of James Carter moves into a different time zone tomorrow.
A 22-year-old graduate of Mervo High, Carter is one of the most unlikely
members of an American track team that expects to make a solid medal haul at
the Olympics. He is a second faster than he was a year ago, but the
prognosticators aren’t giving him good odds in the 400-meter hurdles, which
begin tomorrow.
Carter was pretty much a nobody in his event in 1999, and he remains a
mystery man. His major international meet debut will come at 110,000-seat
Olympic Stadium, and he hasn’t been in a serious race since he qualified third
at the U.S. trials July 22.
“I am here to prove all of the critics wrong,” Carter said this week. “Once
again, I’m predicted not to do anything. Track and Field News noted that I
didn’t run any races in August. That’s OK. I’m fit, I’m healthy.”
Part of the reason Carter didn’t race in August can be traced to a dispute
with his former agent. He has had plenty of time to practice since he lowered
his personal best to 48.46 seconds at the trials. Has the time off also put a
chip on his shoulder?
“Nah, I just use that stuff as comic relief,” he said. “I say to myself,
‘Oh, you don’t think I can do so and so,’ and I laugh. I expect it. No one
expects me to do anything. They didn’t expect me to make the team.”
Carter went to Hampton University, but he is now a pro. For the past three
weeks, he has been following a training plan that was prepared for him by a
Hampton assistant coach, Maurice Pierce. His workouts in Australia have been
monitored by Bubba Thornton, an assistant on the American coaching staff.
“He [Thornton] asks me every day, ‘What’s the workout?'” Carter said. “He
times me. I don’t look at it as being a weird situation. In the end, the
feedback, it’s me.”
Carter is capable of making the final, and there is no invincible figure in
the field like Edwin Moses or Kevin Young, who established the world record in
the event eight years ago. The field includes three men who have run under 48
seconds this year, the fastest being fellow American Angelo Taylor at 47.62
seconds. South Africa’s Llewellyn Herbert and Eric Thomas of the United States
are the others.
“I always knew I could run with him,” Carter said of Taylor. “It’s a matter
of trusting what I’ve done since the trials. I know Angelo will be ready, but
he may not be the one to beat.”
A former Baltimore rival could join Carter in the meet, as Carver graduate
Bernard Williams was waiting for the aftermath of today’s 100, which will have
an impact on the American 400-meter relay team. Williams runs for HSI, the Los
Angeles-based club that sent favorite Maurice Greene, Jon Drummond and Curtis
Johnson into the semifinals. HSI wants Williams to join those three and make
up the American 400 relay.
Williams is listed on the American roster, but may have to wait until
Monday to learn his fate.
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Carter will become the first graduate of a Baltimore area high school to
compete in Olympic track and field since 1972, when Bob Wheeler ran in the
1,500 meters two years out of Dulaney High. Douglass High grad Cliff Wiley
qualified in the 400 for the 1980 Olympics, which the United States boycotted.
“Every day I see something here that makes me say, ‘Wow,'” Carter said.