Back on the Gold Standard

Rarely in the 72-year history of the modern Olympic Games has another country managed to win more gold medals than the U.S. That event last occurred at Rome in 1960, when the Russians collected 43 to the Americans' 34 by scoring heavily in such events as gymnastics, Greco-Roman wrestling and canoeing. No such upset is likely in the 1968 Olympics, which begin next week in Mexico City. Though the competition will be tougher than ever, with a record 7,226 athletes from 119 countries, U.S prospects have never looked brighter, particularly in the major Olympic sports--track and field, and swimming. Says Coach Payton Jordan of his track and field squad: "It's the greatest team we've ever had."

Dash of Strength. Most other experts agree that U.S. trackmen will do even better in Mexico City than they did at Tokyo in 1964, when they won twelve out of 24 gold medals and broke two world records. Impressive as that 1964 showing was, the U.S. won no medals at all in three track events: the 800-meter run, the steeplechase and the decathlon. One indication of the superiority of this year's team is that Americans may well win all three. New York's Tom Farrell and Oregon's Wade Bell are top contenders for the 800 meters. They ran one-two at last month's Olympic trials, and Farrell's time of 1 min. 46.5 sec. should be enough to win if he can match it at Mexico City. George Young, a skinny, crew-cut schoolteacher from Arizona, is a solid threat to become the U.S.'s first gold-medal winner in the steeplechase since 1952. Bill Toomey, a 195-lb. muscleman from Santa Barbara, Calif., is the only man in the world who has scored more than 8,200 points in the grueling, ten-event decathlon this year.

Americans traditionally are strong in the dashes. This year California's Jim Hines and Washington's Charlie Greene are co-holders of the world record (9.9 sec.) for 100 meters, and New York's John Carlos tuned up for the Olympic 200 meters last month by clipping .3 sec. off the old world mark of 20 sec.

Call for Brink's. The U.S. track team has no fewer than ten world record holders, most of whom are naturally favored to capture first place in their specialties. Lee Evans, a whippet-like San Jose State College senior, owns the 400-meter record of 44 sec., and is expected to both win that event and lead a victorious U.S. 1,600-meter relay team. After failing to qualify for the U.S. Olympic squad in the 800-meter run, Kansas' Jim Ryun finally made it in the 1,500 meters, for which he holds the record. Concentrating on only one event should practically ensure him a gold medal. Two weeks ago, Jay Silvester, a Utah insurance salesman, broke his own world mark in the discus with a toss of 224 ft. 5 in., which is more than 10 ft. farther than anybody else has ever flung the 4-lb. 61-oz. wood and' metal saucer.

The U.S. should win at least 15 out of the 24 track and field events in Mexico City. But even that kind of performance is likely to pale next to the anticipated exploits of U.S. swimmers. Led by Debbie Meyer, a snub-nosed 16-year-old from Sacramento, Calif., who could become the first swimmer to win three gold medals in individual events in one Olympics, U.S. aquanauts are expected to win 23 out of 29 races and collect as many as 55 out of 87 medals--gold, silver and bronze. They may need an armored car to get their loot back across the border.

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