Track and Field Star Richard Engelbrink Starts a New Blog
Tips for track and field athletes:
• Watch your breath
• Don’t go for too easy times
• Don’t hold your breath too long
• Don’t over-extend
• Don’t stretch your shoulders
• Don’t do too much push-ups
• Don’t get too carried away
• Make your feet work for you
• Remember: The bigger the track, the easier a race is to negotiate
Running in a track and field race with an Olympic gold medal to her name doesn’t mean one is any less eligible.
Lack of experience means she doesn’t get to compete in the Olympics, not on the track for two years, and also doesn’t earn any money. She’s just left out of the USA Track & Field Trials.
She was told her exclusion had nothing to do with any other reason, which sounds reasonable from an athlete standpoint — you’ll get a better opportunity this year by playing through the injury that kept her out of Rio de Janeiro. The exclusion itself wasn’t anything more than a little hiccup for an athlete who has been able to excel in any sport since high school.
But now that they’re going to start an Olympic cycle with no Canadian, what was she supposed to do? How are they going to train? She was supposed to have spent at least one month out of training last year. She was supposed to have run in the women’s 1,500 meters in two years, despite only being two years younger when she ran through her qualifying season in Rio.
She was supposed to have competed in the 200 meters in four years. She was supposed to have played in the team track and field trials this fall. Why on earth would they leave her out?
She’s a gold medalist.