Track and Field Blogs - Justin Kopunek

"The greatest memory for me of the 1984 Olympics was not the individual honors, but standing on the podium with my teammates to receive our team gold medal." Despite being the number 1 gymnast in the world that year, winning 3 individual Olympic medals and being the first American gymnast to score a perfect 10.0, Mitch Gaylord highlights the Olympic team gold as the pinnacle of his historic 1984 season. Gymnastics is unique to many other sports in that it has a strong emphasis on both individual and team competition. For elite gymnasts in the US, many train together all year just to battle against each other for a coveted spot on team USA. Once the team is formed, it is back to working together to defeat international competition, because team glory is as important as the individual competitions in the sport.

In high school and college cross country and track, we see a similar dynamic in which team and individual success seem to have a harmonious balance. Once in the professional ranks, however, this seems to disappear. A few times a year, for international championships, ‘Team USA’ is formed, but it often appears to be a group of individuals running in the same uniform. A successful Olympics for one American runner, for example Dawn Harper, can be a disappointing Olympic experience for a member of the same team, like Lolo Jones. This may be because at meets like the Olympics, team scores are not kept in track and field. Imagine if places 4-8, which do not garner a medal, were still coveted for precious team points? It would give a much different feel to an Olympic final. That however, is a digression perhaps for another time. It seems that the shift from a team and individual sport to the post collegiate solo game is abrupt. Teammates, training partners, allies can be an invaluable resource in practice and competition. What pushes us more than when we have only a few laps to go and, whether it is in practice or competition, you look to your right and see a teammate on your shoulder?

Why do I bring this up? Well, the 2009 USA Outdoor Championships were absolutely saturated in a ‘team’ essence. The most overt example were those awesome green (and one pink) Oregon Track Club singlets you saw in every final from the 800 through the 10,000 (except the women’s steeple). During the 10k, the first track final, we saw the definition of teamwork. Both running for the Portland based OTC, but under different coaches, Olympians Amy Yoder Begley and Shalane Flanagan worked together to cover the 6.2 miles with a hard effort and 2 trips to Berlin. The plan was to exchange leading duties every 800 until the final laps of the race at a pace that would set Begley up for a significant personal best and they did exactly that. Flanagan, the Olympic bronze medalist who is coached by Jerry Schumacher, could have tried to blow the race open from the gun, knowing she has run over a minute faster than the rest of the field, but she worked with Begley, who is coached by Alberto Salazar. Doing this she risked losing in a battle of closing speed while dodging lapped runners (which ultimately happened). Salazar and Schumacher became co-workers this year at the Nike Campus and the collaboration was obvious in this well implemented joint effort by the 2008 and 2009 US 10k champions. During the race, if you were watching on Flotrack, you heard Kara Goucher, Begley’s teammate, talk about how beneficial training with each other has been. Goucher won the 5,000 the next night. The opportunity for Goucher, Begley and Flanagan to train together in the future will make any distance fan hopeful of what’s to come.

Similarly, the men’s 10k saw Salazar’s prodigy Galen Rupp and coach-less Dathan Ritzenhein pull away from the field in the final stages to put on quite a show for the crowd. The following day Ritz announced he is joining Salazar’s group and will now become training partners with Rupp. Both Salazar and Ritz are optimistic that training with Rupp will be beneficial for the two athletes. As Ritz stated, “There’s only so far you can get on your own.” Third in the 10k was Schumacher coached OTC member Tim Nelson. His teammates swept the podium spots in the men’s 5,000m race the following night. Former Madison based Badger’s and now Portland based OTC members Matt Tegenkamp, Chris Solinsky and Evan Jager executed a very clear race plan that could not have been more successful. The three teammates tucked in single file behind early leader Anthony Famiglietti and mid-race leader Bolota Asmerom and made a hard move at the end. The group had closing laps from 53.4 to 54.8 to lock up the three spots to Berlin. Clearly elated at the accomplishment, the trio celebrated as Solinsky even hoisted Jager over his head. The two had both made their first major US team. Also wearing the green OTC jerseys on the podium were men’s 800m champ Nick Symmonds and women’s 800m runner-up Geena Gall. Both are members of the Eugene based branch of the Oregon Track Club, OTC Elite, which Gall is the newest addition to.

The Oregon Track Club members weren’t the only ones exuding the team aura at the championships. Even heading into the meet, Shannon Rowbury and Leonel Manzano were asking Flotrackers to help them derive a name for their team. The duo, temporarily called Team Applebury, is coached by John Cook (who used to work with Salazar at the Nike Campus). At USA’s, Rowbury won the women’s 1,500, while Manzano was a close second in the men’s race. 1^st and 3^rd in the women’s 800, Hazel Clark and Phoebe Wright are both coached by the former’s brother, JJ Clark. Clark stated after the race that she will help Wright get the A Standard this summer. Wright needs either herself or Gall to get the standard to run in Berlin. It is not just distance runner’s who have teammates helping push themselves. A California based training group of Dawn Harper, Allyson Felix and Shawn Crawford, coached by Bobby Kersee, won 2009 US titles in the 100m hurdles, women’s 200m and men’s 200m, respectively. Stepping off the track after her victory, Felix went directly to congratulate her training partner Harper, who was receiving a $25,000 check for winning the Visa Championship Series. Felix has said in an interview that training with two teammates that have individual Olympic gold medals is extra motivation to upgrade her two silvers. This is despite having World Championship individual golds and Olympic relay gold.

Here is where having teammates, even in the professional ranks, can be essential. Not only do you motivate one another in practice, but you are able to work together in races for the betterment of each other, the team, and US track as a whole. When you see athletes generally happy, or disappointed for their teammates, it illuminates unseen elements to the sport. Usually we only get to see a few minutes of racing without witnessing the months of training. Seeing these training partners congratulate and console each other can unveil the complexity and depth of the puzzle to which we only see a small piece of played out in races. After the 800, when champion Nick Symmonds was being interviewed, he interjects to find out how the 1500m final played out. When he hears that Lopez Lomong, Manzano, and Dorian Ulrey were the top 3, you can briefly read disappointment on his face. Later in the tent after just missing out on making the US team in the 1,500 for the second consecutive year, Will Leer was visibly despondent. Symmonds, his teammate, sat down and consoled his friend. Moments like this let you realize what these professional athletes go through together in training and that despite one’s personal achievements, they still want success for those who were there grinding it out with them along the way. For anyone who has read Henry V or more likely, Running with the Buffaloes may be reminded of the Shakespeare quote, "We happy few, we band of brothers; For he today who sheds his blood with me shall be my brother."

Ultimately, by working together, each athlete can better fulfill their potential and avoid becoming complacent. In the end, it leads to a better athlete, a better training group, and a better Team USA. Whether you are on the team or not, that is the ultimate goal. A few athletes echoed this sentiment at the meet; that the most important thing for the US in Berlin is to be sending the best team possible.