August 3, 1996
Tuning in a walkman
By TERRY JONES -- Edmonton Sun
ATLANTA -- Tim Berrett had raisin bran for breakfast.
We know this because when he got to the the end of the 50 km race walk -- an event which an hour earlier he had led -- our man from the department of funny walks threw up all over the finish line.
Berrett waved to the crowd with his left hand when he entered the stadium, enjoying the moment for all it was worth.
EFFORT APPRECIATED
Two years ago, when he won silver at the Commonwealth Games in Victoria, the race walkers weren't allowed to finish in the main stadium.
"It was a great feeling,'' he said. "There were so many people.
"I think they appreciated what we'd been doing. Maybe they just knew we'd been out there for four hours doing something. Anyway, it felt great.''
There was an expression of 51% satisfaction and 49% pain when he made it to the finish -- 10th in the field of 52, and 22 spots higher than his 32nd place seeding going in.
"At that point, the happiness overcomes the pain,'' he said.
If ever so briefly. Berrett took the towel which was offered to him. And then . . . our boy upchucked. No big deal for a race walker. Happens all the time.
And anyway, Guillaume Leblanc holds both Canadian and world records for bodily functions when he stopped during the walk at Universiade '83 in Edmonton to go to the bathroom.
Berrett led the race from 27k to 31k and check-pointed in second at 16k, 22k, 24k, third at 26k and fourth at 12k, beating the world record-holder and two world champions.
If only he hadn't upchucked in front of 50,000 fans, and who knows how many people watching TV around the world.
GAVE IT A SHOT
What's it like leading a race in the Olympic Games, being first or second for a significant part of a race which took him three hours, 42 minutes and 26 seconds to walk?
"That's what I came to do,'' said Berrett.
"I had to give it a shot. I was feeling good at that point. I had to give it a go.''
Then he could feel it happen in his hamstrings and one of his calves. The feeling good part was over. And Berrett was going to have to go the rest of the way on guts to get a result.
"I almost felt like dead man walking,'' he said 20 minutes after the event, standing because he couldn't sit.
"The front group started a move at the same point and it was like the double whammy for me,'' he said.
Four years ago in Barcelona, Berrett was disqualified for losing constant contact with the ground three times. Yesterday, he only had one violation.
Two weeks from now, in Winnipeg, Berrett will make the most important walk of his life -- down the aisle.
While riding the bus to the team reception during the last Olympics in Barcelona, he met a field hockey player named Tara Croxford. He'd hoped the two of them could stand up at the reception this year and make the announcement, but the women's field hockey team didn't qualify.
