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Retirement “He is a friend who became the most successful coach in the history of intercollegiate athletics. You don’t have that kind of success that many times over that many years without caring for the well-being of your athletes.” —Former United States president Bill Clinton Throughout his career, McDonnell had offered suggestions for the betterment of the sport on various committees and implemented some of those ideas at events such as the Tyson Invitational, which had been televised every February since 2000. He was approached about a coaching position for the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia, but ultimately didn’t consider it because the opportunity conflicted with the fall crosscountry season. He was able to serve as a distance coach for the United States at the 2003 World Championships in Paris, which did not conflict since it was in the middle of the summer. When the USATF honored McDonnell at the end of his career by naming him as the middle-distance coach for the United States Olympic team for the 2008 Olympic Games, he happily accepted the appointment. “I knew I was retiring, so when I was asked to do it in 2008, I accepted,” said McDonnell. It was as much a well-deserved tribute to McDonnell’s prolific career as it was an acknowledgement of his expertise in the event area. Unfortunately, the head track coach for the U.S. Olympic team, Bubba Thornton of Texas, informed McDonnell there was a conflict since he coached individual athletes competing for other countries. Despite the fact that the rule had never been enforced and U.S. medal hopefuls Tyson Gay and Wallace Spearmon Jr. were both Razorback athletes who continued to train in Fayetteville, the conflict existed because McDonnell coached Alistair Cragg, who competed for Ireland. John resigned. “[Bubba] said some of the other coaching staff members contacted him about it,” remembered McDonnell. “I spoke to some of the others on the coaching staff, and they said they knew nothing about it.” 393 17 Now a detective for the Bentonville Police Department, Joe Falcon observed how McDonnell publicly handled the situation with the same grace and humility he had long since come to admire. “That is what he instilled in me,” observed Falcon. “He always led by example in a humble way. John never tooted his own horn.” For his part, Thornton publicly expressed disappointment about the decision.1 Heading into the 2008 Beijing Olympics, which were being held in China for the first time amid protests from humanitarian group, the Texas coach nonetheless appeared confident of the U.S. team’s chances. “This is the dream team,” Thornton thundered to the Sunday Times. “I want people to hear our anthem so much that they’re humming it when they come out of the stadium.”2 After two dropped batons in the relays and a Jamaican sweep in the 100 meter and 200 meter, it turned out to be what many considered to be the worst American sprint performance in the history of the Olympics. In reality, nothing was going to stop Usain Bolt at an Olympiad where he broke the world record in the 100 meter (9.69) as well as the 200 meter (19.30)—into a slight headwind. Though Wallace Spearmon Jr. placed third in the 200 meter, he and former UTEP sprinter Charundy Martina (who finished second for Netherlands Antilles) were disqualified for stepping out of their lanes. Only a year after winning the World Championships, Tyson Gay did not make the final after sustaining a hamstring injury earlier in the season. In the 5,000 meter, Alistair Cragg qualified for the final after running 13:38.57 in the prelims, but did not finish the race. For a time, Cragg remained training under McDonnell along with Mark Fountain and Josphat Boit, but by 2008 he had become disenchanted with the resources available to him as a professional athlete in Fayetteville. Not long afterwards Cragg made the decision to move to California to train at altitude—although his training was still ostensibly directed by McDonnell for another year. “It wasn’t John, it was the atmosphere,” said Cragg. “I didn’t think the right people were coming to Fayetteville, and nobody was feeding off each other anymore. I think John knew he was retiring and didn’t want to take anyone that he didn’t want to disappoint . When he retired it also kind of took my structure away and [Josphat] Boit’s structure...

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