TRACK AND FIELD QUOTES
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The Fall Guy
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EUGENE, Ore. -- Jon Drummond, a 2000 U.S. Olympic sprint relay gold medalist, called himself an advisor or technical consultant or whatever before the U.S. Olympic trials.
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Sunday, he admitted to the title, "coach.''
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"This has been an emotional week for me,'' Drummond said after enduring his first trials as a coach.
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One of his athletes, Tyson Gay, set a U.S. record in the 100 quarterfinals, then ran faster than anyone ever had (although wind-aided) to win the 100 final, then tumbled to the track with a leg cramp in the 200, knocking him out of the Olympics in that event.
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Another of his athletes, Marshevet Hooker, missed a place in the Olympic 100 by one place and 3/100ths of a second. Then she dove across the finish line of the 200 to get third -- and an Olympic place by 1/100th of a second.
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"Tyson is fine,'' Drummond said. "Tyson ran six (actually 5 1/4) races, and I don't think it's anything more than natural soreness. He fell, and when you fall, the body goes into shock. I think the shock was he fell, and it scared everybody, because he went down pretty hard.
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"The good thing is that initial injuries usually happen when athletes try to stop. The fact he just fell was the saving grace on all of this.''
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Drummond was beside himself with excitement over Hooker's finish in the 200.
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"She made this Olympic team on a dive,'' Drummond said. "I thought that was pretty phenomenal.''
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Drummond, never at a loss for a quip, noted that Hooker had followed the example of Christian Smith, who got into the Summer Games with a headlong lunge to take third in the men's 800 last week.
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"That kid in the 800 starts a little domino effect,'' Drummond said. "It's like this is the Fall Olympics.''
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