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FLRC Newsletter - October 2004 |
| Kevin Coughlin’s Olympic Experience | |
Kevin Coughlin recently returned home from Marathon. Not "a" marathon, but the Greek town of Marathon where he enjoyed a bird's eye view of the Olympic Games in Athens.
The Elmira orthopedic specialist signed on with a Track and Field News magazine-sponsored tour to see every single minute of live track and field competition.
"I went to every single thing," said Coughlin. "It was fun to hang out with knowledgeable people."
Coughlin, one of our region's best masters runners, also was assigned a famous roommate. He bunked with Tom Jordan, well known for at least two accomplishments. Jordan is the author of Pre, the definitive book on the legendary Steve Prefontaine. And Jordan is the meet director of the Prefontaine Classic track meet, held annually in Eugene, Oregon.
Every four years, Coughlin attends the Olympics, and every two years he travels to the World Track & Field Championships. No one could possibly do the Olympic experience justice in this small space, so I asked Kevin to pick a few favorite memories and critique a few of the blunders.
Not surprisingly for a runner who loves the mile and the marathon, Coughlin picked Deena Kastor's and Meb Keflezighi's surprise U.S. marathon medals, and Moroccan Hichan El Guerrouj's double golds in the 1500 and 5000 m races as highlights.
"The greatest races were both marathons, because (winning two) medals had never happened before," Coughlin said. "I was sitting with thousands of people from Scotland and Great Britain, watching the marathons on the Jumbo-tron in the stadium. Everyone groaned when Paula Radcliffe dropped out, then Kastor roared onto the screen. I said, 'Oh, my gosh! She's going to get a medal!'"
Coughlin, who stayed in the town of Marathon, also went out onto the grueling marathon course to get a good view of the race.
"We went to see the start of both marathons in Marathon to see everybody take off, then we hopped a cab to the 10–15-mile marks on the course," he said. "We found a good place on a crest of a hill, but unfortunately none of the Americans had broken away yet. Then we hopped a cab back to the stadium to watch the finish. The women's marathon went from agony when Radcliffe dropped, to ecstasy when Kastor started picking off people. It was a very festive atmosphere."
One of the other greatest Olympic moments for Coughlin was watching El Guerrouj win both the 1500 and 5000 meter races. No one had earned a double gold in those events in two decades.
"What history will remember about this Olympics is El Guerrouj finally establishing himself as one of the greatest distance runners ever," said Coughlin. "Even Bernard Lagat, who won the silver medal in the 1500 m, was happy for him."
Another favorite Olympic moment: Greek sprinter Fani Halkia winning the gold in the 400-m hurdles.
"There's nothing like being at the Olympics in Athens when a Greek wins a medal," said Coughlin.
Coughlin has seen world records set before, especially at the World Championships. But never in the pole vault.
"I sat 10 rows from the women's pole vault competition, when the two Russian women (Yelena Isinbayeva and Svetlana Feofanova) traded off world records," Coughlin said. "It was unbelievable!"
Coughlin had a ring-side seat for the botched baton hand-off between Marion Jones and Lauryn Williams in the 4´100-m relay.
"It happened right in front of me," Coughlin said. "I thought, 'Oh, there goes the gold medal. We're going to get the lead medal today.'"
Coughlin also met NBC Sports field commentator Dwight Stones; Ian Stewart, who beat Steve Prefontaine in the 1972 Olympics; and former 10,000-m world record holder Dave Bedford. Coughlin also chatted with U.S. steeplechaser Dan Lincoln, who finished eighth in a race swept by Kenyans.
"Dan Lincoln told me he's going to go to medical school to study sports medicine," said Coughlin. "I told him don't go to medical school until he stops getting PRs."
Coughlin is already looking ahead to the World Championships next year in Helsinki. But there's nothing like the Olympics. I know, because I attended the Montreal Olympics in 1976, with my friend Sandy Schmidt of Horseheads.
"There is something about the Olympics, because there's so much at stake to win a medal," said Coughlin. "The Greeks did a fantastic job; and everything was spectacularly beautiful, and the people so nice."
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