OLYMPIC SPOTLIGHT : Cragg OK, will double for Ireland
Posted on Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Fourth in a series previewing athletes with Arkansas connections who will be competing in the Olympic Games, starting Friday in Beijing FAYETTEVILLE — An Achilles tendon injury that caused Alistair Cragg to drop out of the 3, 000 meters at the Monaco Grand Prix last Tuesday isn’t expected to affect the former Arkansas star for the Olympics.
John McDonnell, who recently retired as the Razorbacks’ coach and continues to oversee Cragg’s training, said Cragg has resumed workouts.
Cragg will be running for Ireland for the second consecutive Olympics. He finished 12 th in the 5, 000 final at the 2004 Games.
“I talk to Alistair every day, and he’s feeling good again,” McDonnell said. “He’ll be ready to go.” Cragg sustained an Achilles tendon strain in Monaco, the Irish Times newspaper reported, and then traveled to the Munich, Germany sportsinjury clinic of Dr. Hans-Wilhelm Muller-Wohlfarth for treatment.
“Alistair is happy that Dr. Muller-Wohlfarth will see him through this and that his participation in Beijing is not under any real threat,” Irish Olympic team manager Patsy McGonagle told the Times. “[Cragg ] is positive about it, and it’s really just a question of managing it right.” Cragg, who ran four races in Europe the past month, still plans to double at the Olympics in the 1, 500 and 5, 000, McDonnell said.
While Cragg’s specialty is the 5, 000, he and McDonnell have agreed that running in the 1, 500 will serve him well as a warmup and to get him accustomed to the race-day routine and stadium atmosphere.
Rounds of the 1, 500 will be Aug. 15, 17 and 19. The first round of the 5, 000 is Aug. 20, but Cragg said that in the 1, 500 he doesn’t expect to advance beyond the second round.
“Common sense tells you I’m not going to make the final in the 1, 500, but running a race or two before the 5, 000 should be an added bonus,” Cragg said before leaving Fayetteville for Europe. “I think I’ll be able to handle it pretty well.” Cragg, 28, said he feels faster and stronger than he did in 2004 and is ready to again make the 5, 000 final with a better outcome.
“Coach Mac has done a lot of good work with me, and I feel we’ve got everything in order,” said Cragg, a seven-time NCAA champion and 13-time All-American at Arkansas from 2002-2004 after transferring from SMU. “If my body is feeling good, then I’m pretty sure my head will take care of itself out there in Beijing.” McDonnell said Cragg’s mental strength is among his greatest assets as a runner.
“Alistair has got it upstairs with a great head for competition,” said McDonnell, who coached 25 Olympic athletes at Arkansas. “He can hurt and he can dig down and find something when most athletes would just pack it in.
“ He’s one of the best I’ve ever had at running a hard pace and then picking it up even a little bit more. His threshold for pain is enormous.” Daniel Lincoln, who ran with Cragg at Arkansas, praised his gift for race tactics and strategy.
“Alistair knows how to run a race, and that’s something I’ve always admired about him,” said Lincoln, a 2004 U. S. Olympian in the 3, 000-meter steeplechase who is recovering from foot surgery. “He’s also got the talent and strength to do really impressive things on the track.
“ I think the key for Alistair is he needs to trust himself. He needs to trust his gut instincts that he knows when to make a move and what move to make, and then trust his ability as well.” Lincoln said the improvement Cragg has made as a professional runner is obvious.
“He’s at the point where he’s moved to another level,” Lincoln said. “Things are easy now that weren’t so easy five years ago.
“ This is a great opportunity for him at this year’s Olympics. The world is watching, and he should be ready.” Reuben Reina, a two-time NCAA champion for the Razorbacks in the 3, 000 meters who competed for the U. S. in the 5, 000 at the 1992 Olympics, is a now a personal trainer. He worked with Cragg earlier this year to help him become more flexible and strengthen his hamstrings.
“In my opinion, Alistair is the best distance runner Arkansas ever has produced,” Reina said. “I know that’s hard to say, because there have been so many great runners here, but watching Alistair run for the Razorbacks, I just thought he was dynamite.
“ He was always at his best in the biggest meets and put himself out there to pull out the victories. He was so tough, and could win by sitting back, by leading, by coming from a long ways back.
“ He had the ability to beat you in all kinds of ways.” Cragg said he appreciates McDonnell, 70, for continuing to coach him, even though he retired as Arkansas’ coach in June.
“He could have very well said — and I kind of expected him to say — that he was ready to move on and be totally done with coaching, but I’m so thankful he didn’t do that and is still my coach,” Cragg said. “I owe everything I’ve gotten out of track to Coach Mac.” Cragg at a glance OLYMPIC EVENTS 1, 500 and 5, 000 meters COLLEGES SMU and Arkansas AGE 28 (born June 13, 1980 ) CURRENT RESIDENCE Fayetteville CITIZENSHIP Has dual citizenship in South Africa and Ireland and will run for Ireland at the Olympics. Was born and grew up in South Africa, but qualified to be an Irish Olympian based on ancestry. PERSONAL-BEST TIMES 3: 36. 18 in the 1, 500; 7: 32. 49 in the 3, 000; 13: 07. 10 in the 5, 000; and 27: 39. 55 in the 10, 000. CAREER HIGHLIGHTS Finished fourth in the 3, 000 at the 2005 World Indoor Championships.... Was 12 th in the 5, 000 final at the 2004 Olympics.... Won the 3, 000 at the 2005 European Indoor Championships.... 7-time NCAA champion, 14-time All-American, and 9-time SEC champion for Arkansas from 2002-2004.... Two-time winner of SEC Male Athlete of the Year award in 2003-2004.
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