It was back in the black-and-white TV days, when Olympic results still were shown on newsreels in movie theaters ("Don Schollander: The Boy Who Swims Like a Fish") and the Americans figured they had a chance to win any track race at the Games. Bob Schul and Bill Dellinger collected gold and bronze, respectively, in the 5,000 meters in Tokyo and Billy Mills took the 10,000, but it's never been anywhere near as good since. Until maybe now.

For the first time since 1964, the United States could pick up a men's distance medal (as opposed to a marathon medal) in Beijing this summer. Bernard Lagat's 1,500-5,000 double at last year's world championships made history, but what was most startling was his 5,000.

No Yank had even made the podium in that event at a global meet, yet the US came within a shoelace of making it two in Osaka, with Matt Tegenkamp missing a bronze by three-100ths of a second. "If I had another half-step, I would have had it," said Tegenkamp, who outkicked Chris Solinsky and Brookline native Jonathon Riley in a leisurely 8 minutes 2.52 seconds to retain his national 3,000-meter indoor title yesterday evening at the Reggie Lewis Center.