Episode #28
4.28 Coach Matt Centrowitz Sr Part 1
Episode 4.28: Matt Centrowitz Sr., Part 1 Four-time U.S. 5,000-meter champion Matt Centrowitz Sr. takes us from a tough childhood in New York City to becoming one of America's best distance runners. Matt talks about how track "saved his life," transferring to Power Memorial, training in Central Park and Van Cortlandt Park, and his breakthrough high school summer when he raced Craig Virgin, ran 8:56 for two miles and eventually 4:02 for the mile. Centro tells how being rejected by legendary Villanova coach Jumbo Elliott ultimately led him to Oregon, where he learned from Bill Dellinger and Steve Prefontaine. He explains what he saw in Pre's training that others missed, why his first year at Oregon turned out to be a blessing, and how his experience in the 1976 Olympics convinced him that his future was in the 5,000 meters. We also get inside his American-record 5,000-meter race with Alberto Salazar, his four straight national championships, Oregon's one-point 1977 NCAA cross-country championship, and his reaction to losing the 1980 Moscow Olympics to the U.S. boycott—including a memorable White House story involving Jimmy Carter that came full circle 25 years later. Matt's book, Like Father, Like Son: My Story on Running, Coaching and Parenting, tells the much bigger story—from his childhood and his own running career to coaching and raising two outstanding runners, including his son Matthew Centrowitz, the 2016 Olympic 1500-meter champion. And Matt's story is now coming to the screen in the upcoming Like Father Like Son documentary.Watch the documentary trailer:https://vimeo.com/1197181663/4b3d83eb86
