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Some scenes from the mixed zone – the area where the athletes talk to the media – at the Olympic track and field trials in Windsor:
Scene 1: No one tells world indoor 400-metre champion Tyler Christopher where to go. Once the athletes finish their races, they’re usually directed by a track marshall to the CBC interview area and then off to the medals ceremony before returning at some point to talk to the rest of the media.
But after Christopher blew the field away in his 400-metre final to confirm his spot for Beijing, he blew off an official who tried to usher him around. It was clear he was going to go where HE wanted to go and when HE was ready to go.
He’s got that sprinter’s strut, the kind of attitude you used to see from a Donovan Bailey, though he’s yet to build that same kind of impressive resume on the track, some really good results notwithstanding. Many believe you’re never going to succeed in his event without that mentality.
As his coach Kevin Tyler has said, “He believes in the power of Tyler.”
He’s also got an agent from the same company that represents Nelly Furtado and a brand new website.
Scene 2: Something you don’t usually see at a national championships: A runner with a guide dog in the mixed zone.
More sports are moving towards integrated national championships with their Paralympic athletes and able-bodied athletes. The Canadian Olympic swimming trials were also integrated this year.
The unfortunate part is that the Paralympic athletes still don’t get much media attention. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of interest from the public and thus there’s no pressure on news outlets to give them much coverage or give the Paralympics much coverage. Only a very few Canadian journalists will be at the Beijing Paralympics.
It’s a shame because there’s a lot of incredible personal stories.
Scene 3: As will be the case in Beijing, the CBC has been getting the first crack at Canadian athletes when they come off the track at the trials.
They’re usually ushered over to the interview as soon as they finish their race and they’re always incredibly out of breath, sometimes even having to lean over on the interviewer to remain standing.
Still waiting to see one of those interviews that tells you anything worth a damn.
Kudos to Athletics Canada for integrating the trials. Athletes are athletes, and they're all deserving of our respect and attention. And if medals are what you're into, there will be alot more of them coming from our Paralympic athletes than their Olympic counterparts. So come on Canada, request stories on ALL our athletes in Beijing this year!
Posted by: sportyjen | July 07, 2008 at 03:55 PM
Congrats Randy for giving some media attention to our Paralympic athletes, it is badly needed and badly overdue. I was extremely fortunate in being able to attend both the 2000 and 2004 Paralympics where I witnessed some amazing athletic feats that rivaled any able bodied World Championships or Olympics I have seen for excitement and pure athleticism. Randy you need to push your bosses and colleagues to start covering more Paralympic events, tell them what you saw. Tell them about our men's and ladies wheelchair basketball teams, Jeff on the track, Beniot in the pool or any one of the other great athletes on our team. The public will never push to see these events if they do not know good they really are or if they even exist.
By the way the swimming Olympic and Paralympic Trials were fully integrated in both 2000 and 2004 as well as this year. None of this is new, it is just time everyone found out about the great athletes on our Paralympic Team.
Posted by: Rob | July 09, 2008 at 09:02 AM