Burrell Thinks He Can Go Faster

TOKYO —  Leroy Burrell owns the fastest 100 meters in history--and he thinks he can improve on it.

“I didn’t run my best race,” Burrell said Thursday of his world record performance. “I can run the perfect race and I haven’t done that yet.”

Burrell may have to in the World Championships, which begin Saturday. His opposition will include former world record-holder and two-time Olympic champion Carl Lewis, Dennis Mitchell and 1988 Olympic silver medalist Linford Christie of Britain. Other top competitors include Ray Stewart of Jamaica, Frank Fredericks of Namibia and Bruny Surin of Canada.

Burrell respects them all but has victories over each this season. Burrell is undefeated in 100-meter races this yeare, highlighting his season with the world record performance of 9.90 seconds at the U.S. Championships at New York on June 14. The time broke Lewis’ mark of 9.92.

“I didn’t feel fit in New York,” Burrell said. “I didn’t think I was at my best. I feel I was in better shape last year than this, but my running hasn’t shown it.”

Pictures show that Burrell ran even faster than 9.90.

“The pictures I received from the national championships read closer to 9.89 than 9.90, but in track and field, you always go up than down.”

Last year, Burrell was not perfect. He won 19 of 22 races, with two seconds and a third. But he was ranked No. 1 in the world. His big wins were in the Goodwill Games, where he beat Lewis, and in the Grand Prix final.

Neither those meets nor the national championships compares in stature with the World Championships or the Olympic Games -- the two big titles Burrell is concentrating on.

He comes into his first World Championships bristling with confidence.

His consistent performances this season, including times of 9.96, 10.02, 10.04 and 10.06, plus his workouts since his last race Aug. 7 at Zurich, Switzerland, have buoyed his outlook.

“I have had very productive training sessions here and in Houston,” Burrell said, and “I am confident I will do well.”

After testing the new surface at Tokyo’s National Stadium, Burrell said it had a “unique surface” and was “harder than most tracks.”

“But it’s hard to know how fast it is,” he said. “I believe all tracks are fast when you put fast people on them. I feel we will burn the track up.”

Burrell said that being the world record-holder has “brought pressure, but not much more, because this is a pressure-packed sport.”

“I have lived with pressure the last two years,” Burrell said. “I have prepared myself well for pressure.”

He better be prepared for this meet. He’ll have to run four rounds in the 100 -- two Saturday and two Sunday -- plus two rounds each Monday and Tuesday in the 200, and two rounds in the 400-meter relay, one Aug. 31, the other Sept. 1.

“To come this far and not win a gold medal, it would be a long flight home,” he said.

The 100 and relay appear to be certain medal events for Burrell, but the 200 could pose problems.

His best 200 time of the year, 20.31, ranks only seventh among the competitors in the meet, far behind world leader Michael Johnson.

Although Burrell was the only runner to beat Johnson last year, he was beaten decisively by Johnson in the U.S. Championships, and lost to Britain’s John Regis last month in London.

“I need to get my start right and improve my running round the curver,” Burrell said.

Those are the two facets of his race he’s been working on in the last two weeks.

“I’m more confident in the 200 than I was a week ago.”