Gary Reed: 'Everybody is beatable'

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Story content

• Credits his coach
• 'Money will take care of itself'
• 'I put pressure on myself'
• Relaxes on the golf course

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The number of modern-day Canadian track and field athletes who have enjoyed success on the world stage is an embarrassment. Even fewer reside in Canada and train with Canadian coaches.

Canadian runner Gary Reed is a refreshing exception and hell be worth watching when he lines up for the Olympic 800m heats in Beijings 90,000-seat National Stadium, the one called "the birds nest."

The 26-year-old native of Victoria, B.C., raced to a silver medal at the 2007 IAAF World Championships in Osaka, Japan. He came within one one-hundredth of a second of winning the gold. Only a late surge from Kenyas Alfred Yego deprived him of the top prize, though the way Reed celebrated it was difficult to tell which athlete was happier.

The result is the culmination of steady progress this former sprinter has made in recent years. In his first major championships Reed failed to make it out of his 2003 world championship heat. A year later he was an Olympic semi-finalist in Athens. Then, in Helsinki, he made the 2005 world championship 800m final, though he struggled to an 8th place finish. The next year he lowered his Canadian record time to 1:43.93 -- world class by anyones standard.

Credits his coach

Credit, he says, must go to his coach, Wynn Gmitroski, with whom hes carefully plotted his rise. The Beijing Olympic Games remain the biggest target by far since Reed is now entrenched among the worlds elite and has a legitimate chance of reaching the podium.

"I obviously believe I am capable of winning," says Reed, who at five-feet-nine inches and 134 pounds hardly looks like a world-class athlete."But everybody, to some degree, believes they are capable of winning. Last year was last year. Its gone. Its a whole new scene. Just getting to the Olympic final is not going to be an easy task. The big thing will be staying healthy between now and then. If I can do that I will have a really good shot at it. Everybody is beatable. No one is unbeatable."

He is fully aware that the 800m is one of the most difficult tactical events on the program. Athletes must finish in the top-two in their respective heats to advance to the semi-final and from there get into the first two again to make the final. Thats a tall order and its why he took no chances winning both his first round heat and his semi-final race in Osaka.

"There is no room for error. None, not even in the first round," he says. "You see guys who should make the semi-final who dont. You see guys who should make the final who dont. Why? Because they make one little mistake. You make one mistake and youre going home. It's as simple as that."

'Money will take care of itself'

Second place at the IAAF world championships netted him $30,000 US but he could have earned considerably more had he gone to Europe to capitalize on his medal status at the IAAF Grand Prix and Golden League meetings. But he was exhausted after Osaka and went on a holiday to Cancun with his long-time girlfriend Kaitlin Quinn. The money will take care of itself, he says.

Thats a strange thing to say for an athlete who has struggled financially at various times in his life. As a youngster his mother visited food banks to feed Gary and his older sister. And when he first arrived in Victoria he slept on the floor of an apartment. He still watches his expense carefully.

In late April, Gmitrowski took Reed and his training partners to their annual month-long high altitude training camp in Flagstaff, Arizona. After some shocking spring weather in B.C. it was a great chance to get away and do some decent training.

This was Reeds seventh trip to Flagstaff and he loved it. Theyd walk out their hotel rooms and straight onto forest trails where they could run for miles on soft ground. Near the hotel is the University of Northern Arizona track where they did speed sessions two or three times a week.

Zach Whitmarsh, a 2000 Olympian in the 800m, supplied the all-important X-box while the group chipped in for a good supply of quality beef and a barbecue, which was set up just outside their rooms. If this all sounds like some sort of holiday camp, Reed is clear that "everything is going great."

As the Beijing Games approach the pressure on Canadian athletes to perform mounts, especially as medal contenders are identified by the media. Reed will be included on anyones list, which doesnt seem to bother him at all.

I put pressure on myself

"I dont necessarily feel pressure," he explains. "I put pressure on myself to perform at the highest possible level. As far as pressure from outside, sometimes I do feel it and sometimes I dont. Maybe a month from the Games it will change.

"You have to remember, I have been to an Olympics now. I felt so much pressure in 2004 I didnt really know what to expect. Now I have a little more experience under my belt. I have learned to deal with the pressure on a totally different level."

Although his management at Tennessee-based Total Sports Management has fielded numerous invitations from European meets, Reed doesnt plan to race in Europe until after the Canadian Championships and Olympic Trials, July 3-6. Among the competitions he has agreed to run is the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon, June 8.

The 800m Prefontaine, known as "the Pre" among competitors, is usually stacked with some good performers. Among them: Nick Symmonds, the 2007 U.S. indoor champion, who won it last year.

When he is at home Reed sometimes visits public schools as part of the RBC Olympians program. He might do four to six schools a month. The teachers usually prepare the children for his visit as he is still far from being a household name. A highlight is when he gets to run with them. They enjoy seeing his world championship silver medal.

"Its basically sitting at home," he says of the medal. "Its been passed around all year to a bunch of screaming kids and they have dropped it and banged it. No respect."

Reed laughs at his last comment lest one thinks he is seriously upset. "I get a lot out of it, probably more than they do," he adds.

Relaxes on the golf course

When he has spare time he enjoys getting together with friends playing golf. He finds it relaxing and doesnt take it seriously though he often shoots in the low-90s.

Now the focus in on Bejiing and the medal podium. He has proven he can compete with the best 800m runners in the world and he can control a race from the front, as he did in Osaka. On that note he reckons he is more an athlete who reacts to the moment than one who plots strategy.

"The race can go one of a hundred different ways and to try and play out what the race is going to be like in my head is a little foolish," he says. "If I go out there with some preconceived expectation of what is going to happen and it doesnt happen that is going to throw me off. Let the cards fall as they may."