to the press here by calling him "one of the best 400 metre runners in the world''. It is a billing Douglas would like the Bermuda Olympic Association to take note of.

Douglas will tonight be gunning for his second 400 metres victory in four days when he races on the site which in two years time will host the 1994 Commonwealth Games.

Douglas will face a field nearly identical to that which he blew away on Sunday at the Harry Jerome Meet in Vancouver. In that race, Douglas ran a 45.69, while Mexico's Raimundo Escalante finished second in 46.99.

"This is great preparation for Barcelona,'' Douglas said. "It's not a stroll, it's serious work, I've got the field once up here, so now they'll be out to get me.

A fine indoor season during which Douglas made the Bermuda Olympic standard in both the 200 metres and 400 metres has served as good preparation.

But Douglas vows he won't again make the mistake of trying to combine the two events, as he did at the 1988 Games in Seoul. There, he reached the semifinals of the 200 metres but was eliminated in the 400 metre heats.

"I'm going to concentrate on the 400 from now on,'' he said. "I haven't run the 400 seriously since 1989, because I spent two years dabbling in the 200.

Friends always tease me, calling me mister utility and saying I'll go to Barcelona and run the 100, 200, 400, and both relays.

"You can't do that. I did that in Seoul, and no more. I feel my chances are good to reach the 400 metres final in Barcelona and so I have to give myself that chance by concentrating on just one event.

"Everytime I go home, the BOA say they'd like me to run the 200 in Barcelona, too. They tell me people are watching for me. Don't get me wrong. I think of my country, but I've got to think of myself, too. And I can't keep on preparing for two events, run all those heats and then expect to do well.'' Douglas, who holds the Bermuda record of 45.06 in the 400 metres says a new attitude is serving him well. "I've always loved track, but I lost that love for while. Now I'm excited again, probably because it's an Olympic year and I'm trying to focus just on me. One of my problems when I raced before is that I worried too much about the people around me. I had to get that out of me.

Now, I rehearse the race in my mind, and try to concentrate on Troy and the clock.'' Douglas said he would be satisfied tonight with a time in the low 45's -- but said sometime in the next three weeks he'd like to break the 45 second barrier.

"It's going to take a 44.5 to make the finals in Barcelona. That's why I want to do one before the Games. If I do that it will open a few eyes, maybe make some people think about me and it will build my confidence up too.'' AUSTIN, Texas -- Brian Wellman's Arkansas teammate Erick Walder won the triple jump -- and the long jump -- in leading Arkansas to its ninth consecutive NCAA indoor track and field championship in March at Indianapolis. He thinks he can win both horizontal jumps again in the NCAA outdoor championships, beginning today at the University of Texas' Memorial Stadium.

"It will be a hard struggle, but I have enough confidence to do it again,'' the sophomore said of accomplishing another sweep that could propel the Razorbacks to their second outdoor title.

Much of Arkansas' chances will rest with Walder, the latest in a line of outstanding Razorbacks' jumpers.

Arkansas competitors have won six of the last eight NCAA outdoor triple jump titles -- 1984 Olympic silver medalist Mike Conley in 1984-85, Edrick Floreal in 1988-89-90 and Bermuda's Wellman last year. Wellman, who finished third to Walder indoors, is back to defend his outdoor title. -- AP.