Wariner's split from old coach may be cause for new problems on track

Jeremy Wariner parted with former coach, Clyde Hart, after an apparent money dispute. Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images

EUGENE, Ore. -- He watched on Thursday night from a seat high in Section J in the old wooden grandstand on the Hayward Field backstretch, anonymously punching a stopwatch while surrounded by another sellout crowd at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials. Clyde Hart is 75 years old; he has been coaching track and field for more than five decades, and he is to 400-meter runners what Bill Walsh once was to quarterbacks.

Hart has always liked taking seat at the bottom of the backstretch, because from there he can get an accurate split on his runners at both the 200-meter and 300-meter marks. "I can usually tell what's going to happen at the 200,'' he said Thursday night, standing outside the stadium, wearing a windbreaker in the black and green colors of Baylor, where he coached for 42 years before taking a ceremonial position of Director of Track and Field/400 meters in 2005.

On Thursday night, Hart watched as Sanya Richards, 23, cruised down the Hayward backstretch in the twilight, conserving herself in the face of a gusty wind. Hart is Richards's coach. He guided her to an American record of 48.70 in 2006 and then watched last year as Richards suffered with Behcet's Disease (skin lesions, mouth ulcers, a cornucopia of terrible physical symptoms through which she kept running) and stunningly failed to make the U.S. for the world championships. Now she is back. Safe from the breezes, she cranked the second turn and rolled away to win by more than a second -- a huge margin -- in 49.89 seconds. "She was ready to win,'' said Hart.

"Last year I finished fourth,'' said Richards. "That was definitely in the back of my mind.''

Ten minutes later, Hart held his watch again as the men's field rolled down the back straightaway. In Lane 5, Jeremy Wariner glided -- he always glides; he is, as 100-meter champion Tyson Gay puts it, "just so smooth,'' -- in the middle of the field. Hart does not coach Wariner. But he once did.

Now he watched as Wariner seemed to be surrendering ground to the gifted and younger (22) LaShawn Merritt, who had already beaten Wariner on June 1 at a meet in Berlin, Germany. Wariner tried to work the turn, but gained little ground. The crowd roared as Wariner came off the final turn in fourth place. He hadn't lost a championship race since 2003 and had assumed an air of cool invincibility. He rallied, but on this night, he would not catch Merritt (44.0 seconds), making the Olympic team, but finishing second (44.2 seconds) in what is unquestionably one of the biggest upsets of the Trials.

For Hart, it was more than just an upset. It was deeply personal moment on a very big stage. "You look, and Jeremy and I had a lot of success together,'' Hart said. "Sure, it hurts to watch what happened out there.''

It was Hart who recruited Wariner to Baylor out of Lamar High School in Arlington, Texas in 2002 and brought him to Baylor. It was Hart who guided Wariner to a remarkable triple in the summer of 2004: The NCAA, the Olympic Trials and the Olympic gold medal at the age of 20. He was super cool, a pale flyer with slender arms and legs who wore sunglasses at night and a gold chain around his neck and, said Baylor teammate Darold Williamson when queried about the oddity of a great while 400-meter runner, "Is just plain fast.''

And it was Hart who no longer coaches Wariner. Hart says he was given a contract by Wariner in January, asking that Hart take a 50-percent cut in his pay from Wariner (as determined by a percentage of Wariner's earnings). "He gave me a contract and told me he still wants me to be his coach,'' said Hart in early June. "He said the contract was a business decision. He said he needs to make more money after he pays his taxes and his agent (400-meter world record holder Michael Johnson, who was also trained by Hart). He gave me a month. It took me four days to decide. I would have said no if he asked to work for a dollar less.''

Wariner's version of the story is substantially different. "I didn't do it to save a few dollars,'' said Wariner last weekend, using a questioner's wording. "I did it because I felt like it was time for a change.'' (Several times later in the same formal press conference, Wariner said, "nothing has changed.'' He is training with Mike Ford, who had been Hart's assistant at Baylor. Hart trains Richards on the same Baylor track and sees Wariner working out.)