Jim Spivey said he could hear one of his coaches, Mike Durkin, yelling advice during the fastest 1,500-meter qualifying round in Olympic history Thursday.
It was a remarkable thing, because there were 65,000 people screaming, and Durkin was in Chicago.
”I could here Mike yelling from Chicago: `I told you to stay off the rail!` ” Spivey said after advancing to Saturday`s final in a quick 3 minutes 35.55 seconds.
Spivey was fourth in the race won by Mohamed Ahmed Sulaiman of Qatar in 3:34.77. The semifinal followed a 3:39.22 race won by Algeria`s Noureddine Morceli, so Spivey knew his semi would be faster because the top five placers plus the next two fastest times advance.
Spivey and Durkin are part of a Chicago-Big 10 connection conspiring to get Spivey, 32, his first Olympic medal. The Indiana graduate is coached by former Illinois runner Durkin and former Michigan State runner Ken Popejoy, who was in Barcelona but isn`t as loud as Durkin. All three are products of Chicago-area high schools and were outstanding sub-4-minute Big 10 milers.
