EUGENE, Ore. – Both Michelle Carter and Michael Robertson entered the U.S. Olympic track and field trials focused on harnessing their power, technique, passion and nerves into one, defining performance.
On unleashing the shot puts or discus throws that would get them to Beijing.
Mission accomplished for Carter – who at 22 became a second-generation Olympian by winning the shot put on Saturday with a personal best and U.S.-leading mark of 61 feet, 10.25 inches.
"You practice day in and day out for it," said Carter, the Red Oak and Texas-ex whose national high school record still stands, before she opened competition. "You put all that you learned into [these] moments, and that's it."
Robertson, who trains with Carter at SMU – on the future grounds of the Bush Library, no less – under throwing guru Dave Wollman, gets his chance in the men's discus final today. Jason Young, of Samuell and Texas Tech, is also competing.
Robertson, 24, is the defending national champion. He advanced to today's finals with a throw of 198-01.
Carter qualified for the trials in 2004 but opted not to compete because she thought she wasn't ready.
The daughter of Michael Carter – the former SMU star, 1984 Olympic silver medalist in the shot put and three-time Super Bowl winning nose tackle with the 49ers – sure is ready now.
Wollman said Carter is in excellent shape and just starting to tap into her abilities. After graduating from UT in December, Carter moved home to work with Wollman, a family friend since she was little.
The trials have been busy for the Carters. Michelle's little sister, D'Andra, of Texas Tech, competed at the trials in the women's discus. Mom, Sandra, is in town, chronicling it all with her camera. Dad is home after undergoing hip and knee replacement surgeries.
Wollman said Carter excels thanks to her athleticism, balance, range of motion in her hips and her ability to feel what her body is doing.
Carter, it's also worth noting, is a girly-girl shot putter.
Yes, that's right. Her nails are always done – pink tips with a silver flourish this week – and her headbands and earrings for competitions are carefully selected.
"She's got to look like a million bucks," Wollman said.
She should feel like it too, after joining her father as an Olympian. He, too, holds the shot put high school record, of 81-3.5. Set while he attended Thomas Jefferson, it's considered by many to be the greatest high school record in history.
When Michelle Carter got into the sport in seventh grade, her father asked her, "Do you know what you're getting into?"
"I had no idea," she said.
Good thing that didn't stop her.
Robertson is back at SMU, which he attended from 2002-2004 before the school shut down its men's track program.
Robertson finished his NCAA career at Stanford, earning a degree in economics.
But you'll find him in the electrical section at the Home Depot on Skillman St., where he works part-time, thanks to the elite U.S. Olympic Committee program that helps support Olympic hopefuls.
At almost 6-6, Robertson has height but not as much beef as some of his competitors. But Wollman said he has the rhythm and mental and technical ability to put all he's got into the discus.
"I feel the peak coming on," Robertson said. "I don't even know what I'm capable of. You don't know where the ceiling is."
Did you know?
Former Olympians Kerri Strug (the famed 1996 gymnast who vaulted on one foot, of course) and Dallas' Nancy Lieberman (basketball) are taking part in America's Cheer on Friday at Taste of Dallas in the West End.
The program encourages Americans to support Team USA through postcards, videos, letters or photos.
USA Gymnastics is reviewing Morgan Hamm's role on the U.S. men's team after the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency announced Hamm had tested positive for a prescribed anti-inflammatory shot during the second day of competition at the national championships. Hamm didn't seek a therapeutic use exemption before receiving the treatment from a physician. The violation voids his results from May 24, which were part of the selection process used to select the men's team.
Tamika Catchings, the Duncanville-ex, is expected to be added to the U.S. women's basketball team this week. She's recovered from a torn Achilles' tendon and is again leading the Indiana Fever.
Issues watch
Goodness, the problems – of all kinds – keep coming.
The latest hurdle for the Chinese, The Associated Press reports, is an algae bloom covering one-third of the sea that will be used for the sailing competitions. Hundreds of soldiers and thousands of citizens are attempting to clean up the smelly gunk. Some vessels have become stuck in the stuff. Qindao, on China's east coast, also has lesser winds and current than are ideal.
U.S. athlete to watch: Laura Wilkinson
Event: Diving
Notable: Do you remember when 30 was old? Age hasn't caught up yet with this Texas-ex, though this trip to the Olympics will be the last before her retirement. Wilkinson, who trains in The Woodlands, won gold in the 2000 Sydney Games, but disappointment in Athens in 2004 kept her going. She earned perfect 10s from all seven judges on her third dive – a reverse, three-and-a-half somersault on the 10-meter platform – last month at the diving team trials in Indianapolis. The diving team will be finalized after a camp scheduled to end today in Knoxville, Tenn. The Chinese divers are widely expected to dominate in Beijing.
Days until the Opening Ceremony on Aug. 8: 33
Facts
When: Aug. 8-24
Where: Beijing, China
Number of sports: 28
Athletes: About 10,500
Team USA athletes: About 600
Events: 302
Competition venues: 37 (31 in Beijing; one each in Hong Kong, Qingdao, Tianjin, Shenyang, Shanghai and Qinhuangdao)
