal in the 400 was the first of any kind for the Ivory Coast. Morocco got two golds, including Said Aouita's in the 5,000 meters. Casablanca-born Nawal El Moutawakel won the women's 400 hurdles to give Morocco its first, also thought to be the only medal ever won by an Arab woman. When someone handed her a flag to flap about the Coliseum, she cried into it instead, explaining, "The people in my country have hoped this." A gang of Americans intended to monopolize the discus throw with 230-ft. throws, but a goateed West German in dark glasses, Rolf Danneberg, won instead with a modest fling of 218 ft. 6 in. He looked mortified.
Another happy scene: the Joyner siblings of East St. Louis, Ill., finished practically together on the same night, although in an ironic order. Al has always been the plodder, Jackie has always been the star. But as she was winning the silver in the heptathlon, he was winning the gold in the triple jump. Al qualified for the final on his last attempt, but won it on his first, a hip, hop and leap of 56 ft. 7½ in. Not that he stopped jumping, though he did pause once to run the infield curve near Jackie in the 800, her climactic ordeal. Leading narrowly after six events but obliged to stay within a couple of seconds of Australian Glynis Nunn, she slipped three seconds behind and lost by a mere five points (6,390 to 6,385). The long jump, her staple usually, betrayed her when she managed only 20 ft. ½ in.