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Mannozzi’s sights on 2020 Tokyo games
By charles grove
Youngstown native Michael Mannozzi just finished representing Team USA in Rome and is still in chase of his Olympic dreams.
Mannozzi was a member of Team USA at the International Association of Athletics Federations World Race Walking Team Championships. He finished the 50 kilometer race 37th out of 65 competitors with a time of 4:39:33, ahead of some who have already qualified for this year’s Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
Unfortunately for Mannozzi, his pace was still off the qualifying standard of 4:06:00 needed to make the USA Olympic team.
It took a podium finish this past February in a U.S. Olympic Trial race in California for Mannozzi to earn a spot on Team USA in Rome. The competition was unlike anything he had seen before.
“It was a different type of race [in Rome] because I was racing multiple people who are going to the Olympics so the bar was raised incredibly high,” Mannozzi said. “I beat a lot of people who are going to Rio and medalists and past winners of this event as well.”
While the time wasn’t good enough to qualify for Rio, Mannozzi, who’s currently living in Ontario with his wife and newborn son, has his sights solidly on 2020’s games in Tokyo.
“When it comes down to reality, I’m either going to make the Olympics or I’m not,” Mannozzi said. “But I need to try to adjust my lifestyle to put myself in the best position to make the team. It could be as big as moving to a warmer climate and it could be as small as doing something that helps me get to sleep earlier at night.
“I don’t know what the answer is right now but I know I have to do something. If I wait until January 2020 and go, ‘How do I make this team?’ I’ll be right where I’m at right now.”
Preparing to run a race in Rome while living in Canada has had its issues. Mannozzi was still able to post his best international career time despite only having favorable weather for a few days before his trip to Europe.
“I had maybe a week and a half before I left where I wasn’t wearing a jacket while training,” Mannozzi said. “I have to learn to adapt when circumstances may not be in my favor.”
But come race time, Mannozzi likes it a little bit cooler than the 70 degree conditions that were in Rome.
“It wasn’t ungodly hot but you want it as cool as possible,” Mannozzi said. “Forty-five to 55 degrees is a really nice medium because your heart rate gets up which means your core temperature rises.
“It’d be different if you were doing something like a mile when you’re in and our in a relatively quick time. But when you’re out there for hours in the elements, they have effects on you.”
Between the qualifying trial in California and representing the USA in Italy, Mannozzi said he achieved several goals this year already even if he won’t be participating in Rio.
“I hit three good goals,” Mannozzi said. “I made podium at the Olympic trials, I got a personal record at the trials and I made the world team while getting my international personal record. Even if there weren’t some things that were up to par on race day [in Italy] I still managed to get my best time wearing a USA uniform.”