American 'gentlemen' sweep Olympic
200
Bernard
Williams (right - 3362) must have learned a thing or two at the Sydney Olympics, because
he his American teammates were on their best behavior Thursday after sweeping
the 200 meters.
Shawn Crawford (center -3240)
won gold in 19.79 seconds, the fastest time in the world this year and a
personal best. He edged Williams, who tied his personal best of 20.01 seconds. Justin Gatlin, (left - 3363) the
100 champion, was third in 20.03.
It was the sixth
``I had my fun in 2000 and I made a lot of
people angry,'' Williams said. ``It's not fun when you're making people angry
at the same time. I learned how to do it right.''
Williams was on the 400-meter relay team
four years ago that posed and preened during a victory lap and then clowned on
the medals stand. A bare-chested Williams draped himself in a flag then,
flapping it as though he were a bird.
The display embarrassed
There weren't.
``We made it a focus,'' said Crawford,
whose flamboyant personality was notably subdued. ``We don't have to be
arrogant about anything. We can carry ourselves with honor. That's the stars
and stripes.''
Crawford's victory gave controversial coach
Trevor Graham a sweep of the men's short sprints. Crawford and Gatlin are
training partners under Graham, who acknowledged on the night of Gatlin's
victory that he was the coach who sent a syringe of a mystery steroid to
authorities last year -- fueling the drug scandal that has swept the sport.
Crawford, Williams and Gatlin knelt
together on the track after they crossed the finish line and then Crawford took
off on a victory lap, a laurel wreath on his head and a
Williams caught up to him, and the two were
trotting with a flag draped around both of their shoulders when long jump
winner Dwight
Phillips climbed the victory stand to accept his gold medal.
The sprinters stopped on the track as ``The
Star-Spangled Banner'' was played, Williams putting his right hand over his
heart.
``For me not to think about that would be
out of order,'' Williams said of his antics in
``I learned from my mistakes. I've made a
lot mistakes,'' he added, mentioning his positive test for marijuana at a meet
in Spain two months ago. ``Now
I've stopped. God's given me another chance, and now I'm doing it the right
way.''
The Americans were so determined to play
nice they didn't even bash the hostile crowd, which showered them with boos and
jeers in the absence of disgraced Greek hero Kostas Kenteris, who withdrew from the games after missing a drug
test.
The start of the race was delayed for four
minutes while fans whistled in derision and chanted ``Kenteris''
and ``
``I have no idea, and I don't want to
insinuate anything and be wrong,'' Williams said. ``But I do know it was more
noise than I've ever heard.''
Gatlin said he heard more booing after the
final results were posted, showing the
``We're going to represent the
Updated on
