USOC Displays Bad Form in Media Summit
Posted April 18th, 2008 at 10:30 AM by Jimmie R. Markham
Section: News & Results, Track & Field, SoundOFF, Columns, Olympics
I spotted an interview titled “U.S. Olympic Team Media Summit Press Conference” that featured Brian Clay, Walter Davis, Lashinda Demus, Allyson Felix, Reese Hoffa, Carmelita Jeter, LaShawn Merritt and Terrence Trammell and it left me scratching my head for a minute. Since the US Olympic Track & Field team has yet to be determined, I thought this might be an error.
I dug a little further and discovered that the USOC’s media machine is acting a bit presumptuously, billing their 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Media Summit as “a preview of the 2008 U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Teams that will be competing in China.” The USOC member who wrote the article does go on to call the athletes who attended the conference “hopefuls” but, still, it is a bit misleading, to say the least. Sure, all of the athletes who were interviewed are indeed favorites to make the team, but they haven’t made the team yet.
If we learned anything from 2007, it was that nobody, not even Sanya Richards, is a shoe-in to make the team in a one-shot trials process. Nobody in U.S. Track & Field has earned the right yet to be called a Beijing Olympian. It’ll be interesting to look back on this interview after the trials have been completed to find out whether or not the USOC was justified in its presumptuousness.
Anyway, here are some interesting tidbits I took from the transcript of the interview:
• Reese Hoffa admits that his Rubix Cube fixation actually hinders his throwing but he does it anyway “for show, try[ing] to make people think [he is] smart.”
• LaShawn Merritt defends Jeremy Wariner’s coaching change.
• Lashinda Demus uses some analogies, comparing herself to certain makes of cars.
• Allyson Felix is focusing on the 100m dash, especially her start. She also discusses the logistics of trying to pull off a feat that she hopes will result in multiple gold medals.
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Tags: allyson felix, Brian Clay, Carmelita Jeter, LaShawn Merritt and Terrence Trammell, LaShinda Demus, marketing, olympic team, Reese Hoffa, USOC, walter davis
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The Final Sprint