You’d only regret it. I heard she is completely dependent on her coach and never even thinks to say thanks.
typical gen Y persona. they are all the same these days. expect the world and give nothing with ppp’s.
“You’d only regret it. I heard she is completely dependent on her coach and never even thinks to say thanks.”
Who’s the girl?
Olivia Tauro, she was a pleasure to train when younger, she never seemed the most talented in the group, she was just so dammn fast, did what she was asked to do with no questions. I guess her attitude changed when she got chased by every coach/organisation who needed to put a brand on her. Her mom Sarah was told by AIS she was the fastest 14 year old female in the world, a quick phonecall to Tarbotton at NSWIS put an end to that rumour (no such list).
I still have vhs vids of Katie Hall (hunter academy), Jacquie Munroe (fairy godmother) and Carra Onley (hunter academy) when they used to win their short sprints by 20+m just like Liv did, I never took a vid of her, guess I had a feeling she would follow the same course, I believe she still has what it takes and I am not interested.
You’re right Sady, from what I’ve seen she is super talented, but (not that I’ve seen her lately) the last time I saw her she did not look that fit with a touch of softness about her.
From reading the above it sounds like she might be ‘high maintenance’.
Undoubtedly has the potential to match McLellan & Breen. Hopefully we’ll see it sooner rather than later.
Have to agree she looks soft and has done for a while. I presume the first thing they did was load her with carb’s and put her in front of a sled.
At about 15 she ran her first state 400 for similar reasons Powell and others run 400, problem being she won (as if Powell doesn’t in Aust). She even won a school Zone cross country at 13, maybe she should run 1,500m.
Your right, she is a short sprinter and I just hope someone is smart enough to get her back to enjoying running and that will take a bit more than a magic program. When she does McLellan and Breen will have to improve to stay in front of her.
One of the things that frustrates me most about track in Australia is the lack of athletic intelligence when it comes to the guidance many very talented juniors are given. Olivia should have been guided on a path of short sprints, as regardless of her 400m prowess, she definitely needed to continue improving in the 100m/200m. The 400m should have been a ‘novelty’ event for her until she had exhausted her 100m/200m opportunities.
I’ve seen similar things happen in SA. One young bloke in particular, was the best 400m/800m runner in the country. He won gold & silver over 800m & 400m at the same junior titles as a 15 year old. Unfortunately in 2005, he started training with a distance running coach who flogged him with years of massive volume and scarcely any sprint work. I beleive this coach thinks that any session involving reps south of 800m is a sprint session.
At one stage the kid gave it away due to the constant grind of churning out the massive volume forced upon him.
Now aged 20 the lad had barely broken 50s for the 400m (He ran 50.6 as a 15 year old) and still hasn’t broken 1-52. (He was 1-55 at 15).
Apart from one brief moment ( a couple of years ago) where he ran 1-52 and looked to be realising the huge promise he demonstrated as a 15 year old, it’s been 6 years of appalling under achievement.
Recently he has left the ‘volume’ coach to go to another coach with a strong distance focus who again is fixated with volume and is looking at him running primarily 1500’s.
My view is had the lad continued training as a 400/800 runner he would be around the 46/1-47 range or better now. And he would certainly have enjoyed a far more productive and fulfilling athletic career.
I did make some enquiries when I heard he’d left his previous coach but the feedback is he thinks we don’t do enough volume.
Just for the record Clay Watkins was running 51s at 17 compared to this guy who could run 50.6 at 15. Clay’s PB is now 45.95 and this guy’s PB is low 49s - he’s never broken 49 and he’s 21 this year.
I understand what you are saying and I don’t see anything changing. The Herb Elliot report said that some will have to leave the sport for it to improve, are the right ones leaving.
Developing juniors is not rocket science simply common sense, when the juniors are not improving ???.
I stopped using bull terrior’s as pig dogs when I was 17, they never lacked guts just brains.
Youngy, would the kid you mentioned have moved to another coach in the circle
You could say that. The history of 800m running in SA is appalling, with the state record being 1-47.0 (hand held), recorded in 1970 by Chris Fisher. Only 3 SA runners have broken 1-48 and all were hand held times from over 30 years ago. No SA runner has ever broken 1-48 electric. The last national champs 800m finalist (male) was nearly 10 years ago. Only 9 SA runners have made the national 800m final in 36 years.
The last male SA winner of a national 800m title was in 1976. The last medallist (bronze) was in 1989.
Yet there’s been a lot of junior national finalists including several winners and minor medallists in the last 20 years who have simply not progressed.
The event has obviously not evolved in this state and while the talent has definitely been here, it is patently obvious the standard of coaching has been very ordinary for it not to produce one decent senior half miler in 30 years, ie: capable of representing Australia at a major champs. (The last male SA 800m runner to be selected for a national team was in the 1970’s)
My view is that there is an obsession with volume and not enough respect given to genuine speed. Some of the coaches struggle with the notion that improving an athlete’s raw 200/400 speed will assist their 800’s. It seems when in doubt - ‘send them on another long run’.
I completely agree.Some of the best results I’ve seen on a couple of national level 800m runners here in Italy have been following a period in which, due to study or other issues, many mileage was gone, and so 2 a days…as a miracle…PB…what a surprise…now the athletes, when left alone, automatically cut training mileage, and start to understand the importance of speed and being fresh…a concept that some great successful distance coaches fail to appreciate yet.
Think I know what you mean.
Around the time ANSW went bankrupt I was told that the plan to be implemented here was the same as in place in SA. That person said it would never work as it isn’t there. I didn’t understand what I was being told at the time but I think I am putting it together.
How many of the athletes going to the CG have had their current coach during their respective development years. After a while some will be transferred to another state, probably because there is no one left to pass them to, talk to the past coaches and hear some stories.
Ever heard the saying the sport is coach driven.
Someone tried shutting me down.
When I started coaching a 14-year-old boy (hit the ground that hard you could hear every foot step in the grandstand), some said I was wasting my time. We run through his program last Friday, he is now a 20yr old 65kg young man of average height who is going to uni studying to be a surgeon, possibly in orthopaedics. He will not train at the local synthetic track again because he doesn’t like the atmosphere so he is training elsewhere. Neither of us care if he competes or not, I have all the gear needed for him to do electronic timing over 100m, starts by a gun and even measures the reaction time on the blocks, only if he feels he needs it. If he ever gets fast enough to go to the CG and was asked he would probably go but if you approached him now and told him you had a coach and said you would get him in the team he would walk away.
Ask those who do pro running why and they all say it’s all in the atmosphere.
NZ 800m record
1:44.3 … Peter Snell … 03 Feb 1962
on grass!
next best is Nick Willis from 2008 with 1:45.87
Sub 1-46 is still a very good standard and would get one into a national team.
Sub 1-50 should be bread & butter for any athlete in their 20’s who was capable of medalling at a junior nationals, yet we (SA) have had only 3 sub 1-50 runners in the last 20 years.