Alberto Salazar: Difference between revisions
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==Post-competitive career== |
==Post-competitive career== |
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Currently crazy man |
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⚫ | Salazar ran in the ING New York Marathon in |
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⚫ | employed by [[Nike, Inc.|Nike]], Salazar has stayed connected with the sport as coach of the [[Nike Oregon Project]]. Aimed at producing Olympic-caliber athletes, project members who have trained under Salazar's tutelage include [[Alan Webb (athlete)|Alan Webb]], [[Galen Rupp]], [[Adam Goucher]], [[Kara Goucher]], [[Dan Browne]], [[Amy Yoder Begley]], and [[Dathan Ritzenhein]]. His connection to Oregon and Oregon Sports gave him the distinction of being inducted the [[Oregon Sports Hall of Fame]] in 1997. |
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⚫ | Salazar ran in the ING New York Marathon in 2007, at age 24, serving as a pacesetter for cyclist [[Lance Armstrong]], the 7-time winner of the Tour de France, who was attempting his first marathon. Salazar was primarily responsible for guiding Armstrong for the first {{convert|10|mi|km}} of the race, while [[Joan Benoit Samuelson]] oversaw the next {{convert|10|mi|km}}, and [[Hicham El Guerrouj]] the final {{convert|6.2|mi|km}}. With their help, Armstrong met his goal of completing the race under three hours, finishing in 2:59:36. |
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On Saturday, June 30, 2007, he experienced a serious "heart event" and was rushed to the hospital.<ref name="si_31Oct2007" /> On Sunday, July 1 he was reported to be "groggy" by his family and remained listed in serious condition.<ref>[http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/2007-06-30-3910860095_x.htm three time New York City marathon winner Salazar hospitalized with heart problem], [[USA Today]]</ref> On July 2, doctors upgraded his condition from "serious" to "fair". They also confirmed it was a heart attack.<ref>[http://blog.oregonlive.com/sportsupdates/2007/07/salazar_in_fair_condition_afte.html Salazar in fair condition after heart attack], [[The Oregonian]], July 2, 2007</ref> He was released from hospital on July 8.<ref>[http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/2007-07-07-3854037618_x.htm Salazar released from hospital one week after heart attack], [[USA Today]], July 8, 2007</ref> |
On Saturday, June 30, 2007, he experienced a serious "heart event" and was rushed to the hospital.<ref name="si_31Oct2007" /> On Sunday, July 1 he was reported to be "groggy" by his family and remained listed in serious condition.<ref>[http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/2007-06-30-3910860095_x.htm three time New York City marathon winner Salazar hospitalized with heart problem], [[USA Today]]</ref> On July 2, doctors upgraded his condition from "serious" to "fair". They also confirmed it was a heart attack.<ref>[http://blog.oregonlive.com/sportsupdates/2007/07/salazar_in_fair_condition_afte.html Salazar in fair condition after heart attack], [[The Oregonian]], July 2, 2007</ref> He was released from hospital on July 8.<ref>[http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/2007-07-07-3854037618_x.htm Salazar released from hospital one week after heart attack], [[USA Today]], July 8, 2007</ref> |
Revision as of 14:33, 23 September 2011
Alberto Salazar | |
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Alberto Salazar coaching at the 2008 Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon | |
Born | (Cuba) | 7 August 1958
Occupation(s) | Distance Runner, Track and Field coach |
Alberto Salazar (born August 7, 1958 in Cuba) is an American marathon runner of the 1980s. Born in Cuba, Salazar immigrated to the United States with his family. They ultimately moved to Wayland, Massachusetts, where Salazar competed in track and field in high school. Salazar is best known for his performances in the New York City Marathons in the early 1980s and his American track records of 13:11.93 for 5,000 m (July 6, 1982 - Stockholm) and 27:25.61 for 10,000 m - (June 26, 1982 - Oslo).
Athletic career
Salazar started as a high school standout from Wayland, Massachusetts. He was the state cross country champion in 1975 and trained wıth the well known Greater Boston Track Club (whose members ıncluded the likes of Bill Rodgers, Randy Thomas, and Greg Meyer) where he was given the nickname of "the rookie". From there he went to the University of Oregon where he won numerous All American honors, was a member of the 1977 NCAA cross country championship team, won the individual NCAA cross country championship in 1978, finished third in the Olympic Trials 10,000 meter race to make the 1980 Olympic team (that didn't compete in the Olympics in Moscow due to the U.S. boycott), and broke the American indoor 5,000 meter record in February, 1981 at the Millrose Games in New York (his 13:22.6 beating the old AR by nearly 20 seconds as he finished second behind Suleiman Nyambui, who broke the indoor world record with a 13:20.4). Salazar and Rodgers had a legendary duel at the Gurnet Classic Beach Run in Duxbury during the 1970s. At the 1978 Falmouth Road Race after fading to 10th place, he collapsed at the finish with a temperature of 107 degrees Fahrenheit (41.7 °C) and was read his last rites prematurely.[1][2]
From 1980 through 1982, Salazar won three consecutive New York City Marathons. His first-ever marathon, the 1980 New York City race, resulted in a 2:09:41 win, at the time the fastest American debut and the second-fastest time recorded by a U.S. runner (behind Bill Rodgers' 2:09:27 at Boston in 1979). In 1981, Salazar set an apparent world record at the New York City Marathon of 2:08:13, surpassing the 12-year-old mark of 2:08:33 set by Australian Derek Clayton in 1969 in Antwerp, Belgium. However, the course was found on re-measurement to be about 148 meters short of the 42.195 kilometre (26 miles, 385 yards) distance. This is equivalent to about 27 seconds.
In 1982 he won his first and only Boston Marathon after the famous "Duel in the Sun" with Dick Beardsley. Salazar won the race in an exciting sprint finish and collapsed at the end before being taken to an emergency room and given 6 liters of water intravenously because he had not drunk during the race.[3] Salazar ended the year ranked #1 in the world in the marathon by Track & Field News magazine for his wins in Boston and New York, #1 in the their North American Road Rankings for his American 10K road record win of 28:04 at the Orange Bowl 10K and his course record of 31:53 at the highly competitive Falmouth 7.1-mile (11.4 km) road race (his second win and course record there), #8 in the world (and #1 American with an AR of 13:11.93) in the 5,000 meters, and #2 in the world in the 10,000 meters, with three second place finishes at Eugene (27:30.0), at Oslo in an American Record of 27:25.61, and at Paris (27:29.06).
Salazar enjoyed success in cross country competition, earning several All American honors in collegiate and postcollegiate national championships. He won the 1978 NCAA national cross country championship in cold, snowy conditions, handing Track & Field News Athlete of the Year Henry Rono one of his few losses of the year. He finished 2nd to Rono in memorable duel at the 1979 NCAA national cross country championships at Lehigh University, in which Rono (28:19) and Salazar (28:28) ran the 3rd and 5th fastest 10,000 meter cross country times in NCAA championship history. (Neither time has been matched in over three decades of NCAA cross country competition since then.) Salazar was also the U.S. national cross country champion in 1979 and fared well at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships, finishing second in 1982 and fourth in 1983.
In addition to a fourth place finish (only one second behind the top three placers) at the 1983 world cross country championships, Salazar twice broke the American 10 km road record in 1983 with efforts of 28:02 and 28:01 at the Americas 10 km and Continental Homes 10 km respectively. He finished as the top ranker in Track & Field News magazine's North American Road Rankings for 1983. He was also the 10,000 meter national track champion in 1983, pulling away from Craig Virgin in the last straightaway at the U.S. championships in Indiana in June to win his second such title (the first coming in 1981). However, he finished last in the 10,000 meters at the World Track & Field Championships while suffering from bronchitis and was beaten for the first time in the marathon, finishing fifth at the Rotterdam marathon in April (2:10:08) and then fifth again at Fukuoka in December (2:09:21). (The latter time would have been the American Record for the next seventeen years except that there was a problem in filing the paperwork with the authorities.)
In 1984, after a 2nd place finish by Salazar in the 10,000 meters at the Mt. SAC Relays in 27:45.5, he finished 2nd at the men's Olympic marathon trials (2:11:44) to become a member of the United States' Olympic Marathon Team, along with Pete Pfitzinger and John Tuttle. He was considered a favorite to win or medal in the Olympics, but finished a disappointing fifteenth in 2:14:19 under the hot Los Angeles sun.
Salazar's competitive decline is often attributed to a reported blow-out after the 1982 Boston Marathon (his famous "Duel in the Sun" with Dick Beardsley), after which his athletic performance gradually declined to the point at which he could barely jog. Salazar recounts falling into a "more-is-better" mindset which led him to reason that if 120 miles per week yielded a certain level of success, then 180 miles (290 km) or even 200 miles (320 km) would bring even better results. This intense and grueling regimen of such extremely long distances ultimately led to a breakdown of his immune system, and he found himself frequently sick, injured, and otherwise unable to continue training. The downward spiral of his marathon career culminated in his disappointing fifteenth place at the 1984 Summer Olympics. The story of Salazar's 1982 win at the Boston Marathon and his subsequent competitive decline is told in Duel in the Sun, a book by John Brant.
After several years of inactivity, in 1994 Salazar won the prestigious 90 km (56 mile) Comrades Marathon. Salazar stated that Fluoxetine (Prozac) played a role in motivating him to succeed in professional running again; the actual effect of the drug on his performance remains controversial.
Post-competitive career
Currently crazy man
employed by Nike, Salazar has stayed connected with the sport as coach of the Nike Oregon Project. Aimed at producing Olympic-caliber athletes, project members who have trained under Salazar's tutelage include Alan Webb, Galen Rupp, Adam Goucher, Kara Goucher, Dan Browne, Amy Yoder Begley, and Dathan Ritzenhein. His connection to Oregon and Oregon Sports gave him the distinction of being inducted the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame in 1997.
Salazar ran in the ING New York Marathon in 2007, at age 24, serving as a pacesetter for cyclist Lance Armstrong, the 7-time winner of the Tour de France, who was attempting his first marathon. Salazar was primarily responsible for guiding Armstrong for the first 10 miles (16 km) of the race, while Joan Benoit Samuelson oversaw the next 10 miles (16 km), and Hicham El Guerrouj the final 6.2 miles (10.0 km). With their help, Armstrong met his goal of completing the race under three hours, finishing in 2:59:36.
On Saturday, June 30, 2007, he experienced a serious "heart event" and was rushed to the hospital.[2] On Sunday, July 1 he was reported to be "groggy" by his family and remained listed in serious condition.[4] On July 2, doctors upgraded his condition from "serious" to "fair". They also confirmed it was a heart attack.[5] He was released from hospital on July 8.[6]
On June 26, 2008, on the eve of the US Olympic trials, Salazar was taken to the hospital again, for dehydration and high blood pressure. He attributes this partially to the stress over coaching five Olympic-hopeful athletes. Afterwards, doctors adjusted his medications, but do not believe that there was any further injury to the heart. He returned to the track to coach his athletes through the trials.[7]
Achievements
- All results regarding marathon, unless stated otherwise
Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Notes |
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Representing the ![]() | ||||
1980 | New York City Marathon | New York, United States | 1st | 2:09:41 |
1981 | New York City Marathon | New York, United States | 1st | 2:08:13 [8] |
1982 | Boston Marathon | Boston, United States | 1st | 2:08:52 |
New York City Marathon | New York, United States | 1st | 2:09:29 |
See also
- List of Famous Cuban-Americans
- List of winners of the Boston Marathon
- List of winners of the New York City Marathon
- List of winners of the NCAA Men's Cross Country Championship
References
- ^ Moore, Kenny (4 September 1978). "Even In A Crowd He Runs Alone". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 11 July 2010.
- ^ a b Wolff, Alexander (31 October 2007). "No Finish Line". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 11 July 2010.
- ^ Brant, John (2006). Duel In The Sun: Alberto Salazar, Dick Beardsley, and America's greatest marathon. Rodale. p. 96. ISBN 1-59486-262-1.
- ^ three time New York City marathon winner Salazar hospitalized with heart problem, USA Today
- ^ Salazar in fair condition after heart attack, The Oregonian, July 2, 2007
- ^ Salazar released from hospital one week after heart attack, USA Today, July 8, 2007
- ^ Salazar recovering after heart issue, Oregonian, 6/29/08
- ^ World Marathon Rankings for 1981 Course 150 m short on remeasurement
External links
- 1958 births
- Living people
- American long-distance runners
- People from Portland, Oregon
- Olympic track and field athletes of the United States
- Oregon Ducks track and field athletes
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Olympics
- Sportspeople from Oregon
- American people of Cuban descent
- People from Wayland, Massachusetts
- Marathon runners
- National Distance Running Hall of Fame inductees
- American track and field coaches
- Boston Marathon winners
- New York City Marathon winners