Track Coach
I am a track coach, or at least a retired track coach. We are in the “heart” of the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. So it just seems fitting that I should comment on the Games.
My wife looked at me yesterday, watching the qualifying in the 800 meters, and said, “You are in Coach mode”. She was right, I was standing in the middle of the family room, only a few feet from the 60” television screen, fists clenched, watching American 800 meter runner Marcus Jewett get tripped up in the final 150 meters of his race. Oh, and I’m a track official as well, you could tell because my right hand was in the air, the universal official signal of raising the “yellow flag” of a foul.
However, no foul was called. Jewett and the Botswanan runner, Nijel Amos fell to the track and out of the race. In an act of mutual sportsmanship they helped each other up and jogged the final straightaway together to the finish line. And in an act of international track politics, Amos, who by all track rules should have been disqualified, was reinstated to the finals. He is the favorite to win. Jewett was not so favored. He won’t be running for the Gold.
On the Field
Anyway, if it seems that this essay is taking a bit longer to write than usual, it’s because NBC has found a way to take me right onto the field. It’s Tuesday morning in Tokyo, and the women are qualifying for the finals in the pole vault. There’s an entire “channel” for that, with split screens for the two pole vault pits used in the preliminary competition. I can watch EVERY vault, here at 6:30 am in the morning. So while it might only look like a period and a space in this essay, it was really an American vaulter clearing a low height, with a poorly lined up plant on a soft pole.
It is kind of amazing. Watching pole vault on the Olympics used to mean seeing the last two or three vaults of the finals, with American commentator and former high jumper Dwight Stones trying to describe the action. Now I can be right at the pits, both of them, listening to the field announcements and analyzing vaults. I do miss the “Olympic Anthem” at the beginning, bringing back memories of the grainy pictures of amazing sprints and jumps from 1968 in Mexico City, and the tragedy of the terror attack in Munich four years later.
Citius, Altius, Fortius
I did hear the Anthem last night though, when I watched the “regular” network coverage. And that’s amazing too: from beach volleyball to gymnastics, BMX biking to swimming, swimming, swimming. Athletes at the prime of their careers, some falling to the pressure of world competition, and some rising beyond themselves to literal new heights of success. “Altius, Citius, Fortius,” ‘Higher, Faster, Stronger,” is the motto of the Games. (And for those way too deep into track and field, the opening words spoken by Donald Sutherland in the movie “Without Limits”). As they strive to lift themselves, their efforts lift us all.
Yulimar Rojas of Venezuela jumped into history yesterday, setting a world record in the triple jump to win the Gold. And to prove a point, she did it with “bad” technique, showing that sometimes talent overcomes every obstacle (and coaches don’t know everything). Her jumps were impressive, and her reaction to the final record breaking attempt was amazing. Goals fulfilled beyond even her own expectations.
Sharing the Win
There were five competitors at the final height in the men’s high jump yesterday. Clear the bar set at 7’8 ½”, and win the Gold Medal. But none cleared. In track and field, the tie breaker is based on missed attempts (each competitor gets three tries at each height) – fewer misses wins the tie. There were only two jumpers, Mutam Barshim from Qatar and Gianmarco Tamberi of Italy, who were “clean” – no misses until the last height.
The rules are clear: if there is a tie for first place, the competition proceeds to a “jump off”. Another jump at 7’8 ½”, if both clear the bar goes up, if both miss it goes down, first clear wins. But what if neither competitor wants to jump?
As the referee explained the rules, Barshim asked the question: “Do we have to jump?” The referee paused, and the jumper said, “Can we both get Gold?”. Tamberi looked at Barshim, as they both realized they could achieve a lifetime goal, together. Barshim nodded to Tamberi, and the Italian leaped into the Quatari’s arms. The final act of the 2020 Olympic Men’s High Jump was to share the dream, and share the Gold.
In the Rain
This essay will go a little faster now, it’s raining in Tokyo and the vault is on pause.
As a pole vault coach, I’ve never coached an Olympic caliber athlete. But I have coached many at the state championship level and some collegiate athletes. And in each of their careers, there was a time when all of a sudden, they couldn’t “go up”. They could run down the runway, they could put the pole in the “box” to start the vault. But then they would “run through”, unable to jump. Sometimes it was for a day, sometimes it lasted weeks.
Pole vaulting is exciting and challenging, but obviously it also can be dangerous. Experienced vaulters are attuned to their body position, to what feels “right” and what doesn’t. And when things don’t feel “right”, even if they don’t know why, they don’t go up. There’s lots of coaching “tricks” to try to get over “running through”, but they all take time. And sometimes, a vaulter just can’t compete – it’s not a matter of will, it’s a matter of mind.
Healthy Mind
So when Simone Biles said she didn’t know where her body position was in the air during her gymnastics, I got it completely. She’s too good an athlete, with too much speed and power, to “force” herself to jump. That’s a recipe for disaster. All the folks saying she should just “Suck it up” or “Man Up” or “Grow a set” (inappropriate on so many levels) just don’t get it. I’m not sure that’s all about mental health. It’s survival instinct, and there’s nothing unhealthy about that. They say she’ll compete on the balance beam. I hope she wins, but more importantly, I hope she’s safe.
The rain has stopped in Tokyo. They have a really cool roller machine to dry the runways and the women are warming back up for the vault. It’s a good thing this is only every four years, the competition sucks me in and wipes out the rest of my day.
Oh wait, only three years to the 2024 Games in Paris!
