Everything is going well. He’s in good shape and he’s well prepared. – Ed Eyestone on Jared Ward
RIO DE JANEIRO — Ed and Andrea Eyestone were moving a flag that blocked their view of swimming when they met the men who hung it there.
“These two guys from Singapore who’d spent every time they had to watch swimming and their potential first gold medalist, who was competing against Michael Phelps,” said the BYU track and field and head cross-country coach on Thursday morning. “(One of them) had a picture of him on his phone of the (swimmer, Joseph Schooling) eight or 10 years previous. The president of Singapore sat a few rows down from us.” The men told the Eyestones that the day — Aug. 13 — was a holiday so everyone could watch the race. There was a promise that it would be a permanent holiday if he won.
“We said we’d cheer for him too,” said Ed Eyestone, who traveled to Brazil with former BYU runner and current statistics professor Jared Ward, who runs the Olympic marathon on Sunday morning. Eyestone not only recruited Ward to come to BYU, he coached him in both track and cross-country throughout his career and now in his Olympic debut.
Ward and the Eyestones arrived the day before the Opening Ceremonies, and in between training, which is reduced due to tapering before the 26.2-mile race, they’ve attended events and visited some of Rio de Janeiro’s famous tourist attractions.
Last Saturday, they happened to attend the race in which Schooling beat his childhood idol to win his country’s first Olympic gold medal, and in doing so, he defeated the most decorated Olympian of all time and his childhood hero.
“Every day we’ve gone to an event, and we’ve had cool things happen,” Eyestone said. “To see the joy on those guys’ faces was pretty incredible. He ends up winning his country’s first gold, and Phelps rallied back to be in a three-way tie for silver. That was a very fun night.” The Eyestones are having the kinds of experiences that one can only have at the Olympic Games.
The coach, a two-time Olympic marathoner (1988 and 1992) said their experience in Rio is an interesting dichotomy because of how the games are perceived by friends and family back in Utah.
“I have enjoyed it,” he said. “I haven’t dwelled on the perception of what’s being discussed at home. There is stuff we’re not even aware of.” Like how the Ryan Lochte robbery turned into an international incident. He learned from another American on a bus ride to a hiking spot that the 12-time medalist had lied about being robbed at gunpoint during a taxi ride.
“I think it’s very unfortunate,” he said. ‘For myself and my daughter, our impression of the games here is that the people are very friendly, open and helpful. Transportation is always an issue at things like this, so you just give yourself time.”
The Eyestones feel like they had the “Midas” touch because they’ve had so many incredible experiences. They were in the stadium the night Brazilian Thiago Braz da Silva defeated the defending Olympic champion to earn the country’s second gold medal of the games.
“That was huge,” he said. “For one, he was the underdog going against the Olympic champion. … I think it was very exciting.”
They met Maya DiRado’s mom when they were discussing whether or not to use a fountain where fans can refill water bottles.
“She wasn’t a favorite in the race, but she put on this bi move over the last 30 meters and (won),” he said. “Just random things.”
His attention has been divided between enjoying the Summer Games as a fan and helping Ward prepare for his Olympic debut. Ward placed third in the U.S. Olympic trials behind winner Galen Rupp and 2004-Olympic silver medalist Meb Keflezighi.
“The good thing for Jared is, the proverbial hay is in the barn,” Eyestone said. “The main work has been done, he’s just kind of tapering.” They did a couple of workouts this week — a tempo run on the marathon course and some speed work on the track.
“Everything is going well,” Eyestone said. “He’s in good shape and he’s well prepared.”
The favorites aren't the Americans. Instead, they are Kenyans Eliud Kipochoge, who owns two Olympic medals in other distances, and Stanley Biwott, Eritrean Ghirmay Ghebrealassie and London 2012 gold medalist Stephen Kiprotich of Uganda.
Ward, whom most analysts aren’t even considering a top-10 finisher, has two strengths that will serve him well Sunday — the savvy to come up with a plan that works for him and the determination to stick to it.
“The main thing Jared is very good about is having a race plan, executing that plan and not letting (another runner’s) performance change your plan,” Eyestone said. “You do everything possible to maximize your performance, you hope at the end of the day that puts you in a position to have your best time.”
He said they’re not worried about anything but what Ward has trained for and is capable of running.
“What he can control is how he does his effort in the race,” Eyestone said. “With his fitness, he’ll come up with a plan that will put him in a good position to run the fastest times possible under the day’s circumstances.”
Ward’s other strength is his intelligence.
“He’s done the work to be here, and he’s prepared to run,” Eyestone said. “His strength is between his ears. … He just has to have faith and determination that good things will happen.” Which is sort of the philosophy the Eyestones are applying to their trip to the Summer Games that people can’t stop criticizing.
“The Olympics is cost prohibitive to the host country,” he said. “But the good thing is that it lets us hang out together, ride in packed metros with complete strangers and strike up conversations that let you realize you really have a lot more in common than not with these people. If we did that a little bit more, it would be a lot easier for us to get along.”
While he sees the logistical and financial advantages of permanent sites, he also understands the value of moving them around the world.
“Travel opens your eyes,” he said. “The Olympic Games encourages people to travel. … We need more of this. We need more games, less war.”
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