IAAF World Junior Championships
Aug 15-20, 2006 at Beijing, China
DyeStat on-site coverage
with Doug Speck, Jim Spier, Mike Kennedy and Mike Byrnes

Mike Byrnes
Second Day Musings

by Mike Byrnes

Some of my comments may seem a bit acerbic; I make no apologies.  Reporting is not supposed to be a nice touchy-feely endeavor.  There are times when acerbicity is in order.

The two heats of the 3000m Steeplechase have just been completed.  Both Americans immediately dropped to last place.  One remained there throughout; the other made a move and finished next to last.  To this rather trained eye, neither even tried.  When you represent your country, nothing less than your best is acceptable.  I recall the ’98 championships in Annecy when the two Americans both ‘went for it.’  They got right into the mix, fought all the way and both ran in the 8:40s to make the final.  That’s the kind of effort representing your country calls for.  We didn’t get that here.

REBBEKAH NOBLE just made history by becoming the first American woman to advance to the 800m final.  Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, she made it despite making a mental mistake with 230m left in the race.  “I thought I didn’t make it,” she said just after the race. 
She ran the race virtually perfectly following Coach Vin Lannana’s instructions to the letter.  “I got out well and was right where I wanted to be,” she said.  Noble was sitting in third just a couple strides behind the leaders.  With her finish, she seemed a lock to win the heat. 
THEN…the mistake.  Two kids passed her and suddenly she was in fifth with the two leaders breaking away.  According to Oregon coach Robert Johnson, Noble said, ‘I was in a good spot, but then I focused on the girls beside me instead of the two in front of me.”  Noble had to expend far more energy than necessary just to get back into the race.  “I still thought I could catch them,” she said, but she vastly underestimated the way international races are run. 
Despite a superb finish, which brought her back to third, she had no chance of catching the two leaders.  In this league, with so much at stake, unless you’re less than a meter back, there is almost no chance of passing someone in the final 10m.  I hope that Noble has learned that.  She can win the final and, you heard it here first, I predict she’ll do just that.  

A young Chinese girl gave more than 100% in last night’s 5000m.  XUE FEI, ranked #7 in the world (15:38.66), was locked in a battle for the final three laps with three other women.  Two dropped back and over the final 400m it was Fei and Kenyan Florence Kiplagat.  With 200m to go, the Kenyan made her move and a gap slowly opened.  Coming off the final turn the Chinese girl was five meters back. 
To a journalist who has covered almost every one of these meets, no one catches a Kenyan at this stage of a race.  However, this is Beijing and thousands of voices were screaming for Fei to perform a miracle.  Slowly, she began reeling in her adversary.  With 10m to go and the crowd drowning out the frenzied play-by-play of the Chinese announcer, Fei moved into the lead.  Improving upon her PB by seven seconds, she took the gold and proved that miracles can happen.

I had a chance to speak with JOHN DRUMMOND.  Drummond is serving as the Relay teams coach.  Asked to evaluate the team’s performance thus far, he responded, “We’ve got a very young team, perhaps one of the youngest ever.  They simply were not prepared for these conditions (very hot and humid) and it’s showing.  Some of them went into races almost totally dehydrated.” 
Asked for an example, he mentioned Willie Perry.  “These kids don’t understand how to handle meets like this.  You sit in the Call Room for 30 minutes, then the Ready Room for five more and you tighten up.  Then there were three false starts and when he (Perry) got back in the blocks, he felt a slight twinge.  But he’ll do better tomorrow in the 200m.”  Asked if it wasn’t the job of the coaching staff to make sure the kids were aware of these problems, his reply was measured: “The way our system works leads to adversity.”  More on this later.

THIS IS AN EDITORIAL: (read it as such)  Coaching staffs for all international teams are under the jurisdiction of the USATF.  The staffs are selected at the USATF National Convention.  The organization is controlled by the college coaches.  They are able to take a week off from their coaching duties to attend this meeting usually held in early December.  Thus, very few high school coaches can attend.  Those that can are rewarded by spots on various coaching staffs.

Every staff is made up of new personnel.  Some are repeaters, but not too many.  This leads to problems.  Almost the entire staff are rookies.  They simply don’t know the ropes.  This is not to imply those chosen are not good coaches; they are.  They, as well as the athletes under their charge, are ignorant of the ways of international competition.  They have never faced many of the situations they’ll be called upon to handle.  They learn on the job.  But when their job is finished, they’re gone.  The next staff chosen repeats the cycle and, unfortunately, the athletes are the ones who suffer.

When able to attend the convention, I have repeatedly asked for a minor adjustment to the selection process, to wit: Each Head Coach should have an Assistant Coach who will become the next Head Coach.  It will be her/his job to work with the staff and point out to them things they need to know.  As a result, the entire staff becomes more knowledgeable and can better serve the athletes.  Respectfully, Mike Byrnes

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