It's now been three days since the U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials wrapped up in Eugene, and I think I have finally come down off of the high. The adrenaline rush and sleep change definitely caught up Monday. It took me a few cups of coffee to keep me going.
The trials were by far the most exhilirating and most exciting sporting event I have ever been a part of. I sat through all eight days absolutely riveted. There aren't many venues where you can see the world's greatest athletes on the same stage, competing for the right to represent their country for their sport's highest prize. As a track fan, it doesn't get much better.
Even still, eight days is a long time for anything, and I was happy to come back home to my home, to my wife and children and my own bed (dorm room mattresses haven't changed...they're still rock hard).
There are plenty of moments that will stay with me through the years. Here are some examples.
BEST OVERALL MOMENT: The men's 800-meter final. You would swear that Prefontaine himself had stepped back on the track. The buzz in the stands was absolutely electric as the finalists warmed up on the track, and it only heightened when Nick Symmonds and Andrew Wheating were introduced. With 500 meters to go, the entire crowd (press row and all) moved to its feet and din't leave there for another 10 minutes. The roaring crowd only got more deafening when Symmonds moved to the lead out a boxed-in spot in lane 1 with 150 meters to go, and even louder when Wheating moved up on the outside to finish second and become an unexpected Olympian. It was so loud that you could not hear yourself yelling. Some compared those 20,000 fans to the loud crowds at Autzen or those at Mac Court when UCLA comes to visit.
Perhaps even more priceless was the picture nobody saw. Everyone has seen the shot of Symmonds with his hands raised crossing the finish line while a shocked Wheating comes across with mouth wide open. What few have seen is that when the scoreboard flashed that Wheating had indeed placed second, Symmonds' jaw dropped equally as wide while he searched out the man in the Oregon jersey to congratulate him.
JAW-DROPPING MOMENT: Tyson Gay's performances in the 100 meters. After nearly squandering his chance for the Olympics away by confusing a waterfall line for the finish line, the dynamic sprinter turns in a pair of dynamic performances. The same day as his fateful prelims race, Gay comes back to wow the crowd in Saturday's finale to run 9.77 seconds. I remember seeing the time and turning to Donnie Nelson, the sports information director for the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association who was helping with the media staff, looking amazed at each other as the announcer informed the crowd, "The wind is legal. Ammmerrricaan record!"
Everyone came into Sunday expecting something great and, perhaps, a world record. Gay did not disappoint. With the crowd on its feet from start to finish, Gay turned in the fastest 10 ever run by a human being. The crowd let out a collective gasp when the time of 9.68 seconds was flashed up on the timer, and then let out a collective groan when the wind reading of +4.1 came up on the board. No world record, but an incredible feat nonetheless.
The question now is how severe the injury is that Gay suffered during the 200-meter semifinals later in the meet and how well he can recover before Beijing. If he can be back to his top form, that world record may not be safe.
BEST PERSONAL MOMENT: Being able to see Ian Dobson make his Olympic dream come true. I remember seeing and running against Ian in road races in Klamath Falls, and watched with interest as be became one of the state's prep runners. Three years removed from an up and down career at Stanford, Ian has come completely back to be at the top of his sport, now mentioned alongside the only two men to beat him in the trials 5,000 meters: Matt Tegenkamp and Bernard Lagat. I have no doubt that Ian will perform well for the U.S. in Beijing.
Ian is now in some pretty select company when it comes to Olympic athletes from Klamath Falls: Ralph Hill (1932 silver medalist in the 5,000 meters), Janice Romary (six-time Olympian in fencing, who in 1968 became the first woman to carry the flag for the United States) and Dan O'Brien (2000 gold medalist in the decathlon).
FUNNIEST MOMENT: When the Hayward Field "Track Vision" cameraman had a momentary lapse before the start of the men's 110-meter hurdle final on Sunday. The cameraman was supposed to move from lane to lane as announcer Garry Hill introduced each finalist. After introducing David Payne in lane 5, the cameraman forgot to move. Forgot to move for about 20 seconds until the sound Hill snoring over the public address system finally got him over to lane 6.
THOUGHTFUL MOMENT: Following Sunday's men's 1,500 meter final, when reporters in the mixed zone question Bernard Lagat about the significance of three foreign-born athletes finishing 1-2-3 in the race. Lagat is from Kenya, second place Leonel Mazano was born in Mexico (came to the U.S. when he was4-years-old) and third place Lopez Lomong is from Zambia.
Lagat's response was simple, but elegant and one that is from someone truly proud to be representing their adopted country. "It feels good. It shows that American is the place where dreams can happen. I can't find that in Europe or in my country. The three of us are living the American dream. My goal now is to do my best for this country."
"It was different for me last year [at World Championships], but in a different way. In Kenya I was wearing red and green, but now I get to wear red, white and blue."
THE LEGACY OF EUGENE 2008: Much will be made in the track community over the next few weeks and months about how well Eugene put on the Trials. The Eugene trials worked to make this track meet more than a meet, but to make it an event that catered to the community. Especially considering the myriad of Nike conspiracy theories that are out there from site selection to Craig Masback's sudden defection from USA Track & Field to Nike after awarding the 2012 Trials to Eugene to even allegations of preferencial treatment for Nike athletes on the track, these trials will be look at with a fine-tooth comb.
Vin Lananna, Oregon's Director of Track and the co-chair of the local organizing committee, has gone on record that he believes it was the best track meet ever held in the United States. Bubba Thornton, coach of the U.S. Men's Olympic Team, remarked about how well Eugene as a community had done of making this meet special.
Eugene Register-Guard columnist Bob Welch gave an honest assessment, complete with gold, silver and bronze rankings, of what did and didn't work well at the meet. The editorial page of the same paper, meanwhile,
declared that the trials have found their true home.
Thornton,
in yet another Register-Guard article, summed up the Eugene experience like this: “They need to seize the things that have happened here and continue the effort that’s been put into this venue, and this city, to keep it moving forward. It has been in our history that when it’s over, it’s over. We have a great chance to continue (the momentum of the Trials), and it’s going to be the people who have the ownership in the sport to keep this thing moving forward at this level.”
Outside of keeping the dopers (as far as we know) away from the meet, I believe that the Eugene Olympic Trials were indeed special. The athletes seemed to eat up the experience, from the hospitality to being welcomed like rock stars on the festival stage. The Fan Fest did something that track and field has not been able to do for years: bring the American fan closer to the sport. They made the Olympic Trials more than just a big track meet. They made it an event. It was a whole community effort, as evidenced by over 2,000 volunteers doing everything from manning information desks at the airport to collecting biodegradable cups and silverware for composting.
There are a few things I would change. Move the media interview tent away from the festival stage so that the last press conference of the night is not drown out by whatever band begins the post-meet proceedings. Make traffic lanes in and out of Hayward Field more direct and less confusing. Have more gear with the trials logo on it available instead of
letting Nike use their merchandise tent to hock mostly their own designs and history.
But overall, as I have on an Oregon track and field shirt from the early 1990s, Track is Back in Eugene. I am sure they will rise to the occasion again in 2012.
