Monday, May 21, 2012
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Boardman native Michael Mannozzi will compete at the 10K race walking nationals in Albany, N.Y., on June 2, a tune-up for the 20K Olympic trials in Eugene, Ore., 28 days later.
BOARDMAN
Every day, Michael Mannozzi honors his late father, James.
Sure, he has plenty of mementos like pictures and old clothes, but Mannozzi’s lifestyle is the largest testament to the man who died when he was only 14.
“He had multiple sclerosis,” Mannozzi said. “My father couldn’t walk for the last 10 years of his life.”
Now, Mannozzi walks — as fast as he can.
Once a scrappy wrestler, the 2005 Boardman High graduate fell into the sport of race-walking as a student at Notre Dame College.
“I saw the parallel of walking and doing it extremely well,” he said. “I don’t mean walking my way through a marathon. The name is rather unfortunate — it’s much more than a simple walk around the park. It’s certainly more complicated than that.
“I thought that if I could excel at this, which is a shot to the moon coming from a wrestling background, I thought this would be a great tribute to my father.”
Several national championships later, it’s safe to say James is looking down on his son, proudly.
In 2010 he won the NAIA title in the 3KM race-walk and was the first All-American at Notre Dame.
That was just the beginning.
Mannozzi won the USA race-walk Grand Prix in 2011 and represented the United States at the Pan Am games in Mexico. This year, he’s won the Milrose Mile, the Jack Mortland Ohio Championship and one of the world’s oldest and most famous meets — the Penn Relays.
“The best thing I had going for me was a desire to win it,” he said as it was his second year competing at the Penn Relays. “I was another year more experienced. I’ve made strides every time out there.”
And he hopes to take those strides to the Olympics.
Mannozzi will compete at the 10K nationals in Albany, N.Y., on June 2, a tune-up for the 20K Olympic trials in Eugene, Ore., 28 days later.
“It’s satisfying and gratifying at the same time to have these accomplishments and to know that I worked so hard for it all,” he said. “It all leads me a couple steps further in the Olympic journey.”
On a light week, Mannozzi goes between 30-40 miles. At his peak, he goes over 90 and compares the training to that of marathon preparation. A track coach at Notre Dame, David Bellar first suggested the idea of race-walking to him in 2007. Fueling his fire even more when he first started out was words of encouragement from Patrick Stroupe, a Central Methodist University standout who was a repeat All-American and five-time national champion.
“Five or six years ago, it barely would have been a dream. Now that I’m here, I couldn’t see it any other way. When my life is done, no matter how far I make it in this journey, this is such a dream come true already.”