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Lead Stories: Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Nick Symmonds:
Off to Beijing!
(Elite Athlete Blog Entry 18)

Posted August 11th, 2008 at 10:29 AM by Nick Symmonds

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Olympics, Elite Athlete Blogs, Nick Symmonds

Welcome to the official blog of middle-distance track star and 2008 U.S. Olympian Nick Symmonds. Be sure to check every other Monday at http://nicksymmonds.thefinalsprint.com for Nick’s latest entry! For more information about Nick, also please visit: nicksymmonds.com

Note: The following entry was written on August 6th, just prior to Nick’s flight to Beijing. His next entry will be written on Sunday, August 24th and published the following morning on Monday, August 25th.

I’m currently in a dorm at San Jose State getting ready for bed early because I’m waking up at 6 AM to catch a flight to Beijing, China to compete in my first Olympic Games. Its hard to believe myself. The last month has been amazing; Ive put in many miles and had a lot of good workouts including one of the best speed-endurance sessions of my life yesterday. I woke up at 6:30 this morning to sneak in one last run on American soil.

The dorm I’m staying in is apartment style and sharing the rooms with
me are Andrew Wheating, Christian Smith, Dathan Ritzenhein, Galen Rupp, and Matt Tegenkamp among others. Its literally a whose-who of track and field and I suppose you would expect nothing less from the USA Olympic Track and Field team. Watching all of us go through team processing today you would have guessed our average age to be about 8 as we ran around filling shopping carts with the amazing team gear issued to each Olympian. It was literally Christmas in August.
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Nick Symmonds:
Conventional Wisdom
(Elite Athlete Blog Entry 17)

Posted July 28th, 2008 at 11:44 AM by Nick Symmonds

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Olympics, Elite Athlete Blogs, Nick Symmonds

Its July 15th as I sit on my couch in Springfield, Oregon and write this blog. To people who follow my race schedule closely that might seem a bit strange as I was on the start list for the meet in Luzern Switzerland tomorrow. I was actually scheduled to race again next week in Belgium and in London on the 25th as well. Unfortunately, I will not be running in any of these meets. I spent all spring looking forward to my trip to Europe and imagined running a 1:43 or two as I prepared to compete in China, but after the amazing experience of the trials I was left physically and emotionally drained. The combination of training, doing interviews, signing autographs and cheering on my teammates in the second session was simply too much. My usual perfect schedule that includes nine hours of sleep each night, regular meals, and naps in the afternoon was thrown for a total loop. By day 8 of the trials I was running on an average of about 5 hours of sleep and had lost 6 pounds. In training I felt worn out.
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Inspiration at the Trials

Posted July 16th, 2008 at 11:00 AM by Jesse Squire

Section: News & Results, Motivation, Success Stories, Track & Field, Olympics

Of all the almost-famous people I crossed paths with at the Olympic Trials, the most inspirational was not an athlete.

After the women’s 800 meters, I was waiting for winner Hazel Clark to come off the awards stand when I glanced behind me and noticed a tall, thin black woman in her mid-40s, and thought “that must be Joetta Clark“. Standing next to her was a man of undetermined but advanced age, and I realized it was Joe Clark.

Joe Clark was made famous by a Time Magazine cover story on his resuscitation of the rough Eastside High School in Paterson, New Jersey. The story was dramatized in the 1989 film Lean On Me; Clark’s part was played by Morgan Freeman.
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Bekele and Dibaba to Double at Beijing Olympics

Posted July 15th, 2008 at 9:07 AM by Bob Ramsak

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Track & Field, Olympics

Bernard Lagat’s ambitious goal to succeed Hicham El Guerrouj as the Olympic 1500m and 5000m champion might have gotten even more difficult with today’s team announcement by the Ethiopian Olympic Committee (EOC). Despite earlier indications that he would only defend his 10,000m Olympic title in Beijing, the EOC included Kenenisa Bekele on its 5000m roster as well.

Less than two months ago, Bekele told reporters in Hengelo, The Netherlands, that a double was out of the question.

“It’s very tough to run a double at the Olympics,” he said. “I ran many kilometers in a few days in Athens, and I lost a lot of power.”

Apparently Bekele has had a change of heart. The world record holder at both events and widely acknowledged as the finest distance runner of his generation, Bekele will be aiming to improve upon his showing over the shorter distance in Athens four years ago, where he finished runner-up to El Guerrouj.
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Team USA Roster Set for Beijing Olympics

Posted July 14th, 2008 at 12:00 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Olympics

Image details: U.S. Track and Field Olympic Trials - Day Four served by picapp.com

USA Track & Field released its Olympic squad today, and the experienced team, which includes 15 Olympic and 31 outdoor World Championships medalists, will be amongst the strongest in Beijing.

“This Olympic Team is one of our strongest ever, with more medal-winning experience in a wider range of events, from sprints to distances and field events, than we’ve had in many decades,” said USATF President and acting CEO Bill Roe in a prepared statement.
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Nick Symmonds: Olympian
(Elite Athlete Blog - Entry 16)

Posted July 8th, 2008 at 5:15 PM by Nick Symmonds

Section: Track & Field, Olympics, Elite Athlete Blogs, Nick Symmonds, College

I can hardly believe it myself. After dreaming about this for most of my life and specifically devoting two years towards this goal, I can finally call myself an Olympic athlete. The last 48 hours have been unreal and I would very much like to share with you what has been going on, but first I need to talk about how I arrived at this point in my career.

Growing up in Boise I was blessed with an amazing family that made me want for nothing. I had love from my sister and parents and they supported me in any goal I set for myself, but more importantly made me believe I could accomplish these goals. When I told them that I would one day like to be an Olympian they just smiled and said, “then do it.” When other people laughed or doubted they just kept smiling, almost as if they knew it was destined to be. They have made this possible and of the 20,000 people at Hayward Monday night I don’t think any were as happy and proud as they were. Mom, Dad, Lauren: I LOVE YOU!!!
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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

USOC Logo 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.
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Japan Announces Olympic Marathon Teams

Posted March 11th, 2008 at 10:00 AM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Olympics

In a widely anticipated announcement made earlier today, officials of the Japan Association of Athletics Federations announced their marathon teams for the Beijing Olympic Games. In Japan, this is big news, on a par with Americans learning which college football player will be drafted first by the NFL.

The men’s team will be made up of Tsuyoshi Ogata and Atsushi Sato, both of the Chuugoku Electric Power corporate team, and Satoshi Osaki of NTT. Ogata got the nod by being the top Japanese man at the hot and humid IAAF World Championships in Osaka last August, finishing fifth overall in 2:17:42. Sato, who set the Asian record for the half-marathon at last year’s IAAF World Half-Marathon Championships, made the team based on his excellent 2:07:13 (3rd place/top Japanese) at last December’s Fukuoka Marathon. Osaki was the top Japanese finisher at the Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon earlier this month.
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Sara Hall: Patience
(Elite Athlete Blog - Entry #3)

Posted February 22nd, 2008 at 2:12 PM by Sara Hall

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Elite Athlete Blogs, Sara Hall

Welcome to the official blog of U.S. middle-distance runner Sara Hall. Sara’s list of running accolades include being a former NCAA All- American at Stanford, the 2006 USA 5K road champion, 5th place finisher in the 1500m at the 2007 USA Track & Field Championships and the 2006 champion at the Continental Airlines Fifth Avenue Mile. Check back every other Friday for her latest entry!

Sara Hall When Ryan and I were first dating during our Freshman year at Stanford, he used to jokingly call me “Sara Patience Bei”. Patience is far from my middle name. It first became apparent in the speed at which we both walked. Freshmen weren’t allowed to have cars at Stanford, so we walked everywhere. Ryan would always whine that I was walking too fast. But the way, he dragged his feet even if we were late. That would make me wonder how somehow who is so fast can walk so slow! The difference in how Ryan and I handle traffic, lines, to-do lists, and overall pace of life is incredible!
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Sara Hall: Legacy …
… Team World Vision!
(Elite Athlete Blog - Entry #2)

Posted February 8th, 2008 at 7:00 PM by Sara Hall

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Elite Athlete Blogs, Sara Hall

Sara Hall What kind of legacy are you leaving behind? It’s a question I often think about, especially recently when I was asked by a reporter from ESPN, “What will Ryan Shay’s legacy be?”

I’m sure that Ryan’s death jolted all of us out of our daily routine into thinking about our own lives and what we are living for and to what end.

I don’t want to look back on my life and say, “Well, I won some races, set some records, traveled around the world… but didn’t really do anything to change the world around me”. Not to say that everyone needs to go live among lepers in Calcutta like Mother Teresa, but I believe we are all called to make an impact.
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