Olympic Medals Still Producing Smiles For Wetmore, Burroughs

BOULDER — Mark Wetmore and Heather Burroughs haven't stopped smiling.

It's been more than a week now since two of their runners, former Colorado NCAA champions and All-Americans Emma Coburn and Jenny Simpson, claimed Olympic bronze medals.

The glow has by no means worn off.

"Some events have you smiling for an hour or two," Wetmore said earlier this week. "Others last a few days longer than that."

Wetmore, who went to Rio with Coburn and Simpson, returned to Boulder late last week. Burroughs, meanwhile, stayed home and attended to the Colorado cross country team, which has started training for the upcoming season.

"There was nothing put on hold," Burroughs said. "We said our cross country team is as important as the Olympians and we can be excellent in both. When Emma finished her race Monday morning, an hour later I was at practice."

But while they are both now in full-bore cross country mode, there's still the hint of a smile on their faces, a tiny bit more pep in their step as they prepare the Buffs for the upcoming season.

It's well-deserved, as the two CU coaches played a major role in a historic moment for U.S. middle- and long-distance runners. Simpson (1,500) and Coburn (3,000-meter steeplechase) not only became the first American women in history to earn Olympic medals in those events, they also became just the fifth and sixth women in U.S. Olympic history to ever medal in any track event longer than 800 meters.

"I went down there convinced we could get two medals," Wetmore said. "I thought it would be a little more attainable for Emma than Jenny, but I also know that Jenny is a racer. But what I didn't expect was for everything to go right."

Indeed, it's not often that strategy and circumstances align so well in a championship race. There are too many variables involved, beginning with the fact that a dozen to 18 of the best athletes in the world in their event also have their race plans and strategies. Predicting, calculating — simply guessing — how all those athletes might react in a race as important as an Olympic final is an exercise bound by uncertainty.

"Jenny and Emma both had a race plan," Wetmore said. "So what — who doesn't? But the key was they each made it happen. They were firmly committed to executing their plan and that's exactly what they did."

While their in-race strategies were different, the results were the same: both Simpson and Coburn finished with tremendous kicks down the final stretch to claim their medals. In both races, their coaches correctly predicted how the race might unfold and what strategy would serve them best.

"You try to anticipate what our opponents are likely to do and what our athletes are best served to do," Burroughs said. "We got both correct this time — and that doesn't always happen. It's actually pretty hard to do when you have a field of 12 to 18 women in a championship final. But we were mostly right on how it would unfold, we had a plan based on that and they executed it perfectly."

In their post-race press conferences, both acknowledged Wetmore and Burroughs and what their strategies meant.

"They said whenever somebody jumps to the front, go with them, look at where the medals are, and go get 'em," Simpson said. "My last 300 meters is the best demonstration of their wisdom and me executing what they told me to do."

Indeed, Simpson ran the fastest 800 meters of her life over the last two laps in what had been a slow, tactical race to that point. It's something Wetmore and Burroughs both thought might happen in an Olympic final.

"Whatever the odds were, whatever the form chart was, we knew Jenny would outrace the form chart," Wetmore said. "She went there ranked ninth in the world, and I knew she would be fighting around third or fourth or fifth. I knew she was a racer and would be better than the form chart."

After spending the last week answering phone calls, emails and texts of congratulations, Wetmore and Burroughs are doing their best to return to their routine. But they also know the glow of the Olympic medals should be a boost to the program, the CU Athletic Department and the university in general that will have a long-term impact.

"I have to guess that it's visible to our recruits," Wetmore said. "Success on that level — the World Championships and Olympics — is obviously good for our marketability as a program and our credibility as coaches.

"In the bigger picture, it's good for the University of Colorado. We just made a really big investment in facilities around here, and I can understand how in the community there are some people who might feel that sports are 'over-invested' in. Here's an opportunity to say, 'Did you see it? Did you have fun? These are products of CU and they are honorable people who represented our school and our community.' Maybe it's more worth it than they would have thought a week ago."

Simpson and Coburn will continue their racing season this weekend with a Diamond League meet in Paris, then race again Sept. 1 in Zurich. They'll wrap up their season Sept. 3 when they both compete in the Fifth Avenue Mile in New York.

Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu