“On the day, YOUR best is not necessarily THE best. YOUR best is the performance you seek. You can do no more.”
Where: Los Angeles Coliseum
When: 1984
What: Olympic Trials 1500
Who: Ruth Wysocki (#139) beating Mary Decker (#337)
“Seeing runners accelerate off the starting line, bodies first leaning out then coming gracefully upright, raising their knees, going to their toes, initiating a sudden change of pace, 
watching their eyes flick as they navigate the pack, I see art, rhythm, strength, control…I see dancing.”
Where: Los Angles Coliseum
When: 1984
What: Olympic Trials 3000 qualifying heat
Who: Mary Decker
Photos by Jeff Johnson
Quotes by Jeff Johnson from his work in progress: “In Other Words: Things I Think I Said When I Was Trying To Think Of Something To Say.”
If you are interested in a poster version of a photo from this series, they are available for a small charge. Contact us via nhtrackandfield@gmail.com.
2 Responses
These pics are quite amazing. Brings back lots of memories of when I came of age as a runner. I heard rumor there is a photo of the ’92 world cross country championships held in Franklin Park that had two junior runners, unknown at the time, side by side battling it out. that more than 25 years later, are multiple Olympic champions. That’s the poster version I want.
Maybe we should save that one for the fall…but i would also like a poster version of that one as well!!!