SoundOFF: Was the US Olympic Team a Disaster?
Posted August 24th, 2008 at 6:01 PM by Jesse Squire
Section: News & Results, Marathons, Track & Field, SoundOFF, Columns, Olympics
In a piece for Sports Illustrated’s online Olympic coverage titled “Putting U.S.’ so-called ‘disaster’ Games in the proper context“, Tim Layden lays out the numbers. His conclusion: “It is clearly stretching the truth to call Beijing a disaster for USA Track and Field. It is also stretching the truth to call it a success.” Other writers, such as USA Today’s Dick Patrick, ESPN’s Luke Cyphers, and the Washington Post’s Amy Shipley have all commented on a percieved underperformance.
The final numbers: seven gold medals, 23 total, and 40 top-eight finishes. How does this compare with the USA’s historical numbers? (1983 Worlds are substituted for the ‘84 boycott games, and the Sydney numbers are before BALCO-related sanctions.)
| Year | Golds | Medals | Top-8 | events |
| 2008 | 7 | 23 | 40 | 44 |
| 2004 | 8 | 25 | 42 | 43 |
| 2000 | 10* | 20* | 35* | 43 |
| 1996 | 13 | 23 | 47 | 41 |
| 1992 | 12 | 30 | 51 | 40 |
| 1988 | 13 | 26 | 50 | 40 |
| 1983 | 8 | 24 | 43 | 39 |
| 1976 | 6 | 22 | 46 | 36 |
| 1972 | 6 | 21 | 41 | 36 |
| 1968 | 15 | 27 | 48 | 34 |
| 1964 | 14 | 24 | 44 | 34 |
While it’s not a true low point in terms of gold medals, remember that there were many fewer women’s events in 1972 and ‘76, and the USA women contributed zero golds and just three medals to the team totals in each of those Olympics. All things considered, it’s probably the weakest outing ever, but not by much. So why the general perception of failure? Several reasons spring to mind.
First, there were such high expectations. The team had done so well at last year’s Worlds, and the Olympic Trials were so great, that many observers thought this might the the USA’s best team since 1968 or maybe ever. It turned out not to be the case. Two dropped batons in a row merely underscored a week’s worth of dashed hopes.
Second, there were glaring holes. In the twelve distance events, there were as many top-eight finishes (two) as there were gold medals just a year ago. US distance running has come a long way, and we’re better than any country not named Ethiopia, Kenya, Eritrea or Morrocco, but it still doesn’t look good. More disconcerting are the field events: just twelve finalists in sixteen events, and the majority had no Americans whatsoever. America’s vast resources of wealth and facilities are of little help in developing distance runners but should put us head and shoulders above the world in jumps and throws.
Third, NBC’s system of hyping specific American stars to win gold failed. Either by poor luck, having an off day, or crumbling under pressure, only one pre-Olympic favorite (Bryan Clay) came through. Tyson Gay, Jeremy Wariner, Sanya Richards, Allyson Felix, Lolo Jones, Ryan Hall, Reese Hoffa and Bernard Lagat all did not do as the network suits had hoped. That the team total was still respectable means others picked up the slack, the way good teams do. But NBC wanted to know who was going to win before it happened (or at least cut it down to two or three), and it just doesn’t work that way.
Finally, in the sprints and hurdles we were totally dominated by a single country. That has never happened before.
Is there anything that can be done? Some, Bob Kersee among them, don’t like the Olympic Trials system because they think it’s too stressfull. But it’s worked just fine until now.
The biggest problem I see is beyond the reach of USA Track & Field and can only be changed by people who do not care about track or running at all. Development of future U.S. stars is virtually completely done at the NCAA Division I level, and over the last twenty years college and NCAA administrators have chosen to reduce college track from a major sport to a minor distraction. While Title IX has been great for women’s sports in general, it has been mixed for track. The number of women’s programs and scholarship opportunities has expanded greatly, but a more recent cutback in men’s programs has hurt the women as well in terms of reduced coaching staffs. The numbers don’t lie–America’s women’s Olympic medal count has been stagnant since the early 80s. And fewer coaches hurt most in…the field events.
So it wasn’t a complete disaster. But there are things that need to be fixed, and there’s no quick fix.
Jesse Squire is a Senior Writer for TheFinalSprint.com and also writes regularly at The Track & Field Superblog
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- US Olympic Trials News
- Powell on his 9.83 – ‘It was one of the best’
Tags: beijing olympics, medal count, olympic games, olympic track & field, olympics, Team USA, tim layden, track and field, USA Track & Field
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August 24th, 2008 at 8:34 pmHey, let’s not blame the NBC suits over high expectations for Tyson Gay, Jeremy Wariner, Sanya Richards, Allyson Felix, Lolo Jones, Ryan Hall, Reese Hoffa and Bernard Lagat. These athletes are some of the best shots we’ve had in their various events and the expectations weren’t just from NBC. Check the Runner’s World web-site or other press on these individuals. They were current international champions or legitimate threats at the world class level. That they didn’t perform as well as expected is somewhat just bad luck. Our expectations are based on both these athlete’s past performance and how U.S athletes performed in the last Olympics and most recent international events. I don’t think it fair to blame it on the suits at NBC. Yes, NBC can act as a sort of cheerleader for our athletes, but that’s only playing to their viewer’s interests.
August 25th, 2008 at 10:51 amWhat I was trying to say, but must not have communicated well, was that while all but one of the stars underperformed, the team’s results as a whole weren’t as bad that as that would suggest. Two medal sweeps in one Olympics? That’s hardly a common occurrence.
August 25th, 2008 at 9:40 pm