april-2012

62
culture || The Fan
do wonders for the sport’s credibility.
It could be a long shot: The last (and only)
U.S. racewalker to win an Olympic Medal
was Larry Young, who took bronze in
both 1968 and 1972. But if anyone can pull
an upset and end the 40-year drought,
it’s Barron, says his coach, Tim Seaman,
himself a two-time Olympic racewalker.
“Trevor is a great athlete. He has shocked
the world.”
Even getting to the Olympic Games
is an act of physical and mental endurance
for U.S. racewalkers. While Russian,
Chinese and Ecuadorian racewalkers
are buoyed by cheering spectators and
generous stipends, most U.S. racewalkers
train alone and have to defend themselves
A STEP AHEAD CONT’D
In Antwerp in 1920,
18-year-old Italian
Ugo Frigerio provides
the arena’s band
conductor with
sheet music to be
performed during
his race. Though he
stops to admonish
the band for its errant
tempo, he wins easily.
against charges of weirdness. Seaman gets
sick of hearing the cu ing comments.
“It is the same as the bu erfl y in swimming,”
he says. “Normal people can’t do the
bu erfl y. It makes no sense. But I’m not
going to tell Michael Phelps he looks weird.”
IT’S A RAW WINTER MORNING in Pittsburgh,
and rain pelts Barron as he does a
12-km workout on the same road where
he was mocked as a kid. The 19-year-old
doesn’t break a sweat as he clocks eightminute
miles, a deliberately slow pace
for someone whose best mile is a blazing
6:03.48, the national high school record he
set in 2010. But he’s fast enough today that
he could be mistaken for a jogger.
The U.S.S.R. makes its fi rst
foray into racewalking in 1952,
in Helsinki, and its champion,
Bruno Junk, takes home the
bronze—despite the fact that he
and Swiss Silver Medalist Fritz
Schwab broke into sprints near
the fi nish line, infuriating Swedish
Gold Medalist John Mikaelsson,
as well as the seven previously
disqualifi ed competitors.
MANRIQUE CUSTOM
VISION CENTER
EYE PHYSICIA N & SURGEON
THE MANRIQUE DIFFERENCE
There are many reasons why LASIK with Dr. Manrique de Lara
is unlike any other LASIK experience. Here’s a few good reasons to
choose Woodlands Custom Vision Center for your LASIK procedure:
EXPERIENCE l TRUST l PERSONALIZED CARE
STATE-OF-THE-ART TECHNOLOGY l COMFORT & RELAXATION
QUALITY OVER QUANTITY l INVESTMENT OVER PRICE
woodlandscustomvision.com
SAN ANTONIO
Located in the
Shops at La Cantera
210.354.2020
sa.manriqueeye.com
Perhaps because of photos showing that
1976 champion Daniel Bautista committed
lifting violations, the Moscow 1980
Olympic Games are a study in severity.
Seven walkers are disqualifi ed, including
Bautista, only 2,500 meters from the
fi nish. As Soviet Anatoly Solomin takes
the lead, he too is disqualifi ed, leaving
Italian Maurizio Damilano to take the
win in 1:23:35.5, shaving a full minute
off Bautista’s 1976 time.
SERVING LASER EYE SURGERY PATIENTS IN THE WOODLAND NDS DS DS, , T TTEXA
T EXA E S
HOUSTON
Located in Market Street
The Woodlands
281.367.2010
woodlandscustomvision.com
HAR HARLIN LIN LINGE GEN EN
550 55 550 5505
5E 5 E xpw xp xpw xpwy. pw y. y
83 83/ 8 3/ 3/77 / 77 7 Ste St Ste. te.
.1 . .1 . 1 05 0
956 95 956 9 56 566.43
.43 .443 0.9 0.900 000 0 00
ma man m an a riq riquee uee ueeye. ye. ye e. co com co om
The 6-foot-3 athlete walks fl uidly despite
adhering to his sport’s deceptively diffi cult
rules: The knee of the leading leg must be
straight at the point of contact, and one
foot must always be on the ground. A
racewalker who is cited for three “li ing”
violations faces the indignity of being
ejected by the chief judge hoisting a red
stop sign paddle. A marathoner can break
stride without scrutiny, but a racewalker
has to remain a entive to form just to stay
in the race. Luckily, that comes easily to Barron,
now a freshman at Colorado College. “I
fi nd the motion very natural,” he says in a
voice so so it barely rises above a whisper.
That isn’t to say he hasn’t faced his share
of physical struggles. Barron first tried
MC MCA MC M LL LLE LEN- N- N-E N N-E E DIN DINBUR NBUR
B G
Se Ser Se er vi vin ing g t he
Rio Ri Gr Grand and an e eV e eV e V all a ey e
956 956.66 .66 .661.9 66 6 1.9 19 1.9 1. 1.9 1.9000 000 00 000 00 0
man ma man riq i uee eeye ye. y com co com om o