Back on track
Palm Bay’s Carter focused on rejoining track’s elite
BY JOHN DENTON • FLORIDA TODAY • April 2, 2009
When you have run your whole life, and with the sole purpose of running in the world’s biggest sporting event, and it doesn’t happen for you, where do you run, then?
You run to the quiet darkness of your home. You run to mute your cell phone to avoid the calls from friends and family curious as to your mental well-being. And maybe most importantly, you run over to turn off the television because seeing broadcasts of the Summer Olympics are far too painful to watch, especially from what seems like a million miles away from an apartment in Florida.
That was the plight last summer of Xavier Carter, the Palm Bay native who shattered practically every running record in Florida and did things in college that only the immortal Jesse Owens accomplished 73 years ago.
All of it, of course, was done in hopes that one day Carter would run in the 2008 Summer Olympics, the dream event for any professional sprinter. He came up short in his goal to qualify for the Games, leaving him back home and alone to ponder what happened. Painful, debilitating bone spurs in a left ankle that ultimately required surgery was partly to blame, but that justification did little to soothe Carter’s crushed dreams.
He was so torn up emotionally that each time a mention of the track and field events came on, he clicked off the television. And text messages from friends wondering if he had watched the blinding speed of Jamacia’s Usain Bolt were immediately deleted.
Why even bother, he wondered quietly to himself, about an event he wasn’t a part of? Sure, denial was a coping mechanism for him, but it at least helped him get through those torturous days and nights.
“It was a hard time because I was favored to be there, I got hurt and then I wasn’t there,” Carter admitted earlier this week. “I didn’t even watch (The Olympics) on TV. I figured that I couldn’t compete, so I didn’t even want to watch it. It wasn’t something like I was going to get my popcorn and watch it.”
Starting over
The painful past is never far below the surface for Carter, now 23, who has restarted the long climb back trying to be one of the world’s best runners. He is training daily at Disney World’s sports complex with legendary Olympic coach Brooks Johnson. His weight is down from 200 to 190 pounds and in addition to running drills, Carter is doing weight training daily to try and regain the strength that once made him the most feared runner in the country.
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He showed in February that there’s still plenty of speed left by faring well in the Sydney Track Classic in Australia. He was second in the 400-meter dash in Sydney and later won the 200-meter sprint in Melbourne (Australia), beating highly decorated Jamaican sprinter Asafa Powell.
He’s training now for the 2009 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Oregon, and ultimately the World Championships in Germany. Carter feels he is still very much in his prime and still a threat to win any race despite his obvious disappointment involving the Olympics.
“(Being in the Olympics), that was how I planned it my whole life, but everybody always says that God sometimes has different plans for us,” he said. “I can’t call it quits. I just have to keep pushing and see what God has in store for me.”
Still, scars remain from the past – both physical and mental ones. The surgically repaired ankle is still an issue in that Carter doesn’t trust the soundness of it fully yet. And the pain of missing out on the ultimate goal is still there buried deep down, Johnson said.
“Is he over the ankle injury? Yes and no. The symptoms come back every once in a while and it’s something that he hasn’t completely gotten out of his head,” Johnson said.
“A lot of stuff never surfaces with Xavier,” Johnson continued. “For example, we had lunch a couple of weeks ago and we were talking about football, and he thought that he had really gotten a raw deal in football. He got really emotional about it and I was totally shocked. He’s a difficult guy to read.”
Carter compares his Olympic disappointment with that of his football experience at LSU. He was a dynamic receiver and returner at Palm Bay High School, earning All-American honors in football as well as track. Grainy YouTube footage showing him making acrobatic catches and ripping off blinding returns still don’t do justice to just how good a football player he was.
He went to LSU to play for Nick Saban, and was stunned when the coach left for the NFL. Carter said that Les Miles, Saban’s replacement, never liked the fact that he ran track and had to miss spring practice.
(3 of 3)
He played in 10 football games in 2006, catching four passes for 86 yards and a touchdown. But he knew that track was his future when he won four NCAA titles in the spring of 2006, becoming the first person to do so since Owens in 1936.
Deep down, he always knew running track was where his future would rest. He didn’t start running competitively until age 13, but he ultimately won nine Florida state high school titles and 10 district and region championships. He is still the only person to win the 100, 200 and 400-meter titles in consecutive years (2003-04).
But he’s still bothered by the fact he was never given a fair shake at competing for a starting job in football.
“I felt like there was an injustice on the other side with my playing time,” Carter said. “The football coaches didn’t approve of me running track. Saban had no problem with me running track, but (Miles) punished me by not being out there in football. Luckily, I had track.”
Future is still bright
Carter’s past gives him confidence that there is still plenty of hope for the future, particularly the 2012 Olympics. Back in 2006, he passed famed runner Tyson Gay down the stretch and ran a 19.63 in the 200-meter dash, the second-fastest mark ever in the world at the time. It still stands as the fourth-fastest 200 time ever.
And even at last year’s disappointing Olympic trials, when he finished sixth in the 200 and fifth in the 100, there was something to feel good about. He ran a personal record (10.00) in the semifinals of the 100.
And he pronounced his troubles away from the track a thing of the past. A resisting arrest without violence charge and a concealed weapons arrest in 2008 were dropped, but opened his eyes that it was time to grow up.
“You live your life and learn. I’d say it was growing pains more than anything,” he stressed.
Johnson, his track coach, vowed that the track world hasn’t heard the last from Carter. Johnson worries that Carter allows the pressures of his shoe contract with Nike and the expectations of his high school and college success to get to him and distract him on the track. The coach said it’s just a matter of Carter putting together good health, extreme focus and his overflowing talent all at once. Then, he said, the disappointment of the 2008 Olympics will be gone for Carter.
“Talent is not his issue because he’s inordinately gifted,” Johnson said. “But God doesn’t give anybody the total package. There’s always a piece that the athlete has to put together themselves. Nobody has it all. Tiger Woods has to practice and Michael Jordan had to shoot thousands of shots. There’s always a point where closure has to take place and only the athlete can do that. In Xavier’s case, he’s totally blessed and he just has to put it all together.”
(2 of 3)
He showed in February that there’s still plenty of speed left by faring well in the Sydney Track Classic in Australia. He was second in the 400-meter dash in Sydney and later won the 200-meter sprint in Melbourne (Australia), beating highly decorated Jamaican sprinter Asafa Powell. (DON’T THINK ASAFA RAN 200M IN MELBOURNE?? kk)
He’s training now for the 2009 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Oregon, and ultimately the World Championships in Germany. Carter feels he is still very much in his prime and still a threat to win any race despite his obvious disappointment involving the Olympics.
“(Being in the Olympics), that was how I planned it my whole life, but everybody always says that God sometimes has different plans for us,” he said. “I can’t call it quits. I just have to keep pushing and see what God has in store for me.”
Still, scars remain from the past – both physical and mental ones. The surgically repaired ankle is still an issue in that Carter doesn’t trust the soundness of it fully yet. And the pain of missing out on the ultimate goal is still there buried deep down, Johnson said.
“Is he over the ankle injury? Yes and no. The symptoms come back every once in a while and it’s something that he hasn’t completely gotten out of his head,” Johnson said.
“A lot of stuff never surfaces with Xavier,” Johnson continued. “For example, we had lunch a couple of weeks ago and we were talking about football, and he thought that he had really gotten a raw deal in football. He got really emotional about it and I was totally shocked. He’s a difficult guy to read.”
Carter compares his Olympic disappointment with that of his football experience at LSU. He was a dynamic receiver and returner at Palm Bay High School, earning All-American honors in football as well as track. Grainy YouTube footage showing him making acrobatic catches and ripping off blinding returns still don’t do justice to just how good a football player he was.
He went to LSU to play for Nick Saban, and was stunned when the coach left for the NFL. Carter said that Les Miles, Saban’s replacement, never liked the fact that he ran track and had to miss spring practice.
(3 of 3)
He played in 10 football games in 2006, catching four passes for 86 yards and a touchdown. But he knew that track was his future when he won four NCAA titles in the spring of 2006, becoming the first person to do so since Owens in 1936.
Deep down, he always knew running track was where his future would rest. He didn’t start running competitively until age 13, but he ultimately won nine Florida state high school titles and 10 district and region championships. He is still the only person to win the 100, 200 and 400-meter titles in consecutive years (2003-04).
But he’s still bothered by the fact he was never given a fair shake at competing for a starting job in football.
“I felt like there was an injustice on the other side with my playing time,” Carter said. “The football coaches didn’t approve of me running track. Saban had no problem with me running track, but (Miles) punished me by not being out there in football. Luckily, I had track.”
Future is still bright
Carter’s past gives him confidence that there is still plenty of hope for the future, particularly the 2012 Olympics. Back in 2006, he passed famed runner Tyson Gay down the stretch and ran a 19.63 in the 200-meter dash, the second-fastest mark ever in the world at the time. It still stands as the fourth-fastest 200 time ever.
And even at last year’s disappointing Olympic trials, when he finished sixth in the 200 and fifth in the 100, there was something to feel good about. He ran a personal record (10.00) in the semifinals of the 100.
And he pronounced his troubles away from the track a thing of the past. A resisting arrest without violence charge and a concealed weapons arrest in 2008 were dropped, but opened his eyes that it was time to grow up.
“You live your life and learn. I’d say it was growing pains more than anything,” he stressed.
Johnson, his track coach, vowed that the track world hasn’t heard the last from Carter. Johnson worries that Carter allows the pressures of his shoe contract with Nike and the expectations of his high school and college success to get to him and distract him on the track. The coach said it’s just a matter of Carter putting together good health, extreme focus and his overflowing talent all at once. Then, he said, the disappointment of the 2008 Olympics will be gone for Carter.
“Talent is not his issue because he’s inordinately gifted,” Johnson said. “But God doesn’t give anybody the total package. There’s always a piece that the athlete has to put together themselves. Nobody has it all. Tiger Woods has to practice and Michael Jordan had to shoot thousands of shots. There’s always a point where closure has to take place and only the athlete can do that. In Xavier’s case, he’s totally blessed and he just has to put it all together.”
(3 of 3)
He played in 10 football games in 2006, catching four passes for 86 yards and a touchdown. But he knew that track was his future when he won four NCAA titles in the spring of 2006, becoming the first person to do so since Owens in 1936.
Deep down, he always knew running track was where his future would rest. He didn’t start running competitively until age 13, but he ultimately won nine Florida state high school titles and 10 district and region championships. He is still the only person to win the 100, 200 and 400-meter titles in consecutive years (2003-04).
But he’s still bothered by the fact he was never given a fair shake at competing for a starting job in football.
“I felt like there was an injustice on the other side with my playing time,” Carter said. “The football coaches didn’t approve of me running track. Saban had no problem with me running track, but (Miles) punished me by not being out there in football. Luckily, I had track.”
Future is still bright
Carter’s past gives him confidence that there is still plenty of hope for the future, particularly the 2012 Olympics. Back in 2006, he passed famed runner Tyson Gay down the stretch and ran a 19.63 in the 200-meter dash, the second-fastest mark ever in the world at the time. It still stands as the fourth-fastest 200 time ever.
And even at last year’s disappointing Olympic trials, when he finished sixth in the 200 and fifth in the 100, there was something to feel good about. He ran a personal record (10.00) in the semifinals of the 100.
And he pronounced his troubles away from the track a thing of the past. A resisting arrest without violence charge and a concealed weapons arrest in 2008 were dropped, but opened his eyes that it was time to grow up.
“You live your life and learn. I’d say it was growing pains more than anything,” he stressed.
Johnson, his track coach, vowed that the track world hasn’t heard the last from Carter. Johnson worries that Carter allows the pressures of his shoe contract with Nike and the expectations of his high school and college success to get to him and distract him on the track. The coach said it’s just a matter of Carter putting together good health, extreme focus and his overflowing talent all at once. Then, he said, the disappointment of the 2008 Olympics will be gone for Carter.
“Talent is not his issue because he’s inordinately gifted,” Johnson said. “But God doesn’t give anybody the total package. There’s always a piece that the athlete has to put together themselves. Nobody has it all. Tiger Woods has to practice and Michael Jordan had to shoot thousands of shots. There’s always a point where closure has to take place and only the athlete can do that. In Xavier’s case, he’s totally blessed and he just has to put it all together.”