A Matter of Race

THE 1,500 METERS

Politics and providence permitting, one of the most memorable foot races of modern times would have been the 1,500-meter final on Saturday, July 31, the last full day of the Olympics. Tanzania's Filbert Bayi, the world record holder in the 1,500 (3:32.2), was expected to confront New Zealand's John Walker, the fastest man ever to run the slightly longer--by 120 yds.--mile (3:49.4). Walker's best time in the 1,500 is only a hairbreadth two-tenths of a second off Bayi's record, set in the Commonwealth Games at Christchurch, New Zealand, in 1974.

But politics and providence have not been kind to these runners. Although Bayi (pronounced Bye-ee) and Walker have been scheduled to compete against each other numerous times during the past two years, the combination of malaria (Bayi's), aching Achilles' tendons (Walker's) and governments (both Bayi's and Walker's) has kept them from meeting outdoors in the 1,500 or the mile since June 1974. Again last Friday, just when their long-awaited encounter seemed certain, misfortune intervened, this time in the form of the announcement that Tanzania was withdrawing its athletes from the Olympics if New Zealand was allowed to compete. Despite the threat of an Olympic boycott by the Organization of African Unity (O.A.U.), New Zealand last month had sent its internationally esteemed "All Blacks" rugby team (a reference to the color of its uniforms, not skin) on a South African tour, a move that seemed doubly offensive to black Africans because it came shortly after the bloody rioting at Soweto. Although the O.A.U. had turned down a Tanzanian-sponsored boycott resolution earlier in the week, Dar es Salaam decided to take action on its own.

Bayi, a 23-year-old Tanzanian air force lieutenant and flight mechanic, has consistently said he would accept his government's decision about the Olympics. "Sure I want to run against Walker," Bayi said recently, "but that's not the most important thing. We have to fight against apartheid."

Such self-abnegation cannot have come easily. So intense was Bayi's desire to stave off Walker's onslaught on his record that he had been rising before dawn each morning at the Tanzanian training camp near Mount Kilimanjaro to take a brisk, eight-mile jog through the chill highlands air--at a formidable sub-six-minute-mile pace. Later in the day, after calisthenics and a rest, the slightly built (5 ft. 9 in., 135 Ibs.) miler would run to the point of exhaustion. Unlike the notoriously roistering Walker, Bayi does not smoke or drink, and, while training, he tucked himself chastely into bed by 8:30 p.m. He had even postponed marriage to his fiancee, who bore him a son last fall, until after the Olympics.

Walker, 24, whose training was as punishing if not as puritan as Bayi's, had been greatly relieved to learn of the Tanzanian's rigorous schedule. It dispelled the intimidating notion popular among Bayi's competitors--that he had tapped some magical source of stamina in the upcountry of Africa that the world would never share. Unlike Bayi--who seems to glide effortlessly over the track with a feathery gait, his delicate, slender features contorted only by an occasional smile--Walker runs a noisy, grimacing race, punctuated by grunts and the thud of heavy footfalls. Part of the drama of a Bayi-Walker race, whenever and wherever it takes place, will be the sight of a front-running Mercury with Hercules at his heels.

Walker seemed more disturbed, or perhaps only more candid, than Bayi about the Tanzanian decision. "We're sportsmen," he fumed last weekend. "It's bloody crazy to make us into politicians." Then, trying to take the edge off his disappointment, he added: "The 1,500 will still be a good race. There are other good 1,500 men around." Kenya's Mike Boit, Ireland's Eamonn Coghlan and the United States' Rick Wohlhuter are indeed good 1,500 men, athletes who in any other race would rarely suffer the tag of also-rans; but to have taken a significant role in a Walker-Bayi battle they would have needed to improve considerably on their previous bests.

To beat Bayi in the 1,500, New Zealand's (6 ft. 1 in., 165 Ibs.) national hero was aiming at a 3:30 time. His coach, Arch Jelley, a man not known for optimistic pronouncements, thinks Walker can still set that record. His performance the past two weeks makes the mark seem possible. Walker has been preparing for Montreal by competing ferociously in Europe. On a windy day in Oslo, he broke Michel Jazy's 2,000-meter world record by nearly five seconds (the new mark: 4:51.4). Five days later in Stockholm, he won the 1,500 meters in 3:34.2, surpassing Bayi's 3:34.8 as the year's best. What makes Walker so good? Says he: "I attribute 70% of my ability to inheritance. My father was a champion cyclist, excellent runner and good tennis player." The rest is just "grinding it out in hard slog for 21 hours a week, running when the rain sets in, being buzzed by smart bastards in cars and even, like a few months ago, ending spread-eagled [but unharmed] over the bonnet of a car that zoomed out of a driveway."

The good genes and hard slog will not be wasted at Montreal, with or without Bayi. The regret is that without Bayi, Walker may not be pressed to his ultimate under the glorious conditions that an Olympics provides.

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