In the following excerpt from a presentation Diemer made at the 2008 Michigan Track Coaches Association seminar, he explains how his mental preparation helped him earn his first Olympic berth, in 1984. His path to the bronze medal began one year earlier when, as a University of Michigan senior, he won the national steeplechase championship.
On winning the 1983 NCAA Division I steeplechase title.
“I ran in the NCAA Division I national meet and I won the steeplechase. And that pretty much
surprised me. Before that race I was ready to graduate, be done with my running career and move
on. I already had plans of getting married. As a matter of fact, three days after I got back from
nationals I asked my future father in law if I could have my wife’s hand in marriage. Winning the
NCAA meet changed my life. It put me into a meet that I didn’t even know existed, the World
Championships (after Diemer placed second in the U. S. Nationals), where I finished 13th. All of
the sudden, a kid who never watched an Olympic games had a possibility of making the Olympic
team.”
On his chances of making the 1984 U.S. Olympic steeplechase team.
“My mind set going into that Olympic Trials situation was, ‛Okay, I was second in the U.S. last
year, top three make the Olympic team, things look pretty good. As long as I run under 8:20, I’m
a shoe in. I’m going to make that team. Henry Marsh is real good, John Gregorek is pretty good,
but I don’t see a third strong guy. I think that’s me. I think I can be inside that top three.’ So my
mind set going into that season was, ‛All I have got to do is run 8:20.’
“That spring I went off to Eugene, Oregon and I was out there for what was called an Athletics West meet. It was in conjunction with the NCAA Division I national championships. I went out early so I could watch the NCAA (steeplechase final), where a young man named Farley Gerber from Weber State went out there and just thoroughly impressed me. He won the meet in 8:19. And I was up in the stands watching that. And that didn’t sit so well with me. Because that ruined all my plans. Because Henry Marsh, he’s the favorite. John Gregorek, he is a sub-four minute miler, he’s got speed, he’s going to make the team. Farley Gerber just ran 8:19, and this isn’t even the Olympic Trials yet.
“I was out there with my wife and she’s used to me being pretty narrow-minded sometimes and focused and I sat in our hotel room and I just shook my head and finally I slapped my hand on the bed and I said, ‛I’ve got to run 8:17. I need to make that Olympic team.’”
On the 1984 Olympic Trials.
“The Olympic Trials are a tough deal because you run three times in five days, Monday,
Wednesday, Friday, and it’s survival of the fittest. Forty guys have hit the qualifying time (in
1984). Twenty-four go to the semi finals. Twelve or 14 go to the finals. In that final race, the top
three make the Olympic team.
“So I’m down in Los Angeles and I’m just really focused on the race. I made it through the trial heats. I made it through the semi final heats. Things were going well. The night before, I’m falling asleep and somewhere between actually being asleep and being awake, the race is going through my mind. And what I’m seeing is, John Gregorek is in the lead with a lap to go and he is running a strong pace. I’m in third place, just right where I want to be. Coming around with 300 meters to go, Farley Gerber takes off, bolts to the lead, Henry Marsh right behind him, just covering his every move like he’s attached with a bungee cord. Henry Marsh slingshots, keeps going, Farley Gerber slows down, he’s used too much too early. John Gregorek goes after Henry Marsh, can’t quite hang with him. But, I was in fourth place for a little while, went past a fading Farley Gerber, caught up a little bit on the water pit, stuttered coming out of the water pit, but passed John Gregorek with 100 meters to go and finished strong in 8:17. That’s what I saw the night before the race. Unfortunately I wake up and I said, ‛That was lot of work and now I have to go and do it.’
“The day of the race I get on the line, go through the motions. The last lap, John Gregorek is in the lead, setting a strong pace. With around 300 meters to go Farley Gerber bolts and he takes the lead but shortly after that he fades. Henry Marsh, like a slingshot, goes right around all of us, following Farley, but keeps it going. John Gregorek pushes and follows behind. I’m in forth until I pass Farley Gerber. Coming up to the water jump I’m starting to catch John Gregorek. Go over the water, stuttered just a little bit coming out of the water pit, pass him with 100 meters to go and finish strong in 8:17. Exactly the way that I had seen it the night before. I’m not going to sit here and tell you that this happens to me all the time. But it happened to me. It happened to me that day, and that told me a lot about the power of the mind.”
Diemer went on to earn a bronze medal at the Los Angeles Games, running a time of 8:14.06.
More from Brian Diemer:
The1984
Olympic steeplechase
Brian
Diemer’s coaching philosophy
How Brian Diemer
trains his athletes’ minds
