Top U.S. triple jumper fails to advance

By ELLIOTT DENMAN

Gannett News Service

ATHENS, Greece - Melvin Lister headed into the Olympic Games with the longest triple jump in the world this year - a leap of 58 feet, 4 inches that carried him to victory at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Sacramento, Calif. last month.

But a lot more than air miles separate the Trials from the Olympic Games, where old press clippings don't mean a thing.

Lister found this out the hard way Friday morning at Olympic Stadium, where he never got his approach steps together and ended up 18th in the qualifying round of 47 athletes with a jump of 54-7 1/4.

Louisianans Kenta Bell and Walter Davis, his U.S. teammates, weren't at their best, either, but a lot more fortunate. Bell's effort 55-8 1/2 ranked 10th, and Davis' 55-7 put him 11th, allowing both to be among the 12 qualifiers for Sunday night's final.

Christian Olsson of Sweden, the 2003 world champion, led the way with a mark of 58-0 1/4. Right behind him were Yoandri Betanzos of Cuba (57-6 1/4) and Marian Oprea of Romania (57-2 3/4.)

``If I can't trust my approach, I just can't jump well,'' said Lister. And he couldn't determine where to start that approach because meet officials wouldn't let him take his personal measuring tape, marked off in feet and inches, onto the field.

The runway was marked off in metrics, and Lister had difficulty with the conversion.

Davis, who jumped 57-10 1/4 at the Trials, and Bell, who jumped 57-8 1/4, were far off that form but made the final, nevertheless.

``I'm still alive in this thing, I've lived to play another day, and that's the only thing that counts,'' said Bell, a 2000 graduate of Louisiana-Monroe who won the gold medal at the 2001 World University Games.

``I've got the trials out of the way, and I can just concentrate on the finals. Physically, I'm fine. My health is not a problem. Sunday's a whole new day.''

Davis, an alumnus of Beau Chene High School in Arnaudville, La., and LSU, is taking a similar approach.

``It was pretty tough, but I'm just going to put this behind me and start all over,'' he said.

A three-time NCAA champion, Davis made the 2000 U.S. Olympic team in both the long and triple jumps but opted to compete only in the triple jump, finishing 11th in Sydney.