John Smith (athlete)
John Smith ( John Walton Smith ; born August 5, 1950 in Los Angeles ) is an American athletics coach and former 400-meter runner .
Career as an athlete
After high school, Smith attended UCLA . Smith was over 400 m two-time US champion and won 1971 on his special course at the Pan American Games in 1971 in Cali. After college, he started for the Southern California Striders . In 1972 he took part in the Olympic Games in Munich , but retired due to an injury in the final run.
After an interlude in American football that lasted until 1974 , as a reserve player for the Dallas Cowboys and professional athlete with the International Track Association and finally as a professional in Australia, he had to struggle for a long time to be re- amateurized . It wasn't until 1980 that he was allowed to start again as an amateur, but after the intensive training increase he injured his Achilles tendon . UCLA then hired him as an assistant coach. The activity as a coach and at the same time as a competitor was until the Amateur Sports Act of 1978 in the USA synonymous with the loss of amateur status.
Career as a coach
This was followed by a job as a trainer. Athletes supervised by Smith were very successful at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul: Steve Lewis celebrated with winning the title and Danny Everett with third place in the 400-meter run, as well as both participating in the victorious US team in the four-time 400-meter relay medal wins.
At the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, Quincy Watts and Kevin Young, two athletes supervised by Smith celebrated victories over 400 meters and 400 meters hurdles, respectively.
Smith's collaboration with short sprinters Dennis Mitchell , Inger Miller , Jon Drummond and two-time Olympic and five-time world champion Maurice Greene was also very successful . Smith's results as a coach ensured that foreign athletes like Ato Boldon and Marie-José Pérec also joined his group. Under his aegis, Pérec won gold in the 200 and 400 meters at the 1996 Olympic Games .
Doping allegations
For several years, doping allegations have cast shadows over Smith's success list against members of his training group: Several athletes supervised by Smith, such as Dennis Mitchell and Ato Boldon , tested positive in doping controls . Maurice Greene and Smith himself have been directly linked to doping .
Personal best
- 400 m: 44.60 s, August 1, 1971, Cali
Web links
- John Smith in the database of World Athletics (English)
- John Smith in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )
- Profile of John Smith ( memento April 15, 2008 on the Internet Archive ) on the University of California, Los Angeles website
Footnotes
- ↑ http://articles.latimes.com/1985-04-11/news/we-12136_1_assistant-track-coach auf. 08/30/2016
- ^ Arnd Krüger : The American sport between isolationism and internationalism. In: Leistungssport 18 (1988), 1, pp. 43-50.
- ^ The New York Times : IAAF Seeks an Explanation From Greene About Drug Allegations . April 17, 2008
- ^ The Observer : Fast and furious . April 20, 2008
- ^ Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung : doping mail for John Smith. April 26, 2008
- ^ The Sunday Times : Questions of doubt surround Maurice Green . April 27, 2008
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Smith, John |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Smith, John Walton |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American sprinter and athletics coach |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 5th August 1950 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | los Angeles |