With track image tarnished, U.S. looks back to golden past

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When the U.S. Olympic track and field trials begin this week in Eugene, Ore., the quadrennial push will be on to crown ''the greatest.'' To find out who is the fastest, the strongest, the best.

But with the current state of track so badly tarnished by the scourge of performance-enhancing drugs, the trustworthy answer to such questions lies in the past. Forty years in the past, to be precise.

The best ever? The answer is the 1968 U.S. track team.

''That was the greatest Olympic team in history,'' said John Carlos, one of the most memorable figures on that team.

For four decades, that team's accomplishment has been overshadowed by Carlos and his teammate Tommie Smith and their extraordinary, iconic podium protest. ''Mexico City, 1968,'' means two raised fists and a firestorm of fallout.

But for the men and women on the team - a team that had roots at San Jose State and was shaped in the high altitude of Lake Tahoe - Mexico City '68 also is shorthand for the best track team ever assembled.

The names are legendary: Bob Beamon, Dick Fosbury, Wyomia Tyus, Al Oerter, Lee Evans, Smith and Carlos.

''Easily the greatest team ever,'' Evans said.

''And,'' said Barbara Ferrell, a gold and silver medalist, ''the cleanest.''

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