Olympic Women's Finals - Isi 5.05 WR, Stuczynski 4.80

[slvr1969]

AN INTERVIEW WITH JENN STUCZYNSKI

http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?id=3548240

Jenn Stuczynski wants to set the record straight.

The American silver medalist in the pole vault is not a trash talker, as the Russians seem to believe. She's not a bullied victim of an abusive coach, as a legion of Internet fans seem to believe. She's more than happy with her performance.

But Stuczynski is upset that the joy of her medal, won just four years after she first started training for the event, has been swallowed by controversy.

In an emotional interview Friday, the 26-year-old from Fredonia, N.Y., told how words and images taken out of context in the coverage of her duel with gold medalist Yelena Isinbayeva of Russia made the days after Monday's event miserable.

"I was so depressed," Stuczynski said. "It was awful. It's so hard," she continued, fighting back tears without much success. "You work so hard, and people take it away."

The first controversy erupted over a quote Stuczynski gave during a press conference after she won the U.S. Olympic trials in Eugene in July. Asked how she thought the team would do in the Games, Stuczynski said, "I hope we do some damage, and, you know, kick some Russian butt."

It was a rah-rah quote that was mostly forgotten after she said it. "It was me and my teammates, in an emotional moment," Stuczynski said, noting that Russia has five of the top vaulters in the world, and finished 1-3-4 in Beijing. "It was a pep rally, one of those things that was, 'Come on let's go. We're not going to go over there, roll over and die. We want to fight.' "

Stuczynski never meant it as a putdown. "It wasn't intended to be malicious," she said. "It would be pretty stupid of me to come out and say before my first Olympics that, you know what, I'm gonna beat the world record holder."

But the Russian media seized on the quote as a personal insult to Isinbayeva, one of the most popular female athletes in the world who has dominated the event. Much of the rest of the press ran with the story line after Isinbayeva won convincingly, setting a new world record with a jump of 16 feet, 6 3/4 inches.

"I guess in translation it's gotten messed up, and it becomes personal and I'm attacking her and I'm a trash talker," Stuczynski said. "And that's the part that's hurts because that's not it at all."

Isinbayeva helped the narrative at her post-victory press conference. She said Stuczynski's remark motivated her, adding, "She must respect me and know her position. Now she knows it."

Stuczynski couldn't answer her in the press conference, because she had to go through doping control.

That media tempest was a mere squall before what was to come. On the NBC telecast, on tape delay some 12 hours later, the network miked Stuczynski's coach, Rick Suhr, who discovered her on a basketball court four years ago and convinced her to try the pole vault. In the time since, training her and several other athletes in a makeshift facility in Churchville, N.Y., he's coached her to an American record and silver medals in world championships and now the Olympics.

After Stuczynski missed her final attempt at 4.90 meters, the camera followed her to Suhr's spot in the stands. NBC captured the following remarks from a surly sounding Suhr, who was talking to her while text-messaging:

"(It's) the same old same old. You're losing take-off at the big heights. What are you gonna do. You gotta learn to keep take-off. You got9you got caught at that meat grinder. I did not—and I told 10 people—I did not want to be caught in a meat grinder between 65 and 80. You had to, though.

You weren't on, you know, your warm-up didn't go well, you were 55, you got caught up in that meat grinder. What are you gonna do. What are you gonna do. You didn't have the legs. Her legs are fresh. Hey, it's a silver medal.
Not bad for someone who's been pole vaulting for four years."

As Stuczynski turned around, she had a hollow, downcast look, as if she'd been upbraided.

Back in America, people watched. People cringed. And then people sent angry, sometimes ugly e-mails to Suhr's web site. Or they chimed in on Internet message boards, urging Stuczynski to fire "that jerk of a coach." A lot of people. But Stuczynski says people got it all wrong. Terribly wrong.

What they didn't see, she said, was what prompted Suhr's monologue. "I went over and I asked, What did I do wrong?" Stuczynski said. "And he said what he said, and it's the truth. And I didn't have a mike, and they didn't hear it and they didn't play it."

Moreover, she says, Suhr was texting his 13-year-old son in the States to inform him of the silver medal.

So what about the cold "meat-grinder" remarks? "When I started the meet, I was off, so I had to come in earlier, so I could get in a rhythm," she says.

Those early jumps came in a part of the meet where the most competitors are jumping from 4.70 to 4.85. "It's the part of the meet that takes the longest, and we call it the meat grinder because it wears you out because you have to jump so many times. Because I was off, I had to jump those heights to ensure a silver medal."

But what about her reaction? Stuczynski explained that she'd had problems on takeoff at her previous meet in London. She suspected she'd repeated the same mistakes, and when Suhr confirmed it, she says, "I was discouraged with myself. It bothered me that I didn't jump to my potential. It wasn't anything he said. But people took that, and all of a sudden he's a bad coach, and I need to find another coach."

And the downcast glare? "There were all these things on the ground that I didn't want to trip over," she says, including the railway for NBC's moving trackside camera.

Stuczynski says Suhr did only what she expects him to do. "What he said to me is nothing that made me sad," she says. "I'm a 26-year-old professional athlete. I ask him to be fair coach. I don't ask him to be a cheerleader. I want you to tell me when I jump good, and I want you to tell me when I jump bad` I think a lot of people don't understand that this is my job. This is what I do for a living, and I have to be good at it, and I have to get better at it. And we celebrated it. But at that moment, I wanted to know why I didn't make that bar."

When the Internet storm erupted, Stuczynski felt powerless, and a little hopeless. She says Suhr has received countless angry emails from people who think they're protecting her. Meanwhile, her family and her coach's family have heard comments about whether the coach went too far, and wondering why Stuczynski is putting up with a guy who couldn't even say congratulations.

But she, her coach and her parents went out to dinner after the competition and celebrated. "And people don't hear the things he says leading up to the meet, or the texts he sent me all week saying, We can do this, you know? That's what's so frustrating."

Stuczynski, who gave the interview at the Beijing airport as she readied to travel to her next meet in Zurich, admitted the days after the medal were some dark ones.

"After this all came out I just wanted to go home," she says. "But you can't let outside stuff affect you. They say you have to have tough skin, it comes with the business, so I guess you have to take the punches."

She's always enjoyed the media, she says, but this will take some time to sort out. "It reminds me of reality TV," she says. "The clip wasn't cut, but you only see parts of it9you don't understand the whole thing. And it's like how can you fix it? How can you make people see the truth?"

[rainbowgirl28]

Good article and good for Jenn for defending herself

[BruceFlorman]

Absolutely. Good for her!

[KirkB]

Jenn did great! And she put on a good, stiff upper-lip during that interview. Good for her!

When she was quoted as saying "I hope we do some damage, and, you know, kick some Russian butt.", I had mistakenly interpreted that as referring to Isi only. However, in hindsight, I think she actually DID kick some Russian butt! Two out of three ain't bad!

Re the "pep talk", I had already assumed that Jenn had walked over to talk to her coach with some personal disappointment in her demeanour. Not disappointment in losing the Gold, but just disappointment in "only" jumping 4.80. It was already assumed that that's what provoked Suhr's diatribe.

But isn't that the time for the coach to change her mood, tell her that she did her best under the circumstances, and congratulate her WHOLE-HEARTEDLY for winning the Silver? And for kicking the butt of 2 of the Russians?

That's what a good coach would say, but ... what are you gonna do?

And last time I checked, texting doesn't require instant attention. If you don't reply for 5-10 minutes (until you FINISH YOUR JOB AS A PAID COACH), the person waiting for the text to be sent will hardly even notice the delay. Excuses, excuses.

Kirk

[lonestar]

Anyone else who watched the video think April looks undergripped? I mean, she could jump on bamboo for as little as she bends the pole and how much pole speed she has.

[rainbowgirl28]

But isn't that the time for the coach to change her mood, tell her that she did her best under the circumstances, and congratulate her WHOLE-HEARTEDLY for winning the Silver? And for kicking the butt of 2 of the Russians?

That's what a good coach would say, but ... what are you gonna do?

And last time I checked, texting doesn't require instant attention. If you don't reply for 5-10 minutes (until you FINISH YOUR JOB AS A PAID COACH), the person waiting for the text to be sent will hardly even notice the delay. Excuses, excuses.

Kirk

Jenn is the one paying him and she is happy with him. It's really none of our business!

[pvgrl09]

congrats to both the girls!
they made america proud!

[KirkB]

But isn't that the time for the coach to change her mood, tell her that she did her best under the circumstances, and congratulate her WHOLE-HEARTEDLY for winning the Silver? And for kicking the butt of 2 of the Russians?

That's what a good coach would say, but ... what are you gonna do?

And last time I checked, texting doesn't require instant attention. If you don't reply for 5-10 minutes (until you FINISH YOUR JOB AS A PAID COACH), the person waiting for the text to be sent will hardly even notice the delay. Excuses, excuses.

Kirk

Jenn is the one paying him and she is happy with him. It's really none of our business!

Ouch!

It's Becca's board, and she can set the tone of it how she prefers. Becca has done a very, very good job of filtering out the trash talk on this board, and I for one applaud her for this.

I do hope that we can discuss the "coaching" aspect of what Suhr should have or shouldn't have said in his "pep talk", as long as we keep it civil. I agree that the details of Jenn's personal happiness with Suhr as her coach is her business. But this board is about what's good technique, and what's good coaching methods - for the betterment of the sport. I do hope that we can freely discuss examples of bad coaching style as well as good coaching style.

To me, the litmus test is "Would I say the same thing to Rick Suhr to his face?".

My answer: "Yes, I would. He needs to know that his attitude in that 'pep talk' was not right." I would not scold him if I said it to his face - I'd just tactfully let him know that he went over the line. Of course, this is just MHO.

What are you gonna do? !!!

Kirk

[nitro]

im sure both of them wanted gold. right after she was done im sure she was dissapointed but by now she realizes how important and how much a silver medal means.

[rainbowgirl28]

I do hope that we can discuss the "coaching" aspect of what Suhr should have or shouldn't have said in his "pep talk", as long as we keep it civil. I agree that the details of Jenn's personal happiness with Suhr as her coach is her business. But this board is about what's good technique, and what's good coaching methods - for the betterment of the sport. I do hope that we can freely discuss examples of bad coaching style as well as good coaching style.

To me, the litmus test is "Would I say the same thing to Rick Suhr to his face?".

My answer: "Yes, I would. He needs to know that his attitude in that 'pep talk' was not right." I would not scold him if I said it to his face - I'd just tactfully let him know that he went over the line. Of course, this is just MHO.

I think you should read the ESPN article again. Jenn made it clear she didn't go over there to get a pep talk or a pat on the back. She went over there and asked what went wrong. Rick told her, and I've been around Rick enough to know that was not him being mean or vindictive.

99% of us would have had a different tone and would have been nicer, but given that Jenn is an adult at the highest level of the sport, if this is working for her, then I don't think it's right to criticize her coach to his face. I think there is validity in having discussions about his style, I would not want to see a bunch of young coaches think that being a total jerk is the way to go.

I don't think his exact coaching style would work for too many other US athletes, but maybe there is some correlation between Jenn's toughness in handling him and her toughness in competition. I don't even consider Jenn to have the most raw talent of any of our US women. That's not to make an example of any other girls, it's just to say that Jenn is not beating everyone else solely because she is that much more talented than them. She's tough and she's focused on the world record, she didn't get stuck on being national champion the first time and she didn't get stuck on being a 15' vaulter (no one believed it when she cleared 15' anyway) and she didn't get stuck on winning the Olympic Trials. Maybe some of our women fail to perform at the international level because they are too used to getting too much praise. I would imagine this is a much bigger problem on the women's side than the men's. Coaches are generally gonna baby the women more than the men, because sometimes we get more emotional and cry and it doesn't roll off our backs the same way, and especially guy coaches are going to feel like jerks when that happens. But I think the champions get the tears out and then move on and learn.

I don't even think Rick is any tougher than your average elite gymnastics coach, they just have the good sense to put on smiles and give bear hugs when the cameras are rolling. I think Rick would have been better off faking it and acting friendlier for the cameras, but obviously that's the first time he's been mic'd on national TV, and I don't think faking it is his style.

I guess my conclusion is that it's not very productive to sit here and gossip about what a jerk you all think Rick Suhr is. Maybe it's more productive to have a discussion about coaching styles and which styles work for different athletes and when it's OK to use a harsher tone and when you need to be nice and pat them on the back.

[GiVaulter09]

i completely agree with becca.... I too have met Rick and know that that is how he coaches

[rainbowgirl28]

Bruce Florman translated this from Russian in the Isi updates thread:

It happens that in the entire time that Isinbaeva has been performing at the international level, I have never had the opportunity to get acquainted with the athlete herself. Although I can say we’ve met. Eight years ago I was returning to Moscow from Vienna, and in neighboring seats on the plane sat a coach and a very young athlete. The girl wept. And her mentor didn’t comfort, but rather scolded her: “Understand this; you are not weaker than she was. You must simply believe that you are able to win yourself. And then she will be no competition at all for you.”