Our dogs don\u2019t know what day it is. Pretty much every day is the same to them, and regardless of my murmuring \u201c\u2026It\u2019s Saturday, we can sleep in\u201d, they\u2019re intent is to get me up. It\u2019s a little after six in the morning, and that\u2019s when they eat – every morning. And while I used to be able to talk the oldest, Buddy, into going back to sleep for a while, with five in the house right now there\u2019s always one who\u2019s hungry enough to make sure everyone else gets moving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s not a lot of barking involved. It\u2019s strategic: Buddy scratches my shoulder, Atticus goes in for a kiss (usually on the lips), Lou lays on my legs, and Keelie \u2013 well she\u2019s just trying to snuggle me right out of the bed. The foster pit bull pup, CeCe, is still crated. She would be on my side, willing to sleep in, but with all the action, she\u2019s up waiting when we get to the door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it\u2019s on my feet, regardless of the day or what time I went to bed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are all sorts of rituals: the \u201ccommunion\u201d of cheese to make sure everyone gets their meds, then impatient waiting as I sort three types of food into five dishes. It takes a bit of time, and there\u2019s always some wrestling in the kitchen while I get it done. And then, finally, when all the bowls are emptied \u2013 the dessert course \u2013 carrots all around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s Saturday morning \u2013 the last day of competition in the Tokyo Olympic Games. The women\u2019s 10,000 meters is a long, long race on the track, interspersed with men\u2019s javelin and women\u2019s high jump. But the dogs did me a favor. I will get to see my favorite track races, the 4×400 relays, live.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve watched Olympics since I was twelve, in that incredibly confusing year of 1968. That\u2019s fifty-three years, and of course the coverage has improved. But the National Broadcasting Company has outdone itself with the current multiple streaming technologies. That I can sit at the kitchen table, watching in-depth broadcasts of live field events without interruption (except for refereeing the \u201cOlympic\u201d dog wrestling matches here in Pataskala) is amazing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I watched the Olympic Pole Vault, men\u2019s and women\u2019s, qualifying and finals, from the first vault to the gold medal efforts. As a forty-year pole vault coach, what did I learn?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Without getting ridiculously technical, there are lots of ways to \u201cpole vault\u201d. And after watching the Olympics, while I am confirmed in \u201cmy\u201d technical theories, there are world class vaulters who use other techniques. They aren\u2019t \u201cwrong\u201d, just different. It\u2019s a lot like life: lots of different paths to reach the same goal. As a coach, or a person, it\u2019s easy to think your way is the only \u201cright\u201d way. It\u2019s just not. And the question I have, is how much do you \u201caccept\u201d the differences in the athletes you coach? Do you learn how to coach \u201cthe other\u201d techniques \u2013 or continue to \u201cbend\u201d them to your \u201cright\u201d way?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve known some national caliber vaulters, and the Olympics confirmed what I already knew. They are incredibly dedicated and amazingly talented, but they are still regular people. They laugh, they cry, and they get incredibly nervous in the crucible of competition. Some can channel that nervous energy towards improvement, but with the delicate balance of speed, technique and strength in the vault, it\u2019s easy to get thrown off. Ask the Olympic Gold Medal winner, Katie Nageotte from Olmsted Falls near Cleveland. She was a last vault away from being out of the competition at the very start. But, she found a way to calm herself, clear the opening height, and move on to win the gold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By the way, the American men had a great vault too. The best \u201cAmerican\u201d is vaulting in the blue and gold of Sweden, even though he grew up in Louisiana. But that\u2019s OK, twenty-one year old Mondo Duplantis is the \u201cgolden boy\u201d of vault, no matter what uniform he\u2019s wearing. He attempted to clear a world record after he won the gold. American Chris Nilsen of the US was silver medalist. The other \u201cbest\u201d in the world, American vaulter Sam Kendricks, went home with a positive Covid test before the competition. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
And one last pole vault observation. It seems like a competition, person against person, but it\u2019s really not. Pole vaulting is a competition between the vaulter and the bar \u2013 and all of the vaulters are united in trying to clear it. So it shouldn\u2019t be a surprise that there is almost always a camaraderie among the vaulters. They clap, cheer, and commiserate with each other in the competition. They all want to \u201cwin\u201d \u2013 but they all know it\u2019s not the other vaulters that \u201cbeat\u201d them. It\u2019s the bar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s different in the running events. There the stopwatch is important, but finish place is all. And places ARE decided head to head. So the \u201ccamaraderie\u201d of the running events isn\u2019t quite the same. Runners share so much suffering together, they can relate, but the friendship is usually after the competition is over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On this final day, the United States Track Team wanted to make sure that the world knew they \u201cwanted\u201d to win. There\u2019s been a lot of criticism of team management \u2013 bad relay exchanges and just slow running by the men\u2019s sprinting squad has left an audience with a bird\u2018s eye view questioning their commitment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it was a \u201chammer\u201d women\u2019s 4×400 team, with Allyson Felix as the one pure \u201c400\u201d runner. The veteran ran with two 400 hurdlers and an 800 meter specialist to win the gold medal within a second of the world record. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The men\u2019s 4×400 did the same \u2013 gold medal \u201cby a country mile\u201d as the Australian announcer proclaimed. It may sooth some of the \u201cwounds\u201d of the competition \u2013 but questions still persist. Every good high school coach can diagnose the US 4×100 relay exchange failures. They\u2019ve been going on for more than a decade, and the \u201cbest\u201d coaches in the world haven\u2019t solved the problem. It\u2019s all about spending time and making a commitment \u2013 something that the US men\u2019s team doesn\u2019t seem to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s still the marathon competition tonight, and I\u2019m sure there\u2019s a dramatic closing ceremony tomorrow. But as a track guy, the 4×400\u2019s mark the end of the meet. Monday morning it will be back to the news, back to the seemingly endless crises the United States faces. Like the dogs, we will all be back \u201con schedule\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The last track medal ceremony is for the women\u2019s high jump. The gold medalist is from Russia. Because of past drug offenses, Russia is not allowed to participate as a national team. Their athletes compete under the Olympic Flag. So it is fitting that this last track ceremony is ending with the Olympic anthem rather than a national one. The few coaches and remaining athletes are dancing in the stands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For one last moment, they all stand united in the Olympic ideal.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n