By Peter Gambaccini
Photos by Victah Sailer
Nicole Teter, now 36, was a 2004 and 2008 Olympian and is the U.S. indoor 800-meter record holder (1:58.71). She'd finished fourth in the 800 at the 2008 Trials but made the U.S. squad because the third place finisher had not met the qualifying time. Teter pulled up and did not finish in her first round heat in Beijing due to an Achilles injury; she had been fourth in a semi at the 2004 Olympics but did not advance to the final. Teter set her 800-meter personal best of 1:57.97 back in 2002. She also ran 4:04.19 for 1500 meters in '02. Teter won USA 800-meter titles indoors and outdoors in 2002 and indoors in 2003 and 2008. The native Californian has a USA Junior 800-meter champion back in 1991. Teter will be the race director for the first Eugene Women's Half Marathon in Oregon on September 5.
Before we get to the race directing matter, one thing we did hear from someone else who is in the "family way" is that you are, too. Is that right?
Nicole Teter: Yes. I am a little over five months along.
Is the father someone that we know from the running business?
NT: Yeah, Andy Downin (a former U.S. 1500-meter champion). He's coaching six athletes here (in Oregon) and he's also part of the Eugene Marathon and Eugene Half Marathon, so we work together.
When we last saw you in a televised race, and maybe we've seen this too often, you were screaming in agony on the track.
NT: Oh yeah, Beijing?
You went down in a lot of pain, didn't?
NT: Yes, I actually ended up partially tearing my (left) Achilles there, which was really extremely painful.
How far into the race were you?
NT: I made it about 150 meters. And I really wanted to run through it. I did what every runner would do when they're at the Olympics. I got a couple of cortisone shots and then an anti-inflammatory shot within an hour of running, and I'd really hoped to have been able to suck it up and run the event. But your body kind of tells you when you can and can't do something, and by body basically said "no, no more."
