Tetlo Emmen Back on Track in Europe

Emmen Back on Track in Europe
Drops almost two seconds off seasonal best in first week on European
track circuit

July 17, 2008

It seems Tetlo Emmen has been "shaking the rust off"
all season. Two weeks ago in Eugene, OR at the US Olympic Track &
Field Trials, Emmen laced up his spikes and raced towards his dream of
an Olympic berth along with the nation's best in the 800 meters.
Unfortunately for the 24 year old, what began as a stroll around the
track in his quarterfinal heat ended in a blistering 200 meter sprint
to the finish that proved to be too much speed for Emmen who was still
getting his gears rolling in '08. He knew going in that he was not
quite at top race shape after a slate of early season injuries and
finding himself three seconds off his personal best in late spring
races. However, that did not discourage Emmen. "Any given day," so
goes the motto.

Stepping off the Hayward Field track without qualifying for the 800m
semi-finals in a pivotal year can be taxing on an athlete who puts off
"life" to push for the dream of making an Olympic team. For Emmen,
after letting it sink in a little bit, he quickly refocused with the
thoughts of not only the European track circuit, but also the 2012
Games.

Jumping on a plane to Belgium with a strong US track & field
contingent he found himself right back in his comfort zone. Jet lag
and little sleep didn't deter Emmen from racing a 1:48.2 for a 2nd
place finish behind US teammate Jebrah Harris. Later that evening,
Emmen commented, "I should have won, I had another gear when he pulled
up on me, but I ran out of space. But, all in all I'm happy. I won a
bottle of beer, a box of chocolates and some Euros."

Two days later, Emmen and the US group entered the intimate, but
electric track & field stadium in Gent, Belgium for the Gentse Feesten
Meeting. In the 800m, fellow American Tommy Schmitz led the way coming
through 400m in 51 seconds with Emmen a few steps behind in 53
seconds. Former USC 800m athlete, Raphael Asafo-Agyei then took over
pushing the pace through 600m in just over 1:18. Emmen still feeling
sluggish dug in and as he put it in his own words, "I don't really
remember much of the next 100 meters other than feeling pretty
terrible, but I felt really strong at the same time; a very different
world from a month ago. With 100 meters left I finally started to pull
on him. With 10 meters left I finally came up on his shoulder, and out
leaned him at the tape." Speed was not a problem this time around for
Emmen as he kicked down Asafo-Agyei by one-hundredth of a second with
a winning time of 1:47.41.

Back where he left off last year, Emmen got his first win of the
season and a few more Euros in his pocket. Along with a few other
fellow Americans, he now heads off to Finland for the prestigious
Savos Games on July 20 to compete in the same race that he won last
year during his first outing to Europe. With five more scheduled
races, the 2008 season is proving to still be young for Emmen. Then
again, so is his development for the 2012 Games.


For more information please contact:
JT Service
Service Management Group
smgathletes@gmail.com
408-406-6490(c)

Emmen's Remaining 2008 Schedule
 July 20: Savo Games, Lapinlahti, Finland
July 23: Atletik Vlanderren, Braschaat, Belgium
July 26: Memorial Buyle, Oordegem-Lede, Belgium
July 30: TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen, Germany
August 2: Amsterdam Open, Netherlands

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