Published July 20, 2004 - Lansing State Journal

Terek has his ‘magic moment’
Former Spartan makes Olympics by two seconds

By Jordan Bastian
For the Lansing State Journal

Everything went into slow motion for former Spartan Paul Terek as he watched Phil McMullen cross the finish line on Saturday.

Terek’s lifelong dream of making the U.S. Olympic team had come down to the last 300 meters of the final event of the decathlon - the 1,500 - at the Olympic Trials in Sacramento, Calif.

Terek entered the race in third place overall and leading McMullen - a former Eastern Michigan standout - by just 89 points. He needed to stay within 11 seconds of him to secure his place in Athens.

It was in those last 300 meters that Terek crossed the line with just two seconds to spare and captured his spot on the team.

"When Phil crossed the line, that was probably the longest nine seconds in my life, because I knew I only had seconds to spare," Terek said.

Terek finished in 4:24.28 - nine seconds behind McMullen in the race, but 27 points in front of him in the final standings.

"Olympic teams are made with Olympic efforts," Terek said. "That’s what my coach (Harry Marra) told me before the race and it really stuck with me.

"Knowing I was able to reach down like that at the end is going to be more beneficial in my career than even making this Olympic team."

Third place overall meant a place at the Olympic Games in Athens. Falling into fourth place would have meant ... well, Terek didn’t have time to think about that.

"It is hard to stay within 11 seconds of someone that’s very good at that race," Terek said.

Terek will be the first Spartan to compete in the Summer Olympics since diver Julie Farrell-Ovenhouse in 1992. The Olympics are Aug. 13-29 in Athens, Greece.

McMullen - one of the favorites in the event - jumped out to an early lead and held on while Terek could only watch from behind.

That is when Marra - the National Athletic Director of the World’s Greatest Athlete Chiropractic Decathlon Club - thought McMullen might run away with it.

"I know Phil and he is a great competitor," Marra said. "I honestly thought at some point he was just going to take off.

"I thought he could bury Paul."

Terek - who graduated from MSU in 2002 - knew that he was right where he wanted to be, though.

"I really just tried to watch his back all the way down the stretch," Terek said. "He ran with a lot of heart, but didn’t have any more running left in him."

Terek finished with 8,300 points overall.

"This was a magic moment," Marra said.

Marra, who has been coaching since 1973, said that the race was up there with any moments that he could remember.

"Everyone that was involved had never seen anything like this," he said. "Not to be cliche, but this was as fitting a performance as when Bruce Jenner made the team in 1972."

Jenner went on to place 10th in the decathlon in ’72, but claimed the gold four years later.

Marra thinks Terek - who tried to play football at MSU, but later found his place in track - may be in a similar position.

"If he keeps maturing like he has been, he’s going to be a real big problem for a lot of people come 2008," he said.