Something missing from U.S. track team

Only the men sprinters upheld the team's usual strong tradition.
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Track and field events at the Athens Olympics ended as they began, surrounded by history.
Eleven days after the competition opened 200 miles away in Ancient Olympia, it concluded in wild fashion Sunday night in the marble stadium in downtown Athens that hosted the 1896 Games, which marked the start of the modern Olympics.
Though there were plenty of memorable performances this summer -- Hicham El Guerrouj finally winning the 1,500 and then adding gold in the 5,000, Kelly Holmes sweeping the women's middle-distance races, a record five men breaking 10 seconds in the 100 final -- there was something missing.
The 2004 Olympics lacked a Cathy Freeman, who fulfilled a nation's dreams when she won 400-meter gold at her hometown Sydney Games. Or a beaming Marion Jones proclaiming boldly she was going for five golds in Sydney, and ending up with three golds and two bronze medals.
Or a Michael Johnson shattering the 200 record in Atlanta in 1996. Or the Ben Johnson-Carl Lewis 100-meter showdown in 1988, won by the Canadian and then forfeited because of steroids.
Disappointing relay
In fact, the defining moment of these games may have come when Jones reached once, twice, three times with the baton, gasping "Wait, wait, hold up, hold up, stop, WAIT!"
But Lauryn Williams was too far gone, and so was a taken-for-granted gold medal. The botched handoff knocked the American women out of the 400-meter relay and sent Jones home empty-handed from these Olympics.
The Athens Games also failed to produce a truly memorable feel-good track and field story among Americans -- though there were plenty of possibilities:
*Jones coming back as a champion 14 months after giving birth to a son.
*Gail Devers finally winning the hurdles in her fifth Olympics.
*Tom Pappas winning the decathlon in the land of his ancestors.
All left without a medal. Jones, under the cloud of a drug probe, was fifth in the long jump and then ran on the ill-fated relay. A bad calf felled Devers before her first hurdle. Pappas pulled out midway through his event with a foot injury.
Drugs had impact
And the drug stain that has enveloped track for the last year had its impact in Athens. Winners were questioned about drugs. Rumors spread as soon as an unexpected star emerged. And three champions -- so far -- have been stripped of gold medals because of doping.
Even some of the highlights this summer were tainted by drugs.
The shot put in Olympia was a classic -- until the first woman to win gold at the hallowed site tested positive for steroids. The 1-2-3 sweep by U.S. men in the 200 was delayed four minutes by Greek fans chanting for fallen hero Kostas Kenteris, who withdrew from the games after skipping a drug test.
Some inspiring performances on the Olympic Stadium track managed to put the drug issue in the shadows, at least for a few days.
Gatlin impressive
With triple medalist Justin Gatlin leading the way, U.S. men dominated the sprints. They won all but one of the medals in the 100, 200 and 400. Including the relays, the sprints accounted for 10 of the 19 medals won by American men here -- their best total since 1992.
"We were dominant," said Shawn Crawford, who won gold in the 100 and silver on the 400 relay. "We were able to keep up with the trend to show the United States is still strong in the sprints."
The women didn't do as well. Their six medals were the lowest total since 1976. But 18-year-old Allyson Felix and 20-year-old Lauryn Williams, silver medalists in the 200 and 100, could presage a better showing in the future.
Felix, Williams, 22-year-old Gatlin -- who put on quite a show in his debut Olympics, with gold in the 100, bronze in the 200 and silver as part of the 400-meter relay -- and 20-year-old Jeremy Wariner could be just what the sport needs as it tries to recover from the steroid scandal and increase its U.S. visibility.