2008 Beijing Olympics

Friday, July 25th, 2008

Weather Update
Still very foggy. :(

Three Quests for Olympic Success
In my day we had to walk uphill both ways in the snow to get to school. Sometimes that’s how I feel about race walking. In my day, the Olympic trials were a race to make the team. Top three at the race qualified, that is as long as you didn’t get disqualified. There was something pure about the competition in those days. It was a head to head event.

Now we have a complicated system of A and B standards that make explaining the process of qualifying for the Olympics to a layperson quite perplexing. In 2004, we had three athletes with the 20K A standard racing at the trials. This meant that as long as they finished the race and no one else walked an A standard, they were headed to Greece for the Olympics. In 2008, we returned to the world of yesterday. Since only Kevin Eastler had an A standard, the competitors raced as if no one had a standard. It was a winner (As long as they had a B standard) take all competition with only one walker per race being selected for the Beijing Olympic Team.

This might put a lot of pressure on the athletes, but now two-time Olympian Kevin Eastler viewed it as a challenge whose reward capped a painful and frustrating season dealing with injuries. Describing his ’04 berth as “anti-climatic” he is quite proud of winning his first Olympic Trials and 2nd berth on the team. While due to his setbacks he is doubtful if at the Beijing Olympic Games he will top his 21st place finish in the ’04 games, those of us that know Kevin are confident he will race 100% of his capability. Given the hot, humid, and potentially horrific weather conditions, a conservative race by Eastler could lead to a surprisingly higher finish. That’s how it played out for another great American walker, Larry Young. He walked slowly in the altitude of Mexico City to find himself passing fatigued walkers until he finished in 3rd place. Philip Dunn, our 50K Olympic Trials winner is thinking just that. Philips states, “My goal is to improve on my past Olympic performances.  In Sydney I finished 28th place and I think I can crack the top 25 with a solid race.  The conditions actually favor someone like me who tends to race more conservatively and come on stronger towards the end.  It should be a race of attrition and I do well in those.”

If you trust the words of Kevin and Philip the Beijing Olympic Games this is likely to be their last Olympics. One never really knows, as it seems like race walkers retire and unretire many times. Philip certainly has shown that retirement is never permanent. Since Athens he has been retiring and unretiring annually. Philip claims he told himself he was retired after Athens and “went to the 50km Nationals in 2005 because I had the Olympic A standard and wanted to enjoy one more World Championships racing experience in Helsinki that year.” Racing at nationals also allowed him to also race for Team USA at the Pan Am Cup in Lima, Peru.  He then promptly retired again after the Helsinki race. As time marched on, he made a quasi New Year’s resolution to see if he could get in shape for a 50km in six weeks.  He won the 2006 Nationals and things continued to roll.  In 2007, the 50km Nationals were in So Cal (he was the meet director), so he actually trained for it.  By then, the 2008 Olympic Trials weren't so far off and he committed to one more season just to see what might happen.  Dunn states, “winning Trials was a surprise only because so many of the top guys dropped out or didn't show because of injuries.” So after winning the Trials, it was simply a matter for attained the B Standard and Dunn achieved his third berth on an Olympic Team.

Our two male athletes reached the Olympics in Beijing with very different levels of support. Kevin was very fortunate to be sponsored by the US Air Force. A graduate of the Air Force Academy, he credits the Air Force for a more than just walking. Eastler states, “the Air Force gave me the opportunity to reach the Olympic level, as well as an education and many valuable experiences.  I wouldn't change anything if I were to do it over again.” He does however caution that his road is not necessarily a blueprint for future walkers stating “the military is not for everyone.  By all means, join the military to be a soldier, airman, sailor, or marine.  But I would not recommend joining the military only for athletic purposes.  There is no guarantee that a military athlete gets to train full-time.”

In contrast, Dunn’s support was far less than in the past. It made getting to the Beijing Olympics much more of a personal journey for him.  In 2000 & 2004 he had a coach, a training group, and the U.S. Olympic Training Center.  For the past three years, he has had none of those things.  Dunn says, “I have coached myself, trained with John Nunn or mostly alone, and had none of the support that I had from the Olympic Training Center, USOC or USATF.”

In the women’s race in 2004 like 2008, did not have two or more people with an A standard, so the highest finisher with a B standard won a berth on the team. In 2004 a teary eyed Teresa Vail crossed the line first after decades of competition. Similarly, in 2008 Joanne Dow crossed the line first, completing a 14 year journey to Olympic glory. Dow had a solid lead with 5K to go and states “I had a hard time not letting the emotions get away.  I had to keep bringing myself back and focus.  I made a conscious decision to relax a bit and enjoy the moment. It was nothing short of a dream come true.”

I have always told athletes that you must enjoy the journey, not just the destination. When the Olympic Trials comes around, I can not help but think about our friend Al Heppner and his unfortunate handling of his failure to make the Olympic Team. Dow’s attitude is a lesson to us all about the proper perspective on sports and trying to reach the Olympic dream. She states, “The main reason I have continued race walking is because I love the sport, the competition and I love pushing myself physically.  It had been frustrating to not achieve the goal of making it to the Olympics, but I would have continued racing even if it weren't an Olympic sport.”

Interestingly, while I find balance in the real world a rare commodity, all three Beijing Olympians have balanced life rather well. Balance is a word I have used to describe Dow for as long as I have known her. It may be one of the reasons she has been able to stay competitive so long. Her family has always been her priority. Although she does acknowledge that for “right now I'm focused on 8/22 and not looking too far beyond that.” As for the future she says, “I will always compete, I have to.  I'm just not sure right now what that means.”

For the Olympics her goals are simple. “My primary goal is to walk a legal 20k.  I want to finish the race and have a respectable race.  I've looked back a bit to see what the American women have done in the past and my coach and I have talked about where we think I might be able to end up.  In 2003 at World T&F, I finished 27th.  I think a top 30 finish would be awesome.”

For Dunn, he views race walking as a lifestyle that allows him to balance the demands of training with time spent with his 1 year old son. He has no career to fall back onto when he’s done, but calls it “a choice, not a sacrifice. We make choices every day.  You can choose to train for the Olympics or you can choose to get a paying job.” His choice allows him to “spend all of my non-training time with him (his son) and that's awesome.”

I was fortunate to spend time with Eastler last summer and observed a similar balance. While he dedicatedly trains every day, his sponsorship by the Air Force gives him the flexibility to spend time with his young daughter and wife. Balance appears to be a key ingredient in the success of our current crop of Olympians.

All of our race walkers have express concerns about the air quality. I think it is a fear all athletes at the games share. Fortunately, no one will really have an unfair advantage. If they acclimatize to the heat and humidity, they will have their best chance.