Age means little as Miles-Clark advances

By Elliott Denman

Gannett News Service

ATHENS, Greece - Like fine wine, Jearl Miles-Clark gets better with her advancing years.

At 37, Miles-Clark is a relative senior citizen in track and field.

But age and speed are not at all mutually exclusive, a point Miles-Clark drove home again Saturday night at Olympic Stadium.

With a 1:58.71 performance in the semifinals, the four-time Olympian ran her way into Monday night's women's 800-meter final. She will be trying to claim her fourth Olympic medal - but the first in an individual event. Miles-Clark of Knoxville, Tenn., did it the hard way. Outkicked for one of the two places in her heat that would have given her an automatic spot in the final, she had to sweat out the other two semis before learning she had advanced based on her time.

``I lost my focus,'' she said. ``And I should have known better.''

Another Knoxville-based athlete, Tennessee grad Anthony Famiglietti, had no such luck in the 3,000 steeplechase. He got caught in a traffic jam, crashed into a barrier three laps through his semifinal, crumbled to the track and lost a chance to move into Tuesday night's 15-man final.

Battered and bloodied, Famiglietti pulled himself off the deck and gave chase to the field, finishing eighth in 8:31.59. It took an 8:22.16 to qualify.

``That thing (the three-foot steeplechase barrier) hits you like a brick wall,'' said Famiglietti. ``But I wasn't going to let anything like that stop me. This is the Olympic Games, man. I would have finished that race on one leg.

``I was running great until then, too, tied for second, maybe. I had my race all planned. I was going to make my big move with three laps to go.

``But everything changed in that split second.''

Miles-Clark's three previous Olympic medals came in 4x400 relays, golds in 1996 and 2000 and silver in 1992. Her best individual finish was a fifth place in the 400 final at the '96 Games in Atlanta.