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Thursday, September 21, 2000
In lane five, the guy who barely made it to the Olympics. In lane six, the 1996 gold medalist. Hawaii’s Nakanelua
running alongside
Donovan BaileyTong disappointed in judo loss
By Dave Reardon
Star-Bulletin
But Kelsey Nakanelua and Donovan Bailey have something in common -- they're both sick.
Nakanelua and Bailey were scheduled to line up next to each other in the first round of the 100 meters this afternoon.
Hopefully at least one of them brought some tissue.
Nakanelua, the Kaneohe resident representing American Samoa, has a cold.
Bailey, the Canadian who came back from a career-threatening achilles' injury this year, is suffering from flu symptoms.
They were scheduled to run at 3:11 p.m. HST in the seventh of 11 first-round heats with nine runners each.
Hawaii's Olympians
COMPETING TODAY:
Beach volleyball: Honolulu's Kevin Wong and partner Rob Heidger begin second-round elimination play.
When to watch
TODAY
10 a.m.-noon; 4 p.m.-9 p.m.; 9:35 p.m.-11:05 p.m.
7 a.m.-2 p.m., repeats 9 p.m.-4 a.m.
2 p.m.-6 p.m.
The first three finishers in each heat and the sprinters with the next seven best times advance to tonight's second round.
The semifinals and final are tomorrow.
Even with Bailey much more ill than Nakanelua is, the Kamehameha graduate knew he was a longshot to advance.
"My best time (10.59) is the slowest in my heat," the Kamehameha graduate said yesterday from Sydney.
Still, Nakanelua said he was excited to be in his high-profile heat (heats and lanes were randomly selected), which also includes Great Britain's Dwain Chambers and local favorite Paul DiBella of Australia.
Nakanelua said he can beat Bailey -- for part of the race.
"It feels good to be next to him. I bet I knock his ass off the start," Nakanelua said last night. "My goal is to beat Donovan Bailey for the first 30 meters.
"I think I'll be OK; I've run well with colds before," Nakanelua added.