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Nicolas returned from Miami yesterday, and reports a very successful ten days of training. He departs his Montreal home base once again on May 27, headed to Europe where he will compete at the following events: THALES FBK-Games GP I Hengelo (NED) June 1 Primo Nebiolo Mem. GP II Turin (ITA) June 6 Golden Spike Super GP Ostrava (CZE) June 12 Stay tuned, we will be updating Nicolas’s competition schedule regularly! chrisg@nicolasmacrozonaris.com |
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| Macrozonaris - the man who stunned Montgomery |
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Tuesday 13 May 2003 By Paul Gaines for the IAAF After his stunning victory over Tim Montgomery in Mexico City on 3 May, Canadian sprinter Nicolas Macrozonaris returned home to a hero’s welcome. The 22 year-old Montrealer, an admitted prodigy of 1999 World Championships silver medallist Bruny Surin, had made headline news across the country for his dramatic defeat of World 100m record holder Tim Montgomery. Thrust into the spotlight, the sprinter has found the constant media attention such a distraction, that he and coach Daniel St Hilaire plan a ten day training camp in Miami this week to avoid the pressure.
Canadians are lamenting the dearth of quality sprinters since Surin and Donovan Bailey retired two years ago. Macrozonaris’ 100m time of 10.03, has therefore awakened the imagination. Whether this is the young man to rescue Canadian sprinting remains to be seen, but there is much to be positive about his performance. “My coach and I didn’t even touch the speed component before Mexico,” he reveals, “It was basically a lot of base work. So we were surprised with the time.” “I came off the blocks and normally you see motion beside you or in front of you but this time I came off pretty good. But then at forty metres I made the mistake that a lot of sprinters make - I started asking myself questions. I got excited and then I broke down. The last twenty metres it was awful, I was so tight.” Prior to his Mexican visit Macrozonaris’ 100m personal best was 10.19, which he ran in the 2000 Canadian Olympic trials at the age of 19. Since then he has been one of a few promising sprinters quietly toiling away all but forgotten. Nagging injuries inhibited his performance at this year’s IAAF World Indoor Championships in Birmingham. He couldn’t make the 60m final, which makes his current form even more remarkable. Since his breakthrough at 2,200m above sea level, doors are already opening. His agent of three months, Federico Rosa, reports a full slate of top class competition against the likes of Montgomery, Maurice Greene etc…awaits him. This could be the most valuable payback. The financial prospects are also noteworthy. “Right now I am a full time athlete. Before, I was taking computer classes but I had to drop them because I was always traveling,” he explains. “I didn’t get any prize money in Mexico because it is a new meet. I did get some appearance money - a little. I’m getting out of a vicious circle its tough. Knowing I can make some money unloads a lot of pressure from my shoulders.” Macrozonaris lives in a one bedroom apartment and like many Canadian athletes lives modestly off the Sport Canada stipends which amount to less than $1000 US a month. At the moment he has no sponsors a situation that Bruny Surin, who is acting as his Canadian marketing agent, expects to rectify in the coming weeks. “We are having talks with some people who are serious about sponsoring Nic,” says Surin, who thought he was the victim of a joke when informed of Macrozonaris’ victory. “I wasn’t surprised with the time. I was surprised that he ran it so early in the year plus beating all those guys Montgomery, Jon Drummond and Coby Miller. I was shocked. When he hadn’t called me at 10 o’clock I went to a website and read ‘Macro beats Montgomery’ and I thought who made this joke? I checked my cell phone messages and a friend called to say Nic had won the race. I was shocked.” Typical of the naiveté of the young man he will not allow Surin to give out his cell phone number. But anyone with call display on their phones can immediately track it. And he still cannot digest the fact that the World 100m record holder actually walked over to congratulate him following their race. While nobody would find fault with Macrozonaris if he allowed himself to be swept up in all the hype, he is finding Surin’s incredible experience helps put things in perspective. To that end he is not taking anything for granted, including a place in the World Championships final this August. “I am focusing on a few goals for the outdoor season. I want to be consistent, I would like to run the 100m and 200m at the Canadian Championships, and possibly win both,” he says. “And I would like to run another personal best. I cannot get carried away with the time. It’s 10.03 at the beginning of the season but I must do it when it counts and that is the World Championships.” |
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| The "white" sprinter issue |
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Several news reports in the days following Nicolas's run in Mexico City have touched on the question of running under the 10-second barrier in the 100-metre sprint and becoming the first "white" sprinter to do so. Although potentially running under the magical 10 second barrier and becoming the 40th man in the world to do so is a very important goal for Nicolas, as it would be for any sprinter aspiring to reach a world-class level, we believe the issue of race has no place in such a discussion. Nicolas would welcome such dialog only to the extent it helped introduce the sport to young boys and girls of all races, nationalities and ethnic groups, by showing them that through hard work and dedication anything is achievable regardless of the color of their skin. Finally, a clocking of less than 10 seconds is a significant milestone in the world of 100-metre sprinting. However, we view it only as an early hurdle on the road to Nicolas's ultimate goals, and those are becoming the 100-metre Olympic champion and breaking the 100-metre world record. chrisg@nicolasmacrozonaris.com |
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| Sprinter Darts Into Limelight |
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Sprinter Darts Into Limelight laval 22-year-old beats world's fastest. 'Holy (expletive), times 10,' Macrozonaris says of Saturday's race at Mexico City meet Dave Stubbs, Montreal Gazette Monday, May 5, 2003 The thought was, 10.18 seconds would open the door. But when Laval's Nicolas Macrozonaris ran 100 metres in 10.03 seconds Saturday night in the thin air and the dead wind of Mexico City, beating American world record-holder Tim Montgomery, he didn't merely open the door - he kicked it into kindling with his spiked shoes. Macrozonaris, 22, ran the sprint of his life in winning the 100 in the Banamex Grand Prix, the season's first major international outdoor meet. His time, the second-fastest in the world this year, obliterated his own personal best of 10.19, set three years ago in Victoria, B.C., at the 2000 Sydney Olympic trials. "Holy (expletive), times 10," said Macrozonaris, who arrived home last night, not having slept a wink since Friday night. | "This has been such an emotional drain - with so many people screaming your name in a stadium of 55,000 people, being mobbed by tons of people, having just taken on the fastest man in the world ..." And won. Macrozonaris finished first in a star-studded field that featured three brilliant Americans: Montgomery, who was second in 10.04 in his first individual 100 metres since setting the world record of 9.78 last September; Jon Drummond, third in 10.07; and Coby Miller, also 10.07. Macrozonaris chose a historic site for his ground-breaking effort, racing before a delirious crowd in the same stadium that played host to the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. "Montgomery gave me a hug and said 'good job' after the race, which was nice," he said. "I've always been intimidated by these guys' big muscles and their coming to meets fully equipped (with massage therapists, coaches and agents). "I'm not intimidated any more. Now, my confidence has gone through the roof." Indeed, track's fleetest men travel with huge entourages of support staff. But Macrozonaris, who trains out of Centre Claude Robillard, was in Mexico alone as a late entry, a sprinter without much of a budget. "We'd been trying to get Nic into that meet for three months," said his coach, Daniel St-Hilaire, who was in Montreal Saturday night when he heard news of the result from 1996 Olympic relay champion Bruny Surin, Macrozonaris's good friend and Canadian marketing representative. (The runner's European booking agent, Italian Federico Rosa, used his contacts to squeeze him into a superb field.) "Mexico is a very fast track (at 2,300 metres altitude). I knew that Nic's 6.56 (his indoor 60-metre personal-best) was worth around 10.10 or 10.09 in Mexico, but I wanted to be conservative. "I didn't want to put pressure on him, so I told him, 'Just do a 10.18, and after that you'll be relaxed and run like a kid.' "Nic told me, 'But I can run faster than that.' This was the chance of a lifetime for him. Only eight sprinters were invited (seven finally ran as Trinidad's Ato Boldon withdrew, injured)." In fact, Surin thought it was an Internet prank when he read Saturday of Macrozonaris's win. "But the more I read, the more I realized it wasn't a joke," said Surin last night, on his way to Dorval airport to greet his fellow sprint champion. "My God, it's incredible. "I know Nic's potential, so I'm not surprised by his time - only that he ran it so early in the season. I told him two years ago that he could run under 10 seconds. "At a training camp I was (angry) at him. I told him, 'It seems I have a higher opinion of your ability than you do.' Since then his confidence has grown." From early last week, St-Hilaire had Macrozonaris training to race in Lane 8; as a lesser light in Mexico, he would be placed wide outside by meet organizers, out of sight of the middle-track headliners and the attention of the fans. He was moved to Lane 1 not long before the start, clear across the track against the infield, which changed his practiced visualization of the sprint. "I really screwed up the race," said Macrozonaris, who was inspired to run by watching Canada's Donovan Bailey win 1996 Olympic gold. "The last 25 metres, I was so surprised I was ahead, I was looking around to find the other guys and I kind of slowed down. It wasn't the perfect race, but the season's just started. We haven't even worked on speed yet (in training). When I peak, it could be amazing." St-Hilaire joked about Macrozonaris's description of Saturday's race, as related to him in a phone call yesterday at 3 a.m. "Nic told me that, at 50 metres, he began to wonder, 'Where are the other guys? (Expletive), I'm first,' " the coach said. "Then at 80 metres, he started to panic a little. He said, '(Expletive), I'm STILL first!' " It took a few minutes after the photo-finish for the official result to be posted on the scoreboard, and the crowd, realizing that Montgomery had been beaten, promptly went berserk. Meet officials sent Macrozonaris on a victory lap, the biggest tour of triumph he's ever made. "No joke, I think I had an anxiety attack," he said. "I felt sick doing my victory lap. I only went halfway, but they forced me to do the other half." This was a dramatic rebound from Macrozonaris's last appearance on an international stage. At the world indoors in England in March, he barely made it into the semifinals, plagued by a stomach flu. His reaction time in his semifinal start was dismal, leaving him out of the final. But he rounded into form back in Montreal and jumped at the chance to run in Mexico City. If promoters didn't know the 6-foot, 172-pounder before the weekend, they're surely scrambling now to invite him to their lucrative, pre-Olympic-year European meets. "Hopefully, people in Canada and Quebec will know Nic's potential and will invest in him," said Surin, who benefited from generous sponsorship to become a champion. "This race will open a lot of doors to him. I've told him, 'Just don't lose your focus, even with all this attention.' " To that end, St-Hilaire says his first plan is "to let Nic get his feet back on the ground, to recover." Then it's back into training, with his next meet late this month or early next in Europe. The most important event this season is the world championships in Paris in August. Not surprisingly, Macrozonaris already has no shortage of meet invitations, and figures at least one sponsorship - a shoe deal - is imminent. But last night, those things were finishing up the track, behind thoughts of some sleep. "I've just done a bunch of TV interviews," he said, laughing weakly, "and they were pathetic." dstubbs@thegazette.canwest.com |
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| Macrozonaris wins Mexico City GP, defeats world-class field |
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To say Nicolas Macrozonaris was a little surprised when Italian agent Federico Rosa called with news about Mexico City would be a gross understatement. Macrozonaris had been given a lane in the 100-metre dash to be held in the world’s largest city. The race was to include world-record holder Tim Montgomery of the USA. “I couldn’t believe it,” says Macrozonaris, who is coached by Daniel St-Hilaire of Montreal. “Here it was, an opportunity to finally run in ideal conditions against top opposition with a whole lot of people watching around the world. There could be no more excuses.”
And none would be coming, as he made good on the opportunity granted him to show the sprint world that last year’s Canadian championship victory was no fluke. In front of a roaring capacity crowd at Mexico City’s historic Estadio Olimpico, Macrozonaris got a tremendous start out of the blocks and never looked back leading the race wire to wire and crossing the finish line first in 10.03 seconds. 
(AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)
(Mexsport Photos/ David Leah)
Several nervous seconds passed before the official announcement was made. Macrozonaris had just set a new personal best time, and the race would make it into the record books considered legal with a 0.0 m/s wind reading. The crowd once again roared in appreciation as he started his victory lap, stopping several times to gather his thoughts and catch his breath as the emotions of the moment caught up with him. 
(AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
(AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
(Photo/AFP)
(Photo/Mexsport)
“I’ve always known I could run with these guys, tonight proved that for me,” continued Macrozonaris. “I came out here very relaxed, for me success tonight meant setting a new personal best time, I wasn’t looking for anything more than that. I was in lane one, I wasn’t going to worry about anyone else.” “The people here were amazing, I will never forget Mexico City.” GrandPrix Atletismo Mexico “BANAMEX”Estadio Olimpico, Mexico City, May 3, 2003100 metres results: wind 0.0 m/s | Finish | Athlete | Nation | Born | Result | 1st | Nicolas Macrozonaris | CAN | 1980 | 10.03 | 2nd | Tim Montgomery | USA | 1975 | 10.04 | 3rd | Jon Drummond | USA | 1968 | 10.07 | 4th | Coby Miller | USA | 1976 | 10.07 | 5th | Uchenna Emedolu | NGR | 1976 | 10.19 | 6th | Darren Campbell | GBR | 1973 | 10.24 | 7th | Troy Douglas | NED | 1962 | 10.47 | 8th | K. Streete-Thompson | USA | 1973 | DNS |
chrisg@nicolasmacrozonaris.com |
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