by Larry Eder
This is the first of several interviews you will be able to read over the next week, courtesy of adidas. In the middle of March, I had the luck to spend several days in Santa Monica, with the adidas team, checking out new product, and speaking to adidas’ Icon athletes.
We start with Jeremy Wariner. In 2004, Wariner won the NCAA 400 meters, Olympic Trials and Olympic 400 meters plus anchored the 4 x 400 meters for two gold medals. In 2005, Wariner won the Helsinki 400 meters and ran the 4 x400 meters-both gold medals. Same story in Osaka, as Wariner won the open 400 meters and ran on the 4 x 400 meter relay.
2008 was a different story. A change in coaches, and a real competitor in LaShawn Merritt, who gave Wariner some real races. At the Olympic Trials, Wariner took second. In Beijing, Wariner ran a brilliant semi final, but the energy was just not there in the final and LaShawn Merritt took the 400 meters.
Spring 2009 gives us a bit more contemplative Jeremy Wariner. He knows he has to train hard, improve his race and run his own race. In that way, perhaps the defeats in 2008 were good for Jeremy in the long run….
RBR: So Jeremy, What is difference for you now in your career than where you were five years ago?
Wariner: It is a lot harder. I travel around the world now. In college, I just traveled around the states-three or four hours, versus eight and nine hours. Now I deal with Jet lag. My body has adjusted. The difference is atmosphere. In Europe, it is amazing, with 40-50,000 people in the stands. In the states, we just do not see that here.
RBR: What can we do in the U.S. to make the sport better?
Wariner: Let people understand that we run not just every four years, but we run every year. We train for the world champs, compete all year around and around the world. I guess that the Diamond League is a good thing, and (perhaps) it can help that.. as we compete around the world.
RBR: What do you think of the proposed Diamond League?
Wariner: The Diamond League, briefly, I know is twelve meets in US, Europe and Aaia. I see it benefiting USA track & field over time. The Diamond League is going to fun. It will help fans understand track & field, and in international competition, there will be more of us (adidas athletes ), than the normal one or two at adidas track classic, Prefontaine or in Europe or Africa.
RBR: Any definite plans for the summer?
Wariner: As of right now, Stockholm. I like going there. I always run good there. My first year, I missed the diamond running 44.8 ( one has to break the meet record to win the diamond ring), then 44.6, then 44.06. 44.00 got the diamond. Last year I ran 43.5, I must have been nuts (laughing) for running that fast!
RBR: Tell us about the rivalry between you and LaShawn Merritt?
Wariner: It is good for the sport. At the same time, it helped get me motivated more. Last year, I was real dissapointed. I would have loved to have won. I am using that as motivation this year. LaShawn is a great athlete. He has great speed for a quarter miler. He is learning more about the race. We all have to learn how to run the race, and LaShawn has done that. It is going to be good, friendly competition. We are are friends, but, on the track, it is all about business. We see each other all of the time. We do want have confrontation–we are a little old for that. Off the track, we all just have fun. When it is about business, we both compete to win. Off the track, we want to have fun and we talk about things besides track.
RBR: What else do you talk about?
Wariner: We talk about other sports. I like Baylor in basketball. But Coach Ford cheers for Georgetown.
RBR: Do you still work out with the Baylor team?
Wariner: I do not work out with the Baylor team. I still talk to some of the young ones, but I do not train with them. I will hang out with them at the MJ meet, where I am running the 200 meters.
RBR: Any ideas about your outdoor schedule for 09?
Wariner; I wil run a 200 meters at Baylor, a 200 Meters at UTA, then off for Texas Relays. Then the 200 meters a MJ, the 400 meters at Drake, then Osaka for the 400 meters. Pretty much like my 2007 schedule. I am considering Hengelo, and I might run at Reebok, then the 200 meters at the Trials.
(Editors note: Wariner, as 2005,2007 WC at 400 meters, gets a automatic into the Berlin 400 meters.)
RBR: Which distance do you enjoy the most?
Wariner: I might be one of the few who enjoy running the 200 meters, the 400 meters and the relay. I love running on the relay. You take the four best guys in the world and you try and get the world record!
RBR: Okay, to keep the tradition Jeremy, you know I have to ask you this one: When will we see you run the 800 meters? You can run 49 seconds in your sleep!
Wariner: (Looks at me, smiles, but uses the body language to make sure that this writer realizes his foray in 800 meters will be preceded, more than likely, by a cold day in Hell): I still do not see myself running the 800 meters. I used to always see that on trackshark or TFN.com, it used to get to me, but I just don’t read the stuff anymore.
RBR: What do you need to work on to get better?
Wariner: I need to work on everything. I need to get better. I would kind of relax a bit, and it kind of hurt me. By the time I got to Paris last year, I kept running race. I realized how it changed. I think about relaxation. I wanted to get faster and it was hurting my last 200 meters. I was not using my strength part of the race. I was not racing the right way for me.
RBR: Rumors are afloat about the adidas meet moving to Sacramento, and combining with the Golden West, what do you think of that?
Wariner: The Golden West is a great meet! If high school runners ever get a chance to be invited, they should go! It is a great meet, with a fast track and it is, in my mind, the best track in the nation!
Special thanks to Lyn Famiglietti, adidas US communications, Spencer Nel, adidas global and Jeremy Wariner, for his patience and honesty.
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