Last week, the other job prevented me from writing my weekly column, and I fully intended to take this week off to take a relaxing break from the heat in the mountains of Colorado.
As luck, or the airlines, would have it, I find myself sitting in the Baton Rouge airport riding out a three-hour delay for my 5:45 a.m. flight (insert grimace here).
Also last week and much to my chagrin on June 22, the long jump qualifiers for the Olympic trials were not televised by the “Sports Networks,” and so instead of getting to watch Kenson Tate jump for the chance at Olympic glory, ESPN and ESPN2 offered college baseball and cornhole. Hard to believe anyone on either of those two channels could come close to Tates 24-foot, 6.5-inch best long jump or the world record (29 fee 9 inches) that Mike Powell recorded in 1991 that stands to this day.
After not making the finals or the trip to Paris, Tate relayed, “I still have the passion, will remain persistent and will persevere.” After fouling on his first attempt, he posted his top result on his second attempt. He was unable to go farther on his last jump with a distance 23 feet 9.5 inches.
Though the 2024 Olympics in Paris are not in the cards, the 2028 Olympics will be held in Los Angeles, and the experience Tate gained at these trials should suit him well as he prepares for his junior and senior seasons at Lamar and then … LA?
On the Olympic experience, Tate commented that “it is so cool seeing the world’s best compete and competing alongside them.”
Still sitting in the airport on June 27 and it is time to do the math. Round 1 of the 400-meter hurdles starts at 6:20 Pacific, which would be 7:20 Mountain where I should be, or 8:20 Central where I am. Where will I be and where can I go to watch Sean Burrell chase his Olympic dream, or will it get bumped from TV for a hot dog-eating contest, curling match (pretty sure it’s called a “game”), argument between a couple of grumpy old men or some other distraction?
The world record in the 400-meter hurdles is 45.94 seconds and is held by Norwegian Karsten Warholm. Watching the Olympics as a kid, I recall the “400-meter hurdle king” Edwin Moses, who won 122 consecutive races, two Olympic gold medals (1976 and 1984) and set the world record four times. The United States record (46.17) was recorded at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics by Rai Benjamin. Benjamin is back at the Trials this year and recorded the top qualifying time of 46.39.
To qualify for Paris, Benjamin, and more importantly Burrell, had a grueling three-day stretch.
Day One, Burrell qualified for the quarterfinals by finishing third in his heat (50.75) to advance to the semifinals on June 28. In the three heat semifinals, Burrell was assigned lane 4 with U.S. record holder Benjamin coming out of lane 7. The top two finishers in each semifinal and the next three fastest finishers advance to the Saturday 400-meter hurdle finals.
The finals and Paris were not in the cards for Burell as Benjamin advanced to the finals with a victory and Burrell fell short by placement and by time (50.26).
Like Tate, Burrell will have to wait four years for his chance to compete for the opportunity to represent the USA in Los Angeles.
Though both fell short, the excitement of seeing two Zachary athletes that most of us witnessed grow up, taught, coached or cheered for made this a memorable experience for me and I hope for you as well.
Though Kenson and Sean did not qualify for Paris, they were able to compete on one of the largest platforms in the world.
Two former Bronco teammates on the other side of the country competing to represent the United States of America should make folks back home in Zachary more than proud. Knowing both of them as long as I have, there is no doubt in my mind they will be back.