Sports
Olympic Track & Field Clinic Unites Youth and Pros
High school athletes train with sports legends in the 25th Annual William Davenport Olympic Track and Field Clinic.
For most young and aspiring track and field athletes, the opportunity to train under and learn from the best in the sport can be a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence. So for those in attendance at the 25th annual Willie Davenport Olympic Track and Field Clinic at , it was quite a surreal and exciting experience.
More than 1,500 athletes and coaches were on hand Saturday, Feb. 12, including several well-known former Olympians, like high-jump specialist Dick Fosbury and sprinter Maurice Greene.
Greene, who still holds the world record for the 60-meter dash, joined several former track and field stars during an hour-long introduction of clinicians in which they shared memories from their Olympic careers and imparted a wealth of athletic knowledge to hundreds of track and field hopefuls.
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Also speaking during the introductions were Kevin Young, winner of the 400-meter hurdles at the 1992 Summer Games in Barcelona; Mike Powell, current world record holder of the long jump; and Marilyn King, a three-time Olympian.
On the field, Olympic stars and coaches, along with Bay Area standouts, were hard at work collaborating with their young, aspiring counterparts to perfect various athletic techniques and skills. Although the younger athletes were put through a grueling regimen of conditioning and trial-run workouts, at the conclusion of the event, all seemed to walk away with smiles on their faces.
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James Logan High track and field coach Lee Webb told Patch a lot of the kids, a good portion of them student-athletes, came away from the event very happy that they not only got to train alongside the best in track and field, but also to learn about the mental preparations that enabled the champions to succeed in the Olympic Games.
See the athletes in action and hear their speeches in the photos and videos to the right.