Allen Johnson’s bid to win Olympic medals 12 years apart is on track. AJ, the 1996 Atlanta champion, took second to Athens champ and world record holder Xiang Liu of China today in the 60-meter hurdles at the IAAF worlds in Valencia, Spain. Allen beat Liu out of the blocks but couldn’t hold him off. Just reaching the final is incredible; the guy turned 37 last Saturday. Of course, the downside is that every 30-something track star out there will turn up their noses at the masters circuit. If Allen is still going strong over 42-inch hurdles, why lower yourself to running 39s? (Meanwhile, 37-year-old Dragutin Topic failed to medal in the high jump, but 31-year-old Stefan Holm of Sweden took gold. Great play-by-play here.)

Some good stories are coming out on Allen.
The Washington Post a couple days ago talked to him about his Beijing “wild goose chase.”
And from today’s International Herald Tribune:

Johnson, an Olympic gold medalist in 1996 and four-time world champion indoors, was one of Liu’s role models when Liu was dreaming of an international career. Now they are rivals at different stages of their careers, even though Johnson confesses to feeling surprisingly spry for an athlete closer to 40 than 30.
“Nothing I do is more difficult now than it was 10 years ago as long as I’m healthy,” he said. “So a lot of people talk about my age, and I’m wondering, when am I going to feel like I thought 37 years old was supposed to feel like?”
Johnson was in a reflective mood Saturday, and one of the subjects he discussed was Marion Jones, his former teammate who began serving a six-month prison sentence in Fort Worth on Friday after admitting that she had lied to federal agents about using performance-enhancing drugs.
“First, I think it’s unfortunate for her, but I’d never say it’s a dark day for the sport,” Johnson said. “And the reason I don’t say that is because track and field has decided to implement a testing program and it seems to be pretty effective.”
“I always tell people, I think people should look at track and field and applaud us because we’re not protecting anyone. If Marion Jones can go down, then anyone can. There were times, especially in the ’90s, among athletes where we felt there were certain athletes that were protected. Nobody has any proof, but that was the general consensus. It was always, ‘This person is never going to test positive.’ Whereas now you really don’t have that among the athletes.”
Johnson said the sight of Jones crying and apologizing on courthouse steps last year could serve as a deterrent.
“Oh yeah,” he said. “I was shocked. My daughter was shocked. She asked me about it. I think Marion for this generation is what Ben Johnson was for mine. I was a senior in high school. Ben Johnson wins the Olympic 100 in Seoul and the next day, he’s positive, and for me it was, See, that’s why you don’t take steroids.”

Results from worlds:

60 Metres Hurdles – M Final
08 March 2008 – 20:35Position Lane Bib Athlete Country Mark . React
1 6 57 Xiang Liu CHN 7.46 (SB) 0.217
2 8 347 Allen Johnson USA 7.55 . 0.176
3 3 215 Stanislavs Olijars LAT 7.60 (SB) 0.136
3 7 277 Evgeniy Borisov RUS 7.60 . 0.232
5 5 145 Thomas Blaschek GER 7.64 . 0.198
6 4 141 Allan Scott GBR 7.65 . 0.148
7 1 95 Jackson Qui��nez ESP 7.66 . 0.217
8 2 66 Yoel Hern�ndez CUB 7.91 . 0.249