Leaving it all on the track: Spearmon facing final chance for medal

Former Fayetteville High and Arkansas sprinter Wallace Spearmon checks out the scoreboard Saturday, April 23, 2016, after his finish in the 100 meters during the John McDonnell Invitational at John McDonnell Field in Fayetteville.
Former Fayetteville High and Arkansas sprinter Wallace Spearmon checks out the scoreboard Saturday, April 23, 2016, after his finish in the 100 meters during the John McDonnell Invitational at John McDonnell Field in Fayetteville.

FAYETTEVILLE -- A series of injuries have conspired to slow down sprinter Wallace Spearmon Jr. at times in recent years.

Spearmon tore a muscle in his left calf last August during warmups for the 200 meters at the World Track and Field Championships and had to withdraw.

Wallace Spearmon Jr. at a glance

COLLEGE Arkansas

HIGH SCHOOL Fayetteville

EVENT 200 meters

AGE 31 (born Dec. 24, 1984)

NOTEWORTHY Three-time NCAA champion at Arkansas in 200 in 2004 and 2005. … Lives and trains in Fayetteville. … Turned pro after his sophomore season in 2005. … Has won four World Championships medals, including gold in the 400 relay in 2005, silver in the 200 in 2005 and bronze in the 200 in 2007 and 2009. … Three-time U.S. 200 champion in 2006, 2010 and 2012. Finished second in 2007 and third in 2008, 2010 and 2015. … Personal-best 19.65 in 200 ranks 8th on the world all-time list. … 20.10 in 200 indoors is an American record. … Olympian in 2008 and 2012. … Father Wallace Sr. also was a sprinter for Arkansas.

Nine months before that, the three-time NCAA champion at Arkansas who won four medals at the World Championships, underwent surgery to reattach three muscles to his pelvic bone.

There also have been knee and Achilles tendon injuries for him to overcome.

Earlier this year Spearmon missed three weeks of workouts because of a strained hamstring.

"I woke up one morning and somehow I'd hurt my hamstring when I was asleep," Spearmon said. "I have no clue how I did it.

"Just old people injuries. When you get older, stuff happens."

Spearmon, 31, is getting old by world-class sprinting standards, but he's still not ready to retire, especially with another shot to make an Olympic team.

"I've been telling a lot of people, you can't quit in an Olympic year," Spearmon said. "Regardless of what's going on, you've got to at least try to make the Olympics."

Spearmon is trying to make his third Olympic team. He'll run the first round of the 200 Thursday at the U.S. Olympic trials in Eugene, Ore. The semifinals are Friday and the final is Saturday.

Seven times in the previous 10 years Spearmon has finished in the top three in the 200 at the U.S. Championships, including victories in 2006, 2010 and 2012. If he can do it one more time, he'll make the Olympic team and be able to compete in Rio de Janeiro later this summer.

"If I don't make the team, it won't be for lack of effort," Spearmon said. "It'll be because someone actually beat me. They'll have to earn it."

Spearmon is confident he can earn another Olympic berth because he finally feels healthy.

"The last two weeks, things are starting to click and fall into place," he said. "I'm ready to leave it all out on the track."

Chris Johnson, an assistant coach for Arkansas' women team, has been Spearmon's primary coach since 2013 when he returned to train in his hometown of Fayetteville after working out in College Station, Texas, and Dallas for a few years.

Spearmon and Johnson got to know each other in 2004 during Speamon's freshman season at Arkansas, when Johnson was a graduate assistant for the women's team.

"Wallace is a great championship runner," Johnson said. "If he can stay healthy through the 200 rounds and execute his race, I think we'll be in good shape.

"He seems very upbeat. I think he's confident and ready to go. He's just anxious to get on the track."

In two seasons at Arkansas, Spearmon won three NCAA titles in the 200 --outdoors in 2004 and indoors and outdoors in 2005 -- before turning pro.

At the World Championships he won a gold medal as a member of the 400 relay team in 2007, a silver medal in the 200 in 2005 and bronze medals in the 200 in 2007 and 2009.

His personal-best 200 time of 19.65 in 2006 ranks No. 8 on the world's all-time list and his 20.10 indoors remains an American record.

But the Olympics have been tough for Spearmon, especially in 2008 when he crossed the finish line third in the 200 and was celebrating on the track only to learn he had been disqualified for taking a few steps outside of his lane and wouldn't receive a bronze medal.

Churandy Martina of the Netherlands, who took second in the 200, also was disqualified for running outside of his lane.

"I think we were the first people in Olympic history to be disqualified for that after finishing in the top three," Spearmon said. "That's a first I didn't want to do.

"If you'd asked me about it close to the time that it happened, I would have been discouraged and ashamed, but now I've learned from it."

At the 2012 Olympics, Spearmon finished fourth, one place shy of medaling.

"I guess both those years, in 2008 and 2012, I could have been doing things a little bit better," Spearmon said. "I could have trained a little harder, lifted weights more, eaten better."

Spearmon said he's worked hard to be at his best in all areas on and off the track to give himself the best shot to win an elusive Olympic medal this year.

"Wallace gives me a lot of motivation when I come to practice and see how hard he still goes at it, grinding and putting in the work day after day," said former Razorback Omar McLeod, the world leader in the 110 hurdles who will run for Jamaica in the Olympics. "Anything he does, I'm going to do it, too, because I know it's taken him this far."

McLeod, 22, turned pro last year after winning three NCAA titles at Arkansas.

"Wallace is like my big brother," McLeod said. "I'm happy he's here and I have somebody I can look up to and respect. I can ask him anything and I know he'll give me his honest opinion.

"He won't sugarcoat anything to make me feel good. He'll tell how it really is out there as a professional. He's a kind-hearted person and looks out for us younger guys. He knows who is in this sport and what he's about."

Chris Bucknam, coach of Arkansas' men's team, said Spearmon is a good role model for the younger Razorbacks.

"There's no drama with Wallace," Bucknam said. "He's great to have around. He comes here and does his work, and he brings an air of confidence.

"He's an extraordinary talent and you can tell he enjoys the process of what it takes to be a world-class sprinter. He's respectful of the opportunity to train here and I think he brings a lot to the table with our guys.

"He's competed been all over the world and he shares his experiences with them and offers great advice."

Johnson said Spearmon --who along with training at Arkansas is taking classes toward a degree in business and human resource -- always conducts himself well.

"He's been a professional all the time," Johnson said. "He doesn't have bad habits. He takes care of his body and that's helped him extend his career.

"He's humble, he's grounded. He's always optimistic. I think the University of Arkansas benefits from his presence here."

John McDonnell, Arkansas' men's track coach from 1978 through 2008, has remained close with Spearmon.

"If Wallace can stay healthy, I believe he's got a good shot to the U.S. team," McDonnell said. "If he does that, I think he can win an Olympic medal.

"I'd love to see it happen for him, because he's always been a class act and a great kid."

Spearmon said he doesn't know how much longer he'll sprint professionally, but that he realizes this year is likely his last chance to win an Olympic medal.

When he won his first World Championships medal 11 years ago, Spearmon said he figured Olympic medals would follow.

"When you win a medal at a world meet for the first time, it's kind of surreal," Spearmon said. "You don't really realize what you did. It's what you've been training to do, so in your mind, that's what's supposed to happen.

"But when you're getting close to the end of your career, you start looking back on the things you've done. You're somewhat proud, but the Olympic medal has eluded me for quite some years.

"If I could finally win one, I guess it would just solidify -- and I don't want this to sound arrogant -- that I'm one of the greats, the elite that have come through the sport."

Sports on 07/06/2016

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