Jenn S. Pole Vault Coach????

Those two Rick and Jen set themselves up for this. They have mentioned several times how they would dominate and so on, beating this person and that person. Did they think that Isi would just sit there and take it? Jumping high in your back yard in training is one thing taking on the likes of Isinbayeva at the height of their career in Olympic Stadium is another matter. All they did with the smack talking is give fuel to fire up Isi, just read her latest quotes.[quote]Really!! wrote:

Where did they mention they would dominate? Have you read their interviews? Did you read where Stuczynski said accomplishing something after 15 jumps in your yard is a world of difference than 3 times in a meet? Never has Stuczynski in any interview talked down a fellow competitor, especially one of the American girls. I've seen her in person and she has the upmost respect for her competitors.

Stuczynski accomplished in 3 years what took Isinbayeva 7 years to do; vault 16 feet. Read both of their statistical biographies at the IAAF website and you will see comparing both their progression rates, Jenn will probably catch and surpass her within 2 years.

Who cares? wrote:

Why should be baby them and pat them on the back like gymnasts who get hugs no matter the outcome? Jen is a tough competitor and is a dominant athlete because she is coached tough.

The gymnasts get hugs ON CAMERA because their coaches aren\'t stupid...back in the locker room they get reamed, and usually for the next week of practice too. Bela used to hug gymnasts who screwed up while whispering in their ears how furious he was with them. Bela\'s insane mental and physical abuse of his athletes is WELL documented, but he was smart enough to give those bear hugs on camera and so now he\'s on NBC acting all avuncular and everyone loves him. Only a moron coach yells at an athlete in front of the cameras - smile, hug, congratulate, and criticize later.

That guy should thank Jennifer who made him known to us...

unfortunately.

There are plenty of better coaches in the US.

A guy like Earl Bell who have been more suited to the champion she is.

"What you gone to do ? change coach Jennifer.

Gérard.

That guy should thank Jennifer who made him known to us...

unfortunately.

There are plenty of better coaches in the US.

A guy like Earl Bell who have been more suited to the champion she is.

"What you gone to do ? change coach Jennifer.

Gérard.

If 2nd place AT THE OLYMPICS is not good enough, then you have fundamentally misunderstood the nature of sport and, I'd venture, the nature of life. Plus it was her first Olympics, and she lost to the WR-holder that everyone said was the mortal lock of all T&F events. Yeah, maybe in the weeks, months, years to come, use the defeat as a motivator for training. But minutes after it happened? Please.

True, I imagine all coaches, even good ones, have their "off days" (we all do). But Suhr, even if it was an abberation, had his "off day" (imho) at probably the most important moment for Jenn, ever.

And to those who think this is "coddling" and the reason for why the US (sometimes) get beat by other (presumably tougher) countries, I think that is very much an open question. Staying calm and handling all the pressure is obviously important to performance, and I'm not sure that a "win or you fail" coach helps there. In fact, I gotta think that contributes to some of those "non-coddled" athletes tanking in the big moments.

Yes, we don't know the whole context of the remarks. But the coach KNEW he was miked up (he had to have been wearing a mic to get that sound quality), and that NBC was getting everything he said. Can you imagine what he would've said if he wasn't miked up??

Finally, this is a DISCUSSION board. So the whole "you haven't pole vaulted in the Olympics so shut up" thing doesn't work, otherwise you might as well shut down all of talk radio, most of ESPN, etc etc. That's the privilege of spectating -- we get to have an opinion (at least in the USA). Oh, and the fact that we care enough to have an opinion, that's what ultimately pays the bills for Jenn and Suhr.

Coach is an ARSEhole. Plain and simple.

Actually, the coach didn't rip into her. He told her what he thought she needed to do to in order to succeed. The competition was over, there was nothing she could do about it, so he said, "What are you going to do?" He built her up a little, reminded her that she got a silver medal, and got ripped into by a bunch of message boarders. Yes, he was being technical when most of us would have been able to step back, but that focus on detail is almost certainly what enables him to be successful coaching world-class vaulters.

There are either a lot of abusive men on here, or else a certain someone is posting.

reaffirming himself wrote:

There are either a lot of abusive men on here, or else a certain someone is posting.

Trust me, Rick doesn't pots on message boards. He's not even much of an email guy. He reads a few boards (I don't know if he reads this site, but he reads T&FN) from time to time, but I really highly doubt he would post.

tjmcm wrote:

I had an entirely different impression of this whole exchange while I was watching it. It appeared to me that Jen walks over to her coach disappointed with her silver. She really believed that she could win. Then NBC broadcast Suhr explaining to Jen what went wrong. (I think she simply got beat by a superior vaulter). And then he points out that a silver medal for someone who has been vaulting for 4 years is pretty good.

I hope by now she can recognize what a great accomplishment that silver medal represents.

This is it exactly.

Here's a video of them taken I think a few days before the vault:

Weary wrote:

I didn't think Jenn was "fighting back tears." I thought she was stunned he could be so harsh when his comments were quite audible (he was miked, I assume?). How joyless can a guy be? Yeah, gold would have been nice, but Jenn was up against someone who had cleared SEVERAL heights higher than her. Cmon already.

Really? They've been together for several years now. She knows what to expect.

Letsrun posters who think Jenn's coach was appropriate = Spain's basketball players who thought making slant eyes for the camera was appropriate

It's about respect for people, or lack thereof.

It doesn't matter what context you put what he said in (unless it's quotation of someone else with disclaimer that the words aren't being asserted), the guy was being a dick. You shouldn't talk to an athlete that way. And if you can't see the difference between not tearing your athlete down and giving everyone a gold medal so that everyone is happy, you need a clue.

I didn't know about the romantic part.He's even more of a dick now. Total abuser.

It wasn't just critique. It was bizarre, abusive stuff. The guy oozes abusive dickishness. The fact that he's screwing her makes it even more abusive and disgusting.

She didn't seem joyful to me at all. She looked robotic, like a victim who was just abused and is trying to cover it up.

OldXCguy wrote:

I haven't read this entire thread, but it looked like she was fighting back tears after talking with him. Class act that she is, she gave a very poised interview moments later, expressing her joy with getting a silver medal.

Yeah, it seemed that way to me.

I hope her family and friends saw this, and I hope some of her friends are shot putters and do some splainin' to Coach Asshle.

[quote]Quick Kick wrote:

Yeah, she was fighting back tears for a few reasons, maybe disappointment, maybe her coache's harshness. The way he spoke to her after winning an Olympic silver medal was totally inappropriate, and then in the interview she says she wants to go and see her familys, friends and her, get this, 'coach'! Maybe she's in a psycho co-dependent abusive relationship where she likes the punishment?

Well put. That's the look she had when he was talking to her and when she did the interview.

hmmmm wrote:

Outside perceptions? He's wierd, controlling, svengali like with his girl athletes. Very cult like.

But he seems to know his stuff. If he can get someone to jump that high from Riga, NY - I guess enough said. She's a grown up and can make her own decisions.

I never, ever would or could talk to someone the way he talked to her.So I'll judge. He's a dick. Doesn't matter if that's the first time he's done that (which it's not). He's a dick. Do you have to be a dick to be a good coach? No. Harsh, perhaps. But not abusive.

Rick Surh is a great coach wrote:

Maybe he needs a bit of slack... have you ever reacted in an inappropriate manner to anything in your life? If you answer no your full of **** and if you answer otherwise then you have no right to JUDGE RICK... because you are as guilty as he ... it just so happened he did it on world wide coverage and got caught... a few years back my mens xc team ran the worse race ever the week before we had 7 men running 26:20 or faster and the best time was 27:31 that day... I said I was disgusted to them and just frustrated... it was not my proudest moment.. I apologized to them ... so what have you done that your not proud of? Rick maybe a jerk, a bad person, YOU do not know no matter who you are... so maybe leave it alone.