by Alfonz Juck
Brianne Theisen-Eaton and Ashton Eaton, Day in the Life, May 12, 2013,
photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images/IAAF
EUGENE (USA): Brianne Theisen-Eaton and Ashton Eaton have both ruled out coaching in retirement, informs CBC. “Neither of us are interested in any kind of coaching. I think we’ve seen as athletes the amount of passion and work that goes into being a coach and I just don’t think either of us have that talent to be honest. I do believe we’ll be involved in the sport in some way, not necessarily as a job, but maybe as a voice for athletes or something like that,” she said. Eaton told Oregon Live: “Harry [Marra] might be part of the reason I say I’m not considering coaching. I saw the level of commitment he gave to get us to the level we were at. He would be at practice one or two hours before us, and wouldn’t sleep at night if we had a bad practice. He had to fix it.”
RunBlogRun opines: In 1991, the late Emil Zatopek told me that ” elite athletes do not make fine coaches. It is easier many times, to race again rather than worry about your athletes.” Emil coached for some time, and so did his wife, Daniela. Ashton Eaton and Brianne Theisen-Eaton had a fantastic coach in Harry Marra. They realize how much he cared for them and at what level of effort it took to keep all distractions out of their daily workouts. Coaching is all ecompassing.
