Johnson Is an Easy Winner in 200

In a routine tuneup for his million-dollar match race against Donovan Bailey next weekend, Michael Johnson won the 200 meters in 20.17 seconds at the Prefontaine Classic track and field meet Sunday before a capacity Hayward Field crowd of 13,856 at Eugene, Ore.

“I ran it. That was all I needed to do,” Johnson said. “I needed to run a race to get tuned up. It wasn’t like I needed to come in here and run any particular time or any particular kind of race. I just needed to get a race in.”

Johnson, the meet’s unchallenged headliner after Carl Lewis withdrew because his injured right Achilles’ tendon was too sore, easily defeated Jon Drummond, who finished second at 20.46.

Johnson said he will go back home to Dallas, then will head for Toronto to prepare for the June 1 showdown with Bailey. His time Sunday was fourth-fastest in the world this year.

“I feel like I can run faster than that,” he said. “It wasn’t the best race. But I’ve got plenty of time to get ready.”

The Prefontaine meet is the only U.S. stop on the IAAF Grand Prix circuit and featured four of the year’s world best times--1:57.57 by Maria Mutola of Mozambique in the women’s 800, 7:39.22 by Bob Kennedy in the men’s 3,000, 13.18 by Mark Crear in the men’s 110 hurdles and 3:52.68 by Laban Rotich of Kenya in the men’s mile.

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Mary Slaney says the nightmare of being suspected of using a performance-enhancing substance is the most painful thing she ever has endured in her injury-plagued running career.

“This is an attack on my integrity,” said Slaney, who reportedly tested positive for excessive levels of the male hormone testosterone at last year’s U.S. Olympic Trials. “It is an attack on everything that I believe to be good in the sport.

“I feel like this whole thing is going to taint everything I’ve ever done athletically.”

In a tearful interview aired by CBS on Sunday, Slaney denied that she had taken performance-enhancing substances.

“I have never taken anything that’s banned,” she said. “That’s absurd. I haven’t done what I’ve been accused of doing.”

Tennis

Albert Costa and Felix Mantilla led Spain to victory over Australia in the final at the World Team Cup at Duesseldorf, Germany.

Costa held off two match points to defeat Mark Philippoussis, 3-6, 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (9-7), and clinch the best-of-three final after Mantilla downed Mark Woodforde, 7-5, 6-2, in the opening match.

With the title decided, Tomas Carbonell and Francisco Roig won the doubles, 6-3, 7-5, against Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge, the Olympic champions, to give Spain a sweep.

Spain’s fourth cup victory, worth $500,000, tied it with the United States for most tournament wins.

Horse Racing

Desert King took the lead 300 yards from the finish and romped to a three-length victory in the Irish 2,000 Guineas at Dublin, Ireland, to give trainer Aidan O’Brien his second Classic triumph in two days.

O’Brien had a 1-2 finish in Saturday’s Irish 1,000 Guineas for fillies when Classic Park headed Strawberry Roan for the trainer’s first Classic victory.

Beach Volleyball

Top-seeded Kent Steffes and Jose Liola won their sixth tournament of the season on the Miller Lite/AVP Tour by defeating Eric Wurts and Henry Russell in the championship of the $100,000 San Antonio Open.

Doug Partie and Dan Hanan led Team Outdoor Products to a 13-12 sudden death victory over Team American Beach Volleyball League at the Bud Light Open in Atlanta.