He’s King of Long Jump, Not the Relay

Carl Lewis and I were excluded from the U.S. 400-meter relay team for the same reason: Neither of us applied for, qualified for, nor practiced with the team.

VOLNEY V. BROWN JR.

Dana Point

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The only thing that would have changed had Carl Lewis been on the relay team is that his detractors would now be blaming him for the loss.

EARL EAGER ALBERT

Temple City

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Congratulations to Coach Erv Hunt for holding Carl Lewis out of the 400-meter relay. Isn’t it sweet to see the NBC media blitz, the commercial benefactors (Nike, etc.), the newspaper commentators (Randy Harvey), the agents and the other 10-percenters go down in flames? Their unrelenting pressure did not compel Hunt to add Lewis to that relay team. The best four sprinters who showed up to practice ran.

I know I speak for many other track coaches in Southern California: Erv Hunt, a job well done. And, yes--congratulations to Canada for being the best in the world in the 400-meter relay.

TOM FISHER

Huntington Beach

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The front page of Sunday’s Times was almost unbelievable. Your editors believe that the loss of one gold medal in the relays is more important than the fact that U.S. teams won the other three. Who do you think you are?

ALICE WILLIAMS

Gardena

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I know the U.S. relay team could have won the gold medal had the runners’ minds been on the race, but how could they have been, with Carl Lewis campaigning all week in Atlanta? By doing this, he disrupted the team in the same fashion Magic Johnson did when he came back to the Lakers.

RYAN CROSNER, Age 11

Manhattan Beach