Chasing Olympic Dreams
So it’s been 18 weeks and I’ve not had a blog post. I give out to people for not keeping their blogs updated and here I am guilty of the crime myself. Well in fairness I’ve had a decent excuse.
These past months have been spent pursuing a dream to qualify for the Olympics. To quote Brad Pitt in the Devil’s Own.
“Don’t look for a happy ending. It’s not an American story. It’s an Irish one”
You could say it began when I was 8 years old but for the sake of currency it started in August 2007, when my good friend Gordon Kennedy and I sat down and discussed what was our best chance of getting to the Olympics in Beijing. As 400m runners the choice was obvious - the 4*400m relay. On a global level, Ireland has greater depth in the 400m sprint than probably any other sporting discipline, but the public are not aware of this at all. We wanted to inform the Irish audience about this and get our team to the Olympics.
So we got all the 400m runners on the same page, including our superstars, David Gillick and Paul McKee and branded our efforts as Project 400. We needed an event to get all the guys in the one spot, so with the help of the Sunday Independent we organised a photoshoot in Dublin with their photographer David Conachy, while sportswriter John O’Brien documented our efforts in a 2 page spread before Christmas.
Athletics does not pay the bills unless you are a megastar so if you want to pursue the dream you need a source of funding. For me it was my business so I structured my working day according to my training, and tried to get the balance just right. Throughout the summer I managed to keep on top of both work and training, but the Blog was the obvious casualty.
Having signed off on a bunch of work in late March, I fled to the warmer climes of Portugal where I put in a month’s training with the other 400m guys. Portugal was fantastic. Nice weather, great facilities and top class athletes to train with. All of us really progressed in Portugal and we were in great spirits for the forthcoming summer season.
Having put my body throught the wringer for 8 months I was in the shape of my life in early April. However as the season edged closer little niggles turned to injury in what would become a summer long battle with my own body. Strained tendons, Torn Muscles, Dislocated knees. I didn’t wnat to wallow in self pity, there was a ticket to Beijing available and nothing could distract me from the goal of getting the team to qualify. A qualified team would mean more time to prove I was in shape so I never felt the panic of an athlete forcing to get themself in shape.
Qualification for the Olympics involved ranking in the top 16 in the World for the years 2007-2008 based on the aggregate of your 2 best times. Having no time down on paper for 2007, meant that we had to do it all this year and that was going to be tough. Our first qualification race was in Namur Belgium. I didn’t get to even see myself as a hamstring tear meant I was spending most of my free time with needles in my leg. We finished 3rd in Namur in a time of 3:04.71, beaten by an inch by a South African team that would ultimately make the Olympics.
A week later we had to put in our second time. My leg had healed sufficiently to travel to Estonia with the team as the sub. Being the 5th man is not a pleasant role but it is necessary and at least I’d be able to roar encouragement from the stands. The odds were stacked against us in Estonia. The weather was poor, there was no competition and there wasn’t a big crowd. However the Irish supporters made themselves heard and the team produced an incredible performance given the circumstances - 3.04.43. We checked the Top 16 lists. We were in 17th missing out by 1/100th of a second.
We couldn’t miss the Olympics by so little.
We checked the IAAF list of races. There was one opportunity left in Salamanca in Spain in 2 weeks time. In between the 2 relay races David Gillick set a new Irish record and leading time in Europe this year. Everything was falling in to place. People were getting faster, we’d get to run in a warmer climate in a bigger race knowing that a good run would mean we’d be going to the Olympics. I had just shaken off my injuries so I was looking for a run out myself. And then it happened.
2 days before the race - we get a phone call. The race is cancelled. Not the entire event, just the 4*400m. I’d like to go into the details about what happened but suffice to say it was more than just a lack of beds that lead to the cancelling of our final Olympic qualification attempt. This article does a good job of explaining the situation.
We ended the season 15th in the World for the year but 18th on the aggregate list, 2/10ths of a second off of our dream. Less than the time it takes to clap your hands over a course of a mile in length. The hardest part of it all is not losing on your own terms and being denied the chance to prove yourself. We’ll always know we were good enough to go, but its scant consolation when the party is 5,000 miles away and you are at home.
So the Beijing Olympics will be spent cheering on our friends on the Irish team, in particular David Gillick who qualified individually. I’d rather be in the Crow’s nest than on the couch. I’m looking for the silver lining, but I think this story is more of a smog haze than cloud.
No Regrets.
Posted 08.08.08World Darts Championship - Marketing Genius
Last night saw the conclusion of the PDC World Darts Championships in Alexandra Palace. For 2 weeks Sky Sports covered every throw of this competition, with John Part finally taking the title last night. I watched quite a lot of the championships last night and was spellbound by how the organisers got everything about this competition so right.
The first thing that I should highlight is that darts is not an easy sell. Darts is not the most dynamic of sports. The protagonists are not cut like Greek gods. Greek salads might be more appropriate but for 2 weeks the organisers made them look like sporting colossuses. Read More
Posted 02.01.08Bryan Habana - Don’t Believe the Hype
The English media have launched a media blitz on Bryan Habana prior to the rugby World Cup final this Saturday. The English don’t have to worry about Habana, when the battle will be won or lost up front Read More
Posted 17.10.07Cheating in Professional Sport
This follows on from yesterdays post. I don’t want to appear like I have a vendetta against Rugby so in the interest of fairness I want to be as wide-ranging in my questioning. After a lot of research the top level of every sport is corrupt it seems. Please voice your opinions if you agree or disagree.
American Football How many 6′0 tall 280lb men have you seen in your life that weren’t obese. Not only that but these guys can run like sprinters and take hit after hit after hit. How does anyone not take drugs in the NFL? It’s a freakshow, how come the american public don’t pick up on this? A 4 game ban for Growth Hormone - Where is the deterrent?
A picture of Ben Johnson from Seoul 1988. Compare him to your average US Football Player/Rugby Player
Soccer How can we expect players to be clean given the huge stakes involved. C league professionals in the UK make as much money as top professionals in athletics or cycling. We’ve had Chelsea involved in Blood Spinning to cure injuries. While Arsene Wenger has stated that he’s had players not tested over a 6 period
Horse Racing WAKE UP! If there is one sport that has a hidden problem it is here. If people inject crap into themselves, they won’t have trouble doing it to an animal. There is so much money at stake. This is an industry. A top stallion can be worth up to $100m in stud fees. Horse Racing has a major drugs problem
Baseball A noted problem with steroids as seen in the Balco scandal. Long associated with match fixing and now the ethical practice of Tommy John surgery where players have seemingly superhuman elbows after surgery
Golf They don’t test because it is assumed to be a gentleman’s sport. Golfers have elective laser eye surgery for better than 20/20 vision, they take beta blockers to get rid of involuntary movements. When people cheat for a pittence in other sport, how do they not cheat when the rewards are hundreds of thousands per game?
Cycling Obvious problems with a definite drug culture in certain European countries. At least they test regularly. I find it amazing that people become disillusioned with cycling because they are trying to find the cheats. Wake up - it’s in every sport, don’t punish the ones who test
Athletics Long having such a problem mainly from Eastern European countries and recent years in the US. Why do american sprinters obliterate their opposition from the UK. It’s not a genetic advantage, it’s not a coaching advantage, yet they earn nearly all the money that is available on the circuit. To quote Tyree Washington “The question is - if the cheaters out there continue to raise the bar so high, then what money will be left for the clean athletes to make?”
Update There is a good discussion going on at the Guardian website on Steve Cram’s column on a similar topic
Posted 10.10.07Irish Sports Council Priorities Messed Up
In this post I’m going to analyse the Irish Sport’s Council’s 2006 Anti-Doping report. I’m doing this as it seems no else has bothered to do so Read More
Posted 09.10.07The Day of the Underdog
Last Saturday at the Rugby World Cup will long be remembered as the day that people reassessed the importance of “Form” for International Rugby games. Who needs to have form or even confidence, if you can just go out and get the job done. Read More
Posted 08.10.0710 Tips to Help You Get Fit
So you want to get “fit”. Here are my 10 tips to help you on your way.
- Remember fitness is attainable by anyone People too often think they were born “Big Boned” or with a slow metabolism. Anybody can get fit. You are never too old, fat or weak. Keep a positive mindset.
- Define what fitness means to you Fitness is more than long distance running, it involves speed, strength, power, anerobic endurance and agility. Pick what traits you want most and train for that purpose.
- Plan your goals. Write down and track your goals. If your goal is to be able to bench press 60kg write it down. Note your progress along the way. Some goals will be attainable very quickly, others can take years. Be realistic in setting them but don’t be shy either.
- Find a Mentor/Coach. The web is great but articles are no substitute for a real coach. At the very least get someone you can call on the phone. A good coach will push you when you need it and tell you to stop before you hurt yourself. They are worth their weight in gold.
- Don’t Rush into it. When you start training it hurts! This is the same for the 24 year old pro athlete as for the 65 year old starting back.
- Look after your Nutrition. You’ll realise soon enough that you can’t run for 30mins after eating spaghetti bolognese. Eat your fresh fruit and vegetables. Take a protein rich after training to help repair. Nutrition is an education in itself - use the web wisely for this one.
- Find an Exercise Buddy. If there is someone starting at the same time as you try to partner up with them. A training Buddy will be make time go faster, push you harder and will someone to bounce ideas off.
- Enter a Competition. Nothing focuses the mind like a bit of competition. If you are completely at stage one, enter a short fun run and try to jog for the most of it you can. The sense of achievement comes from pushing your body to its current limits, not finishing or winning.
- Rest when you need it. The great Coach and Nike founder explained fitness as follows: You put an organism understress, then leave it rest. It responds by becoming incrementally stronger, faster or more durable. All the improvement happens when you rest, don’t forget that.
- Have Fun. It’s your program and your goals. If it’s something you want you should be having fun attaining it. Change your program if it feels stale. Their is a fine line between laziness and staleness. Listen to your Body.
I’ll try and add to this list with more practical concerns later on.
Posted 04.10.07Death of a True Sporting Legend
I love performance, and I believe there is merit in anything that is done to a high level. The death of Al Oerter saddened me today because if ever there was a high level performer, this was he Read More
Posted 01.10.07A tale of 2 Brians
While Brian O’Driscoll cements his reputation as Ireland’s best rugby player in World Cup 2007, we are denied the opportunity to see what Brian Carney can bring to needy Irish team. Read More
PostedCan we get a Boo for Bettini
If Cancellara is King then surely Bettini must be his boss. He must be eveyones boss if he gets away with what he has done in winning the World Road Championships amidst a furore regarding his refusal to sign an anti-doping charter.
Frankly I don’t care if he is clean or otherwise, his actions have made him implicitly guilty. By refusing to sign a charter which seeks to limit the use and performance enhancing drugs and impose greater sanctions on cheats, Bettini has alienated himself. Cycling has a well acknowledge problem it needs to clean upT, anyone who stands in the way of seeking a cleaner sport makes themself an enemy of cycling. Bettini’s actions are tantemount to a politician refusing to sign an anti-corruption charter or a nation refusing to accept new pollution limits. Who does that? Well to keep with that analogy the main oposition to the Kyoto protocol is the US - who are also the largest polluters. They oppose action to clean up because they are the worst offenders and it affects them most and the they have the most to lose financially.
So Bettini has alienated himself, his objection being the frankly ludicrous explanation that he is “unhappy with a clause forcing any rider given a doping ban of two years to pay a year’s salary, plus the standard fine“. In the same week that a top female cyclist admitted to using EPO since the age of 16, what are the public expected to think.
Bettini’s objection lies with the logic that if one cheats to make ones salary that they should not have to pay back that money when they are caught. If you lied to withhold money from the government you would pay huges fines as well as the money back, you could even go to jail. But if you lie, cheat and steal you shouldn’t have to incur any sanction - such is Bettini’s view.
As mature logic clearly does not trouble the man, all I can say is BOOOOOOO!
Posted 30.09.07