Wednesday, August 31, 2016 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
OLyMPICS: Metcalfs
hope to go to
Tokyo in 2020
Continued from page 1
“The primary focus was to
support Ashton and Brianne
(Eaton’s wife who represented
Canada in the heptathlon), but
I wanted to absorb all I could
while I was there.”
With the heptathlon at the
start of the games and the
decathlon at the end, Metcalf
explored during the middle.
Theisen-Eaton, who
attended the University of
Oregon along with Eaton, was
determined to get a medal after
a disappointing 11th-place
finish in 2012 and there was
some hype surrounding the
notion of the Eatons both get-
ting gold medals, but Metcalf
and most others who follow
the sport knew that would be
a long-shot.
“She was going for the
gold, everyone does, but it
was an incredibly talented
field,” he said.
The reigning champion,
Jessica Ennis-Hill of Great
Britain and upstart Nafissatou
Thiam of Belgium who set
four personal bests among
her seven events, including a
world record for the heptath-
lon in the high jump, provided
a tremendous challenge.
“You could see Brianne
struggle the first day, but she
is a fighter and battled back
on day two to move into
medal contention,” Metcalf
said. “Ultimately she was
very happy to get the bronze
because it was such a star-
studded field.”
Ashton was not at 100
percent and he had to dig to
keep himself in gold-medal
position.
“For example, in the pole
vault, where he normally sep-
arates himself from the rest
of the field, he had to go to
his third attempts to clear the
heights, and I was just dying
watching him struggle more
than normal,” Tate noted.
However, even a struggling
Eaton is still better than every-
one else in the world. He
actually tied the Olympic
record, which makes his per-
formance all the more impres-
sive. Olympic commentators
and track and field aficio-
nados concur that Eaton is
among the greatest of all time.
“People don’t understand
that just the length of the day
takes a toll on the decathletes,”
he said. “I was exhausted as a
spectator and actually took a
nap in the stadium when there
was a break in the events.”
Metcalf was able to spend
time with Eaton’s mother,
Roz, and the two of them
got to greet the champion
at trackside after his victory
lap, which provided a special
moment for the athlete and his
high school coach.
Beyond the track and field
venue, Metcalf was on the
course for both the women’s
marathon and the men’s, both
of which included exceptional
performances by Americans,
including three who train in
Oregon, which made it special
for Metcalf. Because it was a
loop course, Metcalf could see
the runners a number of times
during the 26.2-mile course.
“Pretty cool to see Oregon-
raised Galen Rupp get the
bronze medal,” said Metcalf.
“When you are at street level
with those runners you are
amazed at how fast they are
going for such a distance.”
A number of local residents
reported seeing Metcalf along
the course sporting his Oregon
cap. He was interviewed a
number of times because of
his association with Eaton.
Metcalf took in other
events as well, including
table tennis, sailing and beach
volleyball.
“Beach volleyball was a
blast and like a big party,” he
said. “Even the sailing, which
happened nearby, was a lot of
fun to watch.”
Metcalf’s positive experi-
ence with the Olympic spirit
led to a bit of a letdown once
the games ended.
“It sounds sort of obvious,
but you don’t quite process it
unless you are at the Olympics
that everyone in the world is
there. Where else does that
ever happen?
“On the train, in the sta-
dium, at the venues, you are
surrounded by a sense of
world peace and world love
that is real. Everyone is on the
same page,” he said.
On the train, in the
stadium, at the venues,
you are surrounded by a
sense of world peace and
world love that is real.
— Tate Metcalf
“Since coming home, I am
sort of experiencing the post-
Olympic blues, to be honest.
For me the rest of the world
sort of stopped for the two
weeks of Olympics, so when
I flew into Atlanta on the way
home, CNN was blasting too
loudly on the airport television
and all the negative political
rhetoric and bad news just sort
of stopped me in my tracks.”
The experience of 2012
and 2016 is something that
will stay with the Sisters coach
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“Just having the abil-
ity and opportunity to go to
the Olympics is something I
treasure,” he said. “I’ve been
super fortunate to be able to
go to two Olympics.”
Even though Ashton Eaton
is unlikely to continue com-
peting as a decathlete for
much longer, Metcalf and his
wife, Aimee, are talking seri-
ously about trekking to Tokyo
for 2020.
“I would recommend going
to the Olympics to anyone
who thinks they can find a
way to pull it off. The overall
theme of what the Olympics
stand for makes me plan to go
in the future. ”
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