Kurt Roberts was one of the elite athletes this weekend at SPIRE (Photo by Phil Grove).
In a few hours, the world will break into celebration with
the arrival of 2016. Six months later, the track and field world will throw
another party of sorts as TrackTown USA plays host to the Olympic Trials, the
every four-year pressure cooker and extravaganza that selects those who wear
the red, white and blue at the Olympic Games.
The first marquee event at historic Hayward Field on July 1 will be the men's shot put, with another strong stable of U.S. throwers looking to grab one of three tickets to the Rio Games. There, America's streak of eight consecutive Olympics with at least one shot put medal will be on the line, along with the chance to return the U.S. to gold medal status for the first time since Adam Nelson was awarded first for the 2004 Athens Games.
Joe Kovacs, Reese Hoffa and Kurt Roberts - three who were in the Trials mix four years ago and almost certainly will be again this summer in Oregon - were in attendance Sunday and Monday at the National Throws Coaches Association's summit and competitions at Ohio's SPIRE Institute. Two of those guys have won gold internationally for the USA, with Kovacs (2015 outdoor) and Hoffa (2006 indoor and 2007 outdoor) claiming world championships. With the year's biggest meets still months away, the world-ranked throwers took time to discuss with MileSplit's Phil Grove their preparations for Eugene and possibly Rio. Grove also caught up with a pair of NTCA hall of fame inductees, four-time Olympian Jud Logan and hammer throw silver medalist in the 1996 Games and American record holder Lance Deal. Watch those interview below: