Flashes of Panic

Not really, of course; the U.S. Olympic men’s team coach has little to do with the individual performances of the athletes he supposedly coaches. But Thornton appeared at a TAFWA function during the U.S. Olympic Trials and suggested that “the men’s shot put is going to set the tone for Team USA on the first day of competition.”

And it did, I suppose. Adam Nelson failed to make the top eight with his first three puts in the final, thereby missing the chance to take three more attempts. Reese Hoffa could barely get beyond 7th. Christian Cantwell did win silver behind a Pole on a tear, but one silver is severely underperforming from a trio which has dominated every competition since Athens.

So, since then:

• All three women’s 800m runners wash out in the first round.
• Tyson Gay can’t make the 100m final.
• None of the discus throwers, all guys who can throw 68m with their eyes closed, can get beyond 62m to advance to that final.
• Hyleas Fountain bombs the heptathlon long jump and loses her lead, only saving bronze with a PR 800m run.
• Magdalena Lewy Boulet and Deena Kastor—the latter the defending Olympic bronze medalist—both suffer minor pre-race injuries before the marathon and drop out before halfway, Kastor not even making it to 5km.

Certainly Shalane Flanagan’s 10,000m bronze in AR time is a bright spot, but a team which projected as many as 27 medals has only four after seven events—none of them gold. Thornton had better find a new tone for the team.

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