Thornton the Force Behind Team Usa Men Team Usa Stars Ready for World Championships
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Volume 3, Number 2 • August 23, 2003 • Saint-Denis, France TEAM USA STARS READY FOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS PARIS – U.S. stars Stacy Dragila, Allen Johnson, Kelli White, Tim Montgomery, Amy Acuff, Tyree Wash- ington along with head coaches Bubba Thornton and Angie Taylor appeared at a USATF press conference Friday on the eve of the 9th IAAF World Championships in Athletics. The following are excerpts from Friday’s press conference. AMY ACUFF A four-time U.S. outdoor Kirby Lee/The Sporting Image women’s high jump champion, Acuff Kelli White and Tim Montgomery set a new personal best in Zurich with a clearances Tye Harvey (2001 World Indoor Championships silver 2.01 meters/6 feet, 7 inches, the best mark by an medalist). American since 1998. Q: You’ve been jumping well this season, how do Q: We understand that you have reason to be you feel now that you’re in Paris? jumping for joy these days with news regarding your AA: I feel like I’ve been really consistent and I’m on personal life, could you explain? the way up. I think I have another bar in me even above AA: I got engaged the day before I left. It’s kinda 2.01 meters and it’s going to be exciting. I’m really proud sad because I’ll be gone for a month and a half, but it of my competitors. We’re all really friendly and close will be exciting when I get back with lots to plan. and it’s been a lot of fun. A statistician told me that Zurich He’s a pole vaulter for the United States, his name is Continued on Page 2 THORNTON THE FORCE BEHIND TEAM USA MEN In the search for a person who embodies strong, At the U.S. delegation’s team meeting Thursday night silent leadership, look no further than Team USA at at the Athlete Village in Paris, Thornton addressed both the 2003 World Outdoor Track & the men’s and women’s teams. He spoke slowly, in clear, Field Championships. short sentences, letting the pauses between sentences – You’d find that per- and the determined look on his face – to get his point son in men’s head across. His point was clear: Go out there, support each coach Bubba Thornton. other, remember why you’re here, remember what you After 30 years of did to get yourselves here, and come back winners. coaching, Thornton has The team got the point. an innate skill to rally “I want to beat you, but I don’t have to go around a team that few coaches beating my chest all day,” said Thornton, the men’s head in the world possess. coach at the University of Texas for the past seven sea- And he does so with as sons. “As a head coach, you have to pick your moments, much passion to win, and distribute energy to the team when necessary. When and passion for the ath- you talk about something too much, sometimes you lose Kirby Lee/The Sporting Image letes, as he ever has. the moment.” Continued on Page 2 1 STARS from Page 1 was the best women’s high jump competition in the come, so I decided to stop worrying about the time and history of high jumping, with four women over two just worry about the race and try to excel at that. meters, that had never happened before. So many Q: Could you talk a little bit about your teammates people have told me that the women’s high jump and in the 110m hurdles? the men’s 100 meters is where it’s at for this competi- AJ: We’re the only country that has four competi- tion, and it makes me feel good that my event is strong tors, so I think there is a good chance that we can try to right now. I want to come out and do my best and try to sweep the event and go 1, 2, 3, 4. As Craig Masback get on that podium. always says, we’re the #1 team and the same goes for the 110 hurdles. ALLEN JOHNSON: Q: What time will it take to win the gold medal? A three-time world outdoor champion and the 1996 AJ: Honestly I don’t know. That’s really hard to Olympic gold medalist in the men’s 110m hurdles, Allen say because everyone raises their game. So far this year Johnson enters the competition in Paris with the fast- you’ve seen 12.97 and 13.00. It will be at least that est time in the world this year with his 12.97 seconds fast, that’s all I can say. clocking at the Gaz de France meet. Q: You’ve spoken in recent years about wanting STACY DRAGILA the world record, but lately you’ve changed your focus The only woman ever to win the women’s pole vault into concentrating on winning. Tell us how you made at a World Outdoor Championship (1999, 2001), that change in your outlook. Dragila also is the 2000 Olympic gold medalist and AJ: I made that former world record holder in that event. change in my outlook Q: You’re used to coming into these events with a because when I was try- big target on your back. Now there are more women ing to run after times, I jumping the heights you’re accustomed to. Do you ap- was making a lot of mis- proach this year any differently? takes and I kind of lost SD: In 1999 I went into the World Championships sight of the fact that known as the dark horse and I was kind of mad about when you win races that that, but it kind of took the pressure off of me and I was means you’re the fastest able to just go out to the track and take care of business person on that day. If I and take care of what my coach wanted me to do. Again continue to win eventu- this year nobody’s really talking about me and the Rus- ally the fast times will sians are the big stir, and that’s great. It’s been neat to Lee/The Sporting Image see the Russians take the (world) record from me, al- Allen Johnson Kirby Continued on Page 5 THORNTON from Page 1 Thornton’s amiable, Texan nature belies the fact that same for the people who get the headlines as it is for “inside I’m going 100 miles an hour.” His athletes cer- the people who don’t.” tainly seem to run nearly that fast. At Texas he has led Plenty of Thornton’s athletes have gotten there share the Longhorns to three top-five finishes, producing nine of headlines. NCAA championships have a way of NCAA individual champions and 59 All-America hon- making that happen. But the event that Thornton cites ors. For the 14 years before he arrived at Texas, he as his coaching highlight occurred far from the track. guided Texas Christian to five NCAA top-10 finishes “One of my best coaching moments was when I and five 4x400m relay championships. introduced Jon Drummond into the TCU Hall of Fame,” His success in coaching Team USA also speaks for Thornton said. “It wasn’t about his accomplishments itself. He was an assistant coach for the Americans at at TCU or his gold medals and other championships. It the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, where he over- was how Jon addressed the crowd that night. He abso- saw the men’s 400m (gold, silver medals), 400m hurdles lutely electrified everyone in the audience. His accep- (gold) and 4x400m relay (gold). He also was head coach tance speech was from the heart.” It occurs to his inter- at the 1996 World Junior Championships. viewer that Drummond might have learned more than Thornton says his approach to coaching, whether it relay skills from his former mentor. be for a World Championship meet or a collegiate dual When asked what is most rewarding for him, both meet, is the same. “It’s exactly the same – you can’t be personally and professionally, when he is on a Team somebody you’re not,” Thornton said. “It’s important USA staff, Thornton’s response is vintage Bubba - to for the staff to maintain a balance so everyone feels the point, crystal clear and heartfelt: and knows they are being treated fairly. It should be the “Watching dreams come true.” 2 MEN’S SHOT PUT FINAL HIGHLIGHTS SATURDAY COMPETITION PARIS – The 2003 World Outdoor Track & Field THE SCOOP: Deena Drossin has established herself as Championships get under way Saturday morning as among the world elite in women’s distance running. Her three finals – including a final in one of Team USA’s more recent feat is breaking the American record in the strongest events, the men’s shot put – are among the marathon with her time of 2:21:16 at the 2003 Flora contested events. Below is a preview of the Saturday’s London Marathon. She is a two-time silver medalist competition. (2002, 2003) at the World Cross Country Championships, and she owns the American record in the 10,000 meters. FINALS Drossin typically runs aggressively to avoid getting into a kicker’s battle, and she will look to improve on her Men’s shot put 11th-place finish at the World Outdoor Championships. Qualifying 8:30 a.m. Dryer is the U.S.