On day two we woke up eager to see our favorite team USA runner compete in the Olympic Stadium on Montjuic. Both Eric and I couldn't eat much breakfast. We were quite nervous for him and couldn't imagine how he must be feeling. The sky was blue, the sun was shining and it wasn't too hot yet. It was good day for running.
We got to the stadium in plenty of time to get a feel for the layout, see where the runners entered and exited the track, watch a few races and find the best seats to view Tanner's event. The whole stadium was filled with excited energy. All the countries were represented. It was fun to see how many different countries we could spot and then sit behind them and listen to the different languages.
I can't tell you how proud I was to see Tanner walk out onto the track in his USA uniform. The stadium was so big and there were a lot of people so there was no way he was going to see us. I yelled, "Go, Sork!" like I always do so he would know we were there and give him some encouragement. He looked right at us and grinned. I didn't get the "I Love You" sign flashed at me though. I guess he decided it would take his cool meter down a notch or two.
After a few brief warm ups it was time to take the line. My stomach was in my throat. Tanner didn't look like he was nervous a bit. He knew what he was there to do and he was going to give it his best.
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| Praying and Strategizing |
The first lap was outstanding! Tanner was right where he wanted to be things were looking good. Then on the second lap where Tanner usually starts into his kick there was some commotion. Eric and I couldn't see what happened because it was behind the officials table and the timing clock blocking him from our sights. All we knew was one of the runners hit the ground and Tanner was hobbling and losing some ground. He tried to kick it back in, but couldn't. Eric and I were afraid he had cut someone off and would be disqualified. As he crossed the finish line we still didn't know what was going on, but saw Tanner walk over to the race official and start pointing across the track. As the runners were leaving the arena, I hustled over to the seats above the tunnel so I could get his attention as he was going through. It was then I noticed that he didn't have a shoe. I then hustled back to my camera and saw through my pictures that he was running that last lap in a stocking foot. We couldn't wait for him to come out and give us the story.
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| Tanner coming around the last curve. |
Tanner crossed the finish line with a great time, still two seconds faster than he ran at the Washington State High School Track Meet. It was kind of a bummer though: Tanner had been training so hard and really had improved his time since he had left home for college. We were sad we didn't get to see all that he was capable of, but he was good spirited about his finish and knew he had done his best given the circumstances. All I have to say to the other 800m runners around the world is, "Don't get too comfortable in your ranking, just you wait until Tanner Sork has two shoes on for the whole race!"
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| Tanner wanted everyone to fight for their spot and he made it tough. |
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Tanner's State Track Meet time was 1:52:26.
His national ranked time was 1:48.74 he had surpassed this time in training
before this world meet. |
At the time of Tanner's run, we had some friends that were travelling in Italy. They stopped their touring and took time out to watch Tanner's race in their hotel room and recorded it for us. Of course it was in Italian and we couldn't understand a word of it, but we have enjoyed going back and watching it and reliving that once in a lifetime experience (though Tanner tells us there will be more). I need to find someone who speaks Italian and can come translate the sportscaster for us and see what there story was about the commotion we couldn't see. Tanner told us that as everyone was jockeying for position the runner that fell stepped on the back of his shoe and gave him a flat tire. He couldn't get it back on and it was just flopping around so he had to kind of hop along as he was trying to shake it from his foot. That gave the fallen runner time to get up and back in the race. The race officials didn't believe it was an act for disqualifying the runner so standings were to stay as they were at the finish line. I thought that was just cheap, then I watched the Olympic games in London and saw it happen to a few runners in their final race and cost them the medal. I guess Tanner is not alone.
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| Proud Parents |
Following Tanner's event we were able to visit with him and meet a few of his USA team mates, and then to our great surprise an old friend appeared at the Stadium in a Union HS XC t-shirt. It was the exchange student that attended Union last year from Barcelona and ran XC with Tanner. What a treat. We were half way around the world and still had friends!
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| Tanner and Albert |
Now Tanner will have friends wherever in the world he goes!
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| International Friends |
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