Craig Masback's Blog

Number 4 - Friday, August 31, 2007

The world athletics community is a pretty friendly one. That doesn't mean that athletes from other countries don't enjoy beating American athletes and aren't looking for every way to do so. But as members of Team USA stroll through Nagai Stadium, it isn't unusual for athletes, journalists, and fans from all countries to congratulate them on the success of the American team here in Osaka. After all, who better to appreciate Bernard Lagat's long road to winning a 1500 meter championship, or just how tough Tyson Gay's 100/200 double really is, or just how exciting it was to have Kara Goucher medal in the 10,000 than other members of the athletics family?

To the rest of the athletics world, Team USA has been one big success story - a real prospect of over 10 gold medals and some likelihood that we will exceed our historic average of 20 medals. But what these outside observers rarely comment on are the challenging moments that are part of every team and the private ways that the Team tries to deal with them or help other athletes deal with their disappointments.

Take last night for example. To the rest of the world, bronze medals for Dwight Phillips and Wallace Spearmon were successes - if you're from one of the 160 countries that won't win a medal here, a medal of any color would be great. But to two proud men with expectations of victory, last night was excruciating, and after their respective events Phillips and Spearmon were disconsolate, not wanting to face the media or those close to them. Late at night back at the Team hotel, they both arrived to the appreciative applause of their teammates and team officials but had to be coaxed into becoming part of the nightly team medal ceremony - to them, there was nothing to celebrate. In fact, it was during the moments of that ceremony that they made their transition from disappointed World Championship bronze medalist to Beijing gold medal aspirant. Apple cider toast in their hand, they humbly thanked others for the support that got them to the podium and vowed to use the Osaka outcome as the extra spur needed to triumph in 2008. The warm embrace of fellow teammates helped them move on.

Another athlete in the "dealing with reality" mode for a couple of days has been Alan Webb. From my perspective as a former 1500 meter runner, I admire the fact that in an incredibly intense final race, he executed an almost flawless race plan and had put himself in position to win the race with 100 meters to go. This time he didn't win, which isn't to say that had the race been a month ago or in another month that he might not win. That's the harsh reality of Worlds or Olympic competition, especially in the 1500 meters - there is no margin for error or lack of fitness or mental lapse. You have to be ready on a pre-determined day in what are decidedly uncertain circumstances to make things as ideal as they can be for you to win while 11 (or in this case 13) other people are trying to bend things toward their strengths. Having worked for and executed an incredible season, Webb wasn't quite right on the day to win the race in the last 100 meters. While his initial reaction was that he "learned nothing" from the race, his further reflections have his feet firmly back on the ground and I think we'll see further fireworks from him this season and for years to come.

If Webb wasn't lucky enough to have it all come together at the right moment, Michelle Perry was in the 100 hurdles, where she defended her crown from Helsinki . . . and it couldn't have happened to a nicer person. After the race, she met up with Mami Ishino, a 24-year-old hurdler from Japan. She had met Mami on a bus in Osaka, and when she introduced herself Mami declared that Michelle was her hero. Later, Mami, who didn't make it past the first round in the hurdles, dropped off some gifts at the Team USA hotel for Michelle. When they met post-race, Michelle invited her back to the hotel, where Michelle gave her the Team USA sweatsuit that she had worn on the victory stand. Whatever pain Mami felt from not achieving her goals in a World Championship in her home country faded away as she talked of coming to the USA to train with Michelle, something that may happen prior to next year's Olympics.

So it goes. Some win and some lose. Some exceed their own expectations and those of others. Others receive the plaudits of others but beat themselves up for not meeting their own lofty standards. Ultimately, the disappointment is replaced by determination and a new plan for the future. And the compelling stories that make our sport the best roll on.

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Craig A. Masback is the Chief Executive Officer of USA Track & Field (USATF), the national governing body for track and field, long distance running, and race walking. Headquartered in Indianapolis, the organization has more than 90,000 members throughout the country. Masback is responsible for overseeing programs ranging from youth track and field, to selecting teams to represent the United States at the Olympic Games and World Championships, to administering programs for age 40+ masters runners.