Denise Gorski Coach: If Blewitt ‘stays focused, I feel she’ll do very well’

EUGENE, Ore. — I arrived at the Olympic Track and Field Trials in Eugene on Wednesday with Adriane’s mother, Rae, picking me up at the airport.

Rae has been here since June 26, the start of the Olympic Trials. On our way to the University of Oregon campus, Adriane called us to ask that we join her and her throwing coach, Bill Godina, for lunch. They are both staying on campus in one of the athletes’ dorms, and we met at their dining hall. It was very interesting to see some of our country’s best athletes and be so close to them.

Adriane and her coach arrived on Tuesday. Adriane’s first activity of the day was to attend the Ambassador’s Class held at the Eugene Hilton Conference Center, where all potential Olympians are briefed on the Chinese culture, what is expected of them, and they also received an Olympic Games Athletes Handbook. After that meeting, Adriane went to South Eugene High School to use their weight training equipment. She went through a lightweight, very fast repetition workout. After that, she met with Coach Godina and Bud Rasmussen, who is the Olympic Discus Development Director for the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, California.

Wednesday after lunch, I had the chance to talk with Coach Godina about Adriane’s training for this week. His words were very encouraging.

“If Adriane just stays focused, I feel she’ll do very well,” he said. “She’s stronger than she has ever been and she just has to deliver the shot and believe that she can do it. She’s a great athlete, very strong, and quick but can’t afford any errors in her technique.”

He said she weighs 173 pounds and has 11 percent body fat so she has to be very technically sound.

“A larger person can make a slight error in their technique and it doesn’t affect them as much,” he said. “The last two weeks she has had very strong technical practices on a regular basis.”

Adriane had a light throwing practice Wednesday morning at Hayward Field. Her afternoon was comprised of going back to the track to weigh in her shot put, and she also learned of the flights for today’s semifinal round, which will begin at 9:20 p.m. Pacific Standard Tme. There are two flights of 10 athletes in each one, and Adriane is the final thrower in the second flight. Coach Godina told us the top 10 will advance to Saturday’s finals.

Adriane then asked her mother and I to come with her while she received a treatment from her chiropractor, Dr. Jon Porman. He has been her chiropractor for a year and a half in Arizona where she trains, and he wanted to come to the trials to help in her preparation. He worked on Adriane for over 11‚Ñ2 hours and will be giving her treatments on a daily basis.

“You couldn’t make a better person than Adriane,” he said.

At 6:35 p.m. Pacific Standard Time, Adriane finished with her treatment. She doesn’t throw until 9:20 p.m. today.

She said she will keep to her same schedule of getting up at the same time, eating regular meals, and getting active rest.

It is truly exciting to be here.

X Denise Gorski was Blewitt’s track and field coach at Boardman High School. She will be writing daily updates on Blewitt’s progress at the Olympic trials for The Vindicator.