Beijing hopes for fit Jeter after Osaka bronze breakthrough
Wednesday 28 November 2007
Inglewood, California, USA - The stakes have risen in 2008 for Carmelita Jeter in the 100m.
Finally recovered from a career long problem with her right hamstring, Jeter was a surprise third place finisher in the 100m in the World Championships in Athletics in Osaka in August, just 0.01 from a gold medal, and she went on to win at the World Athletics Final in her first season on the international circuit.
Carmelita Jeter acknowledges the crowd after her win at the 2007 IAAF / VTB Bank World Athletics Final, Stuttgart
(AFP / Getty Images)
A year earlier, the American had not been ranked among the top 50 in the United States in the event, had never advanced to a final in the USA Track & Field Championships nor run internationally.
In 2007, Jeter, who turned 28 last Saturday (24 Nov), dropped her personal best from 11.48 to 11.02 and ended the year tied as the eighth fastest athlete the world in 2007.
“In the beginning of the year, I wanted to run faster than I had ever before,” Jeter said. “When I started running better times, then I wanted to make the U.S. team. The goal after that was to win a medal. After that, I wanted to break 11.’’
Carmelita Jeter in the 100m in Stuttgart
(Getty Images)
“Changing the event” in the 100m in 2008
If all goes as planned a sub-11 time will happen in 2008 and perhaps much lower according to Jeter’s coach Larry Wade, who predicts she may approach 10.7.
“She definitely has the potential and has the ability to change the event,” Wade said. “I don’t like to put restrictions on her. My job is to get her on the Olympic team.”
That could include an attempt at the 200m as well as the 100m. Wade’s plans call for Jeter to run more 200m races than 100m races this season. Wade believes the longer sprint may ultimately become Jeter’s best event. “The 200m has always been my strongest race, but I have never been mentally ready,” Jeter said.
Jeter, pronounced “Jet-ur,” ran a personal-best 22.82 in the 200m to break 23 seconds for the first time this season.
At the USA Track & Field Championships in June, though, Jeter scratched from the 200m after qualifying for the U.S. team in the 100m for the World Championships. Wade made the decision because of her inexperience on the global circuit along with the physical and mental demands of competing at the World Championships.
“We’re talking about an individual who had no true international experience,” Wade said. “We were going to have to teach her the learning curve. The safe move was to make an emphasis on the Olympic Trials where she will definitely be a force.”
Well deserved break
Jeter resumed training in the first week of November after month-long break after a 2007 campaign that stretched from indoor competition in February through her outdoor season finale in October.
Jeter cried for about 15 minutes when she arrived back home after her final meet in Daegu, Korea (3 Oct) after being on the road for 2 ½ months. “It was very, very stressful and because this was first year of being just being thrown out and this is what you’ve got to do,” Jeter said. “I truly had a great season looking back on paper.”
Make or break year in 2007
Jeter had been contemplating her future in athletics after being hampered by a “reoccurring” right hamstring injury that had plagued her since her junior year at Cal State Dominguez Hills a NCAA Division II school in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson.
The breaking point nearly came in May of 2005, when Jeter severely strained her hamstring during 75-metre sprints in a workout in preparation for the USATF championships. Jeter recalls lying on her back in pain and telling herself she was through with track.
“I cried I was tired of being hurt,” Jeter said. “I said I was done that night.” Dominguez Hills coach Warren Edmonson persuaded her not so gently to reconsider her decision. “I definitely owe him,” Jeter said. “If he wasn’t in my ear I would have quit.”
Jeter called Edmondson, the 1972 NCAA 100m champion, like a “second father.” Edmondson was among the first persons that Jeter called after winning the bronze medal in Osaka. “I told her to hang with it,” Edmonson said. “You’ve got a lot of young years. Give it one more try to satisfy your mind.”
In 2006, Jeter’s focus was on rehabilitation and making it through the season uninjured. She spent her summer competing in all-comer meets at local high schools rather than on the international circuit.
Jeter was prepared to begin graduate school if things didn’t progress in 2007. She juggled training with serving as a high school track coach and assistant athletic director at her alma mater Bishop Montgomery High in Torrance, California. This was going to be the make it or break it year if I could not and drop a good clock in the 100 and 200,” said Jeter, who did not have a sponsor until the USATF Championships in June.
Turning point in Osaka
Jeter showed promise in the indoor season, placing second in the 60m in the USATF Indoor Championships in February. She continued that momentum outdoors with wins in the Mt. San Antonio College Relays in April and the Road to Eugene ’08 meet in May.
However, Jeter still felt apprehensive about her ability until she competed in Osaka in the 100m heats and into the final as well as running the first leg for the U.S. 4 x 100m relay in the preliminaries.
“I was able to handle the pressure and relax and the season went on,” Jeter said. “I was completely nervous being around all the great athletes. Once Osaka was over, I was a completely different runner. When I stepped to the starting line, I could deal with the pressure and knew I belonged there.”
Jeter said that at times, she wasn’t at her best and had to work though fatigue during the lengthy season particularly after the USATF Championships. After Osaka, Jeter ran in Berlin, Brussels the IAAF World Athletics Final in Stuttgart, Shanghai Grand Prix and Daegu.
“I ran a lot of races and honestly as much as I wanted it, I was mentally and physically tired,” Jeter said. “I had to push myself to step up.’’
Coaching change paid dividends
Jeter began training with Wade and his fledging Double Pillar Athletics group three weeks before the 2007 USATF Championships in June. Jeter and Wade met randomly at breakfast at the athlete’s hotel at the Road to Eugene. They met again in New York at the Reebok Grand Prix a week later before the topic of a coach-athlete relationship emerged.
It didn’t take long for them to bond. Jeter called the emotional support of Wade, the fourth-place finisher in the 110m Hurdles in the 2003 World Championships, as equally important as his guidance on the track.
“The biggest thing that I love about Larry is that he has given me more confidence in myself and is behind me 200 percent,” Jeter said. “He truly believed me and pushed me to the next level and not to short change myself.”
With a full season to work with Jeter before Beijing, Wade, whose training group includes Dominique Arnold, Rodney Martin, Shevon Stoddart, Fabienne Feraez and Candice Davis, would like to refine her technique and improve the first phases of her race.
“You can talk about all the talent but what separates her from a lot of people in the event is her passion,” Wade said. “She has the heart of a lion and an overwhelming desire to be the best.”
Kirby Lee for the IAAF