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Mannozzi continues Olympic quest
Boardman High graduate’s next competition set for May in Italy
By Charles grove
Another Youngstown connection is chasing his dream and competing in an Olympic qualifier.
Michael Mannozzi qualified for the Race Walk World Team Championships this May in Italy and still has an outside shot of qualifying for this year’s games in Brazil.
Mannozzi, a 2005 graduate of Boardman High School and a former Youngstown State student, is currently the ranked fourth in the country, competed in a qualifying event on Feb. 21 by completing the 31.0686 mile race in 4:31:46, averaging 8:45 per mile.
In order to qualify for the Olympics, Mannozzi, 29, still has quite a bit of work to do to punch his ticket to Rio. Mannozzi will need to finish May’s race in Italy in in under four hours and six minutes to automatically qualify.
“This has basically been my profession for the past six months,” Mannozzi said. “This is a full-time job right now, and this could be my last chance to qualify this year because there’s not much longer until the Olympics.”
Mannozzi’s biggest hurdle during the race was the weather. The majority of his training has taken place between Youngstown and Toronto, where Mannozzi’s wife works. Training in cooler temperatures didn’t provide much an advantage to a race walked in Southern California.
“It’s especially difficult because I have to finance my own training,” Mannozzi said. “The Canadian team, for instance, has been sent to train with the Australian team in temperatures they’ll be encountering in Rio. For me, there used to be days where I’d have to cut my workouts early because I was too hungry to go on. We’re really a third-world nation as far as race walking is concerned.”
Mannozzi took a peculiar route to being one race away from the Olympics. After a year at Youngstown State, Mannozzi transferred to Notre Dame College where he wrestled for two years. But Mannozzi found himself being drawn to track and field and walked on the team his senior year. That decision sparked his athletic career in a big way.
Mannozzi became the first walk-on in school history to qualify for nationals, the first male All-American in school history and the first national champion in school history.
Despite the accolades, Mannozzi says he not only has to battle his body during the grueling 31 mile races, but has to battle the stigma many Americans have with race walking.
“There is no race walking competition at the high school level through the Ohio High School Athletic Association,” Mannozzi said. “And the NCAA doesn’t sanction the sport either despite it being an Olympic event. That creates a huge disconnect since many people grow up not even knowing it’s a sport.
“People say, ‘Oh, it’s just walking. I can do that no problem.’ But it takes so much training to be able to compete at the Olympic level that people don’t realize it.”
While the Italian competition is half a world away from the Mahoning Valley, Mannozzi said he’s received a large amount of support from locals both in terms of fans and sponsorships, which include Pizza Joe’s in Boardman, Outdoor Recreational Equipment, Advanced Chiropractic and Classic Tent and Party Rental.
“I remember working out at Mill Creek Park and a veteran came up to me and asked what I was doing,” Mannozzi said. “I explained it to him and how I’m trying to make it to the Olympics and he gave me some money saying, ‘I fought in Vietnam so that people like you can do what they want to do.’ So I keep in touch with him and let him know how I’m doing.”
Even if the Olympic dream isn’t reached this year, Mannozzi believes he’ll have a shot at the 2020 games in Tokyo. And since it would be near miraculous for Mannozzi to shave over 25 minutes off his personal best time to get into the Olympics, his realistic eyes are set on improving as much as he can for Tokyo.
“I’ve improved so much over the past few years to become fourth in the country on basically just the support of others, mainly my wife and family,” Mannozzi said. “I think if I keep training the next go-around could be a possibility.”