USC track coach Curtis Frye: ‘I’m thrilled to serve my country in the Olympics’
A Q&A with USC track coach Curtis Frye, who will be coaching the USA men’s sprinters and hurdlers in the Rio Games:
Q: You’ve got four Gamecocks going to the Oympics, representing several different countries. What does it mean to have that group competing on the biggest stage?
A: You know, we’re always excited about being able to represent our country and have kids that represent their county. It just, it’s a testament to the University of South Carolina, to our coaches, to our training staff and to our weight room and all of those things add together so the athlete can reach the ultimate goal. The Olympics is the ultimate goal. You can’t understand the experience until you get to participate. When we have four athletes that take the banner of Gamecocks, it thrills me. You’ve got a country being banned from the Olympic Games where all the athletes are just so upset and the magnitude people went to to try to be the Olympic gold medalist.
Q: What does that say that about the program and how much recognition does that give you to be able to have so many people that can at least compete for a spot in the Olympics?
A: I think for us over the years, we’ve been able to overcome a lot of obstacles for athletes who came here with really an aspiration of a great degree. What’s greatest for me for the athletes is that all of those athletes are college graduates. Johnny Dutch is a college graduate. When you say Tiffany Ross Williams -- she’s a college graduate. When you say, Lashinda Demus or Jason Richardson, they’re all fine young persons who came to the University of South Carolina and attained a college degree. The Olympics is a combination of being a college graduate and having a gift, and so these persons take it to the next level and that has been without having a great facility and the kind of support that many other schools have had for their kids. These kids here overcome some obstacles and right now, Carolina is getting one of the finest track and field facilities in the country. What I think that says is you need some stuff to be great but if you are in a great environment with great people, people make champions. We’re just in a new recruiting year that our athletes going to the Olympic Games give us something to brag about. When you give talent equal access to facilities, weight rooms, training rooms and locker rooms, which means talent can work hard and be superior to everybody else in the world. I feel like Carolina has the people factor. Now, it’s got a chance to have the facility factor.
Q: What does the experience of coaching in Rio mean to you?
A: It’s a career thing. When I first started this, it was just a chance to be a college coach at a local university. It was a way to be able to make a difference in lives and I try to make as big a difference as I possibly can. I never dreamed that a small town guy from Vance, N.C., could get all the way to the Olympics. To be able to get a passport to leave the country, to be able to meet the President of the United States of America, to take kids to places that you dream about and you look at in books, I never dreamed of that. Some say ‘You’re 64-years-old coach, you’ve got to be winding down.’ No, I’m winding up. I’m thrilled to death at this opportunity. Today I’m wearing USA blue, proud. I didn’t get a chance to serve in Vietnam or to go to Iraq. This is my opportunity to serve my country and I’ve been doing this now for the last 20 years.
Q: What are your expectations for the four Gamecocks going?
A: Jeannelle (Scheper) last year was seventh in the world and I would like to see her get back to that. Kierre (Beckles) is breaking her school nation record from Barbados and I would like to see Kierre get into the finals. That’s incredible. That’s the first step that she’ll get to. Then, the rookie, the freshman, we’ve got (Aliyah) Abrams. I mean, she is so happy to be on the Olympic team. They’re thrilled about the ceremony, walking and having the uniform and being in the village with the big girls and to be a part. To walk into the stadium with 100,000 people and every nation in the world. It’s going to be just a tear jerker for her and everybody is in their fancy little dressed up outfits that are special for their teams and countries. It’s a phenomenal feeling to realize, that you’re only one of the 7,000 people that get the chance to participate in this out of a billion people in the world. To shake hands with the gymnasts and to see the swimmers and those kind of things that you see on TV, it’ll be phenomenal. To see the Williams sisters for her, she’ll probably be running around trying to get autographs and take pictures.
This story was originally published July 30, 2016 at 6:39 PM with the headline "USC track coach Curtis Frye: ‘I’m thrilled to serve my country in the Olympics’."