Young Breaks Record; 9 Medals for U.S. : Olympics: Track and field victories help Americans narrow ex-Soviets’ lead.

BARCELONA, Spain — Kevin Young was so excited about winning the Olympic gold medal in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles Thursday that he began looking for his time only as an afterthought.

When he saw it--46.78 seconds--flashing on the Montjuic Stadium scoreboard several moments later, he dropped to his knees and cried.

His first thought, the former UCLA hurdler from Los Angeles said, was that he had earned his niche in track and field history by becoming the first man to break 47 seconds in the event.

His second thought, he said, was of Edwin Moses, the two-time Olympic champion from Newport Beach who held the previous record of 47.02 for almost nine years before Thursday.

“Mr. Moses,” he said, “it’s fortunate I had you to pave the way for me. You’ll always be one of my heroes.”

Although Young’s performance easily was the most impressive, there were many U.S. track and field heroes Thursday. Americans won nine medals in six events, including golds by Young, Carl Lewis of Houston in the long jump, Mike Marsh of Los Angeles in the men’s 200 meters and Gwen Torrence of Decatur, Ga., in the women’s 200.

In addition, the United States won gold medals in freestyle wrestling’s 286-pound class, as Bruce Baumgartner of Cambridge Springs, Pa., became the only U.S. wrestler to earn medals in three straight Olympics, and in solo synchronized swimming, when a judge’s error helped Kristin Babb-Sprague of Pleasanton, Calif., edge Canadian world champion Sylvie Frechette.

With three days left in the Games, the United States has narrowed the Commonwealth of Independent States’ margin in the medal totals to one. The Commonwealth, which still holds a commanding lead in gold medals, 35-27, has 87 medals overall to 86 for the Americans.

Elsewhere, the U.S. Dream Team advanced to the men’s basketball final against Croatia by defeating Lithuania, 127-76, and the U.S. water polo team beat Germany, 7-2, to reach the gold-medal round as well.

In boxing, Oscar De La Hoya of East Los Angeles and Chris Byrd of Flint, Mich., scored victories and will fight next for gold medals.

It appeared as if the United States would win another gold in track and field when Gail Devers of Van Nuys built a sizable lead through nine of the 10 hurdles in the women’s 100-meter hurdles. But she clipped the final hurdle with the heel of her right foot and stumbled across the finish line in fifth place.

LaVonna Martin of Trotwood, Ohio, finished second behind Paraskevi Patoulidou, the first Greek woman to win a medal, or even compete in a final, in an Olympic track and field event.

“It just wasn’t meant to be,” said Devers, who had been favored to add a gold medal to the one she won last Saturday in the 100 meters.

Another Southern Californian who could not clear all the obstacles in his path was Pomona’s Dave Johnson, who was favored to win the gold medal in the decathlon until his training was interrupted this summer by a stress fracture in his right foot.

He said at one point Thursday in the two-day, 10-event competition that his injured foot had been reduced to a “bloody stump,” but he persevered and earned the bronze medal.

The day’s most anticipated event was the long jump, pitting two-time defending champion Lewis against world record-holder Mike Powell of Alta Loma. A year ago, Powell broke Lewis’ 65-meet winning streak and Bob Beamon’s 23-year-old world record with a jump of 29 feet 4 1/2 inches in track and field’s World Championships at Tokyo.

But on a windy night that was not conducive to world-record jumps, Lewis prevailed here with a best of 28-5 1/2. Powell came close on his sixth and final jump but finished second at 28-4 1/4. Joe Greene of Dayton, Ohio, took the bronze medal at 27-4 1/2 to give the United States its second straight sweep in the event.

“When I see that Carl Lewis beats me for the gold medal, I can’t be too upset,” said Powell, who also finished second to Lewis four years ago at the Seoul Games. “Over the course of history, he’s the greatest long jumper of all time.”

He also is one of the greatest Olympians. The gold medal Thursday was Lewis’ seventh in four events since 1984. The only track and field athletes who have won more are Paavo Nurmi of Finland, who won nine between 1920-28, and Ray Ewry of the United States, who won eight between 1900-08.

Lewis could tie Ewry with a victory by the U.S. 400-meter relay team that he will anchor this weekend.