A special two-part interview while we are in between seasons! TJ talks with Track and Field legend Ato Boldon. You may recognize Boldon as NBC's lead track and field analyst for the past 3 Olympics, and pretty much every track and field broadcast for over a decade. Prior to that Boldon had an extremely impressive sprinting career. Hear about that and the rest of his story! This episode they discuss growing up in Trinidad and Tobago, Boldon's move to the US and the early stage of his track and field career. We also address a popular debate topic of NFL players being as fast as Olympians. Be sure not to miss his thoughts on that one!
TJ lists some highlights of Ato's impressive resume (:53). Ato talks about his favorite moment in his running career (1:47) and what it was like running as the veteran on the Trinidad and Tobago team near the end of his career (4:07). He then tells the story of how a psychic played into his races in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics (5:52). TJ asks Ato why he decided to make a life long career out of track and field (10:17). Next they discuss the misconception that any fast athlete in the NFL has world class speed and could make an Olympic team. Ato describes what he considers "world class speed" (12:39) and why there is this misconception about NFL athletes (15:36). TJ asks Ato how this attention, even though it may be misguided, affects track and field (17:33) and what kind of effect someone like Tyreek Hill running in the Olympic Trials would have on the sport of Track and Field (21:34). They refocus on Ato's life as he talks about how the street he grew up on was named after him (23:55). TJ asks about the difficulty of moving to a different country at the age of 14 (26:19). Ato discusses how his track career began (28:56), a story about causing himself to be left off of a relay team for the Penn Relays in high school (31:14) and why he went to a junior college before attending UCLA despite being highly recruited (33:33). Lastly, Ato talks about how he got the nickname of Golden Boldon at a young age (35:35).