|
 |   |
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Multimedia Central Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities Work in Sports
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE
|  |
John Smith - the Cecil B De Mille of athletics bidding for Olympic Oscars
SYDNEY, Sept 15 (AFP) - They sing, they dance, they joke -- although not to everyone's taste -- and they win athletics titles. Now the time is approaching when coach and former actor John Smith will want Maurice 'Kansas Comet' Greene, Ato Boldon and Inger Miller to prove themselves on the biggest stage of all. Add the other two Americans in the 100m, John 'The Clown Prince' Drummond and Curtis Johnson to Greene and Trinidadian Boldon, and Smith could be looking at training an unprecedented first four home in the blue riband event. Miller is the greatest threat to deprive Marion Jones of gold on the track and ruining her dream of five Olympic titles. Smith, the 440 yard world record holder, has the most high-profile stable in the sport. They are valued by meet directors as much for their showmanship and willingness to publicise athletics -- which has had some rocky times in terms of television viewing figures -- as for their ability on the track. The lean-looking 50-year-old American, who missed an Olympic gold in 1972 when he pulled up in the 400 metres final with a hamstring injury, made his mark as a coach when Steve Lewis won the 400m final at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. Four years later scored a double success in Barcelona with Quincy Watts in the 400m and Kevin Young who took the 400 hurdles with a world record. However, Smith, who played for the Dallas Cowboys reserves and went on to act in several films, has really flourished since agreeing with Los Angeles-based lawyer Emmanuel Hudson to form Hudson Smith International (HSI) in 1996. It made him feel that the rough period he went through in the 70s was a price worth paying. "To be truthful one is formed by one's experiences," he said. "Although in the 1970s I went through bankruptcy and divorce I think that I am much stronger for that now and don't believe I would have arrived at this level had I not gone through those experiences," the urbane Smith added. The burly Hudson, who is highly protective of his proteges and ensures they are largely kept out of the limelight during the lead-up to big championships, provides the financial brain to go with Smith's coaching ability. Smith, who predicted a week before Greene ran in the Brussels Golden League meeting that he would run a time of 9.88secs which he did, is always open and ready to give an opinion on anything. But he is a tough taskmaster to his troops and rarely satisfied. "He is tough and no matter how we are feeling physically he pushes us through all the hoops until he is happy," Greene said. It certainly has paid off as Greene has collected two world titles and the world record since he joined Smith following the Atlanta Olympics in a last desperate bid to make it in athletics, while Boldon and Miller both have a 200m world gold medal in their cabinets. Boldon, the most articulate of the group, put Smith's standing in his eyes nicely when asked what he thought of all the helpful advice he was getting from his fellow Trinidadians about how to win Olympic gold. "I don't worry much about what's going on down there," the 26-year-old said. "There are loads of track coaches down there but I have only one coach, John Smith. John is the best coach walking on this earth." Boldon, who says he learns a lot even when he beaten by unknowns from UCLA who Smith brings in during training runs, appears the most thoughtful of the stable, while Drummond and Greene indulge in the comedy side. They are always clowning around, with Greene strutting his rapper style walk down the track and Drummond, who was born with spina bifida, taking the mickey out of him -- Marx brothers it ain't but it brings some light entertainment to the show. "Yeah I don't mind them joking around because it's important that they find an outlet for their emotions," Smith said. "However, I don't allow it once the serious business starts because they have to be really focused and one slip could cost them their title and as my experience taught me from Munich sometimes you don't get a second chance at the Olympics.
|
