Triathlon and Coaching Style

We have had this discussion before but it came back after the incident between Alberto Salazar and Steve Magness.  We can speak about Miguel “Piojo” Herrera who coaches the Mexican Soccer Team and appears to be more of a cheerleader than anything else; he lacks knowledge of tactics, lacks knowledge about the game in itself, lacks knowledge about his players; but he is very emotional when speaking and looks like he knows something. Alberto Salazar is a real coach regardless of what he has been accused of.  This accusation brought memories to me:

25 avr. 2012

GREGORY HOUSE, BRUCE MILLER AND THE ART OF TRIATHLON COACHING

Dr. House existed before House.  My ex-supervisor and somebody I consider a friend, Bruce Miller, was the living Dr. House before House. I remember when we were in the elevator at Children´s Hospital of Buffalo, a pregnant lady entered it followed by a little girl holding her hand.  She dropped her keys in the elevator and I tried to get them for her.  Bruce just touched my chest and looked at me. I understood that I should not move.  After the elevator´s door opened and the lady left the elevator, he bent over and got the keys for her.  He just told me:  “You do not know what that lady thinks of you; you are liable.”  I understood the game and made up my mind to move back to Mexico. 

The incident of Salazar is worrisome. It is worrisome because of the intention behind Magness who supposedly practices science.  It is unintelligent to speak about something if there is no proof behind what we say or a formal accusation for the same matter.  I have seen many situation similar to this one when working at a University in the USA.  It is endemic to say the least, but usually it involves somebody with less rank than Alberto.  This is what is called “white privilege.”  Donald Trump is just opening his mouth the same way when speaking about Mexicans.

http://nikeoregonproject.com/blogs/news/35522561-alberto-open-letter-part-1

What we learnt from Alberto’s letter is interesting:

1) Asthma is not as prevalent in runners as in swimmers.  Please see our previous post.

2) Hypothyroidism is higher than we expected in athletes.

I have had patients on thyroid hormone and it is not that impressive looking at metabolism.  My own mother takes thyroid hormone replacement at the age of 95, I keep it within the normal range for an adult, not a geriatric patient (we do not know the normal range for a geriatric patient). She wakes up with a pulse below 70 most of the time; her maximum is around 160 when exercising.

How Salazar ends the letter is very meaningful:

Magness was young and inexperienced when I hired him. He had been an accomplished high school runner and was knowledgeable about the science of running. I thought I could develop him into a quality coach. I was proved wrong. In my view, Magness lacked the personality, inter-personal skills and drive to be able to coach elite athletes. He appeared to be intimidated by them and he retreated. He could not run a practice session by himself. He appeared to be unable to motivate the athletes as they ran or observe them. Ultimately, my top runners refused to work with him. It is important to note that as a coach today, in 3 years of coaching the middle and long distance, men’s and women’s programs at a Division 1 school, Magness has not qualified a single runner for the NCAA Track Championships, Indoor or Outdoor.  

I did not disclose Magness’ contract termination at the time. I wanted him to have an opportunity to learn from his mistakes. I recognized that not everything works out in every position, and you should have a chance to move on. I hoped Magness would be able to do so.

Unfortunately, it is now apparent that Magness has not moved on and seems is willing to make these false statements, say anything, regardless of the truth, and hurt innocent people in order to hurt me.

It is easy to become a cheerleader when you have great players and no so good knowledge.  Martino became a cheerleader when he was coaching the Barcelona Soccer Team.  Do we have cheerleaders-coaches in triathlon? Definitely.  It is difficult to coach Jonathan and Alistair Brownlee; it is difficult to coach Javier Gómez, Gwen Jorgensen or Nicola Spirig.  They will have a legitimate chance to win in spite of the coach.  It is even more useful to be a cheerleader-coach.