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Frank Gagliano received praise for putting three 800 meter runners on the Olympic team last week. t's an amazing accomplishment, but he also coaches a lot of runners, so he had more opportunities. But how about John Cook? As far as I know, he only coaches three athletes, and now all three--Shalane Flanagan, Shannon Rowbury, and Erin Donohue are going to represent the U.S. in Beijing. He certainly has some amazing talent to work with, but all of his athletes, especially Flanagan and Rowbury, have had major breakthroughs under his tutelage. He seems to get the most out of the athletes he coaches. (If you want to learn more about Cook, this is a really good audio interview.)
Shannon Rowbury looked great in winning/dominating the 1,500. We're lucky that three of the athletes who already had the standard went 1-2-3. I wonder how much who had the standard played into how the race played out. We certainly put three of our best on the team, and it wasn't a close race for third, but it must affect you with one lap to go when you know that even if you have the lap of your life and catch the third place runner, you're still not going to the Olympics.
As I observed earlier in the meet, the athletes who have faltered in the preliminary rounds haven't yet been able to turn it around and make the team. Khadevis Robinson, Steve Slattery, and now Treniere Clement all showed signs of weakness in the prelims, and none of them were at their best in the final. It'll be interesting to hear what's up with Clement. So far every time I've seen someone really struggle, it has subsequently been revealed that he or she had some major injury leading up to the Trials. Hopefully Alan Webb, who faltered a bit in his semifinal race, will be the first one to reverse the trend about one hour from now.
I think we are sending a great middle-distance and distance team to Beijing. The more post-race interviews I watch and articles I read, I am also convinced that we are sending some great personalities, who will represent us well. We often hear about the challenges of marketing track & field. If you can't market the inspirational athletes we have on our Olympic team, well, you probably shouldn't be in marketing.
Post men's 1,500 update: Watching at home on TV is as exciting as being in the stadium in many ways. You can't get the full effect of the crowd's reaction to the races, but you can see everything a lot better than you can from the photographers' area at the finish line. Before the race, I had a moment where I realized that I didn't want the race to happen just yet, because that would mean the Trials are over. I quickly got over it. Then I forced myself to say aloud who I thought was going to make the team in the men's 1,500, because I keep saying after the fact that I would have predicted the outcome correctly. I only have my cat as a witness, but I did say, "Lagat, Lomong, and Manzano." I definitely would not have predicted Will Leer in fourth--another Division III alum (like Nick Symmonds) who now runs for the Oregon Track Club (and is sporting a look which makes him look more like a Prefontaine era Oregon runner than a modern one). I cannot fathom what it feels like to be Alan Webb right now, but I am also quite confident that he will be back with a vengeance at some point. That was an amazing race--a perfect way to close out Eugene 08.
Posted by Alison Wade at 7:42 p.m. | Tags: 2008 Olympic T&F Trials
Kevin Black commented, on July 13, 2008 at 1:38 a.m.:
I have to agree with you 100%! I was one of John Cook's success stories as well. He is most definately one of, if not the best coaches in Track and Field. I had the pleasure of running under John "Coach" Cook, while attending George Mason University. While there I had the opportunity to compete at the world class level and to run competively with the likes of the former World Champion at 1500 meters/ Abdi Bile amony other tremendous athletes. He has a way of pushing the right buttons at the right time and getting the best possible results. His athletes from George Watts to Matt Wilson, John Babcock, myself and many others I'm sure would all weigh in heavily on the fact that he will certainly go down in Track and Field logs as one of the best. He certainly prepares his athletes for the best.
Thanks John for the great life training.
Kevin