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Archive Record
Images
Metadata
Object ID |
2013.55.115 B |
Object Name |
Video Recording |
Title |
Curt Harnett Interview |
Scope & Content |
Curt Harnett interview, 13 November 2006. Digitized MP4 from Sony 40 Advanced ME DVCAM. Two videos with a total viewing time of 00:52:09. 1 of 2; 02:52Introduction to hall 03:11Childhood: true passion for hockey, huge ambitions of being a professional, in high school played football and hockey, teacher suggested cycling as a way for him to keep in shape in the summer for hockey, became Thunder Bay's first high school champion in cycling, something he found was a fantastic way to express himself 05:51Why biking: true passion, opportunity to ride a bike every day, no matter where he was or how he felt, had freedom and ability to travel around and see things that you can't see from a car or on foot, became an individual expression, an opportunity to really push and find out what the limitations were, how far he could go; loved the team environment but in cycling the responsibility for performance fell on his shoulders, was a key piece 07:40How did you go from road racing to the velodome sprints: no velodromes in , Thunder Bay, came at a time in his career development, realized the Tour de France was not in his future, the mountain climbing aspect was not his thing; his coach recognized the diversity in cycling and the opportunities it represented, engaged an opportunity for him to try track cycling, found it was a natural fit, progressed gradually into types of cycling such as sprints that he pursued in later part of his career, fit in with his hockey background in terms of short bursts of speed and recovery time 10:06When realized he was good: no defining moment, a natural and progressive transition, as he found opportunities doors opened, made the national team training camp, was a junior rider riding with the seniors 12:09When realized he was world class: talks about support of his parents throughout the process, became apparent had the ability to race with some of the best, slowly climbing up, made the regional qualifier for the North American competition and qualified for the event, came in 4th, then the Olympics the next year and won Silver 15:59On training for sprint events: required endurance foundation, build foundation that involved weight and strength training and interval training on the bike, wide variety of training principles that matched the type of event he did, talks about this, endurance level more necessary, best riders find balance between endurance and speed because they are not complimentary 18:21On the 1984 Olympics: expectations were wide open, at least the top 8, good day the top 5, podium would be a fantastic opportunity; in frame of mind, total zone, racing against the clock, alone on the track, "the only thing that beat me is myself"; talks about the experience 20:29On the other riders: talks about the riding order and being just outside of the top seed, finished with the #1 time, up to everyone else to beat his time, final rider won by 3/10ths of a second 23:16On changing disciplines to the match sprint: success at the 1984 Olympics allowed him to continue, did not see a career as a full-time cyclist, just an opportunity to try it, if he had placed lower he might have quit, success provided an opportunity to continue and broaden his horizons, commonality between the events, made sense to get into match sprinting, had the physical and mental ability, transition gradual, talks about the 1988 Olympics, winning medals at the World Championships and the Pan American Games 26:00Why the match sprint: discusses the time trial event and how the training is highly specialized, he only did 1 or 2 per year, talks about the intensity of the moment; it was at a time in his career ready for the transition, felt match sprinting was more dramatic and matched his personality because when on the bike felt he was entertaining, the high speed game of chess, cat and mouse, winner take all, dramatics, entertaining appealed to him 28:51Competing against someone: the mental and psychological piece existed in both events significantly because the time trial, although individual, was relative to the other riders, seeing a fast time posted and have it start playing in your head, ability to use it positively or have a negative impact was a significant piece, psychology of the match sprint, playing around, was a great piece of his personality; knew all the riders, they were competitive against each other, knew each other's strengths or weaknesses, made for dynamic races 31:56Scouting reports: knew riders to significant levels, did world cup circuit, they lived, travelled and ate together, when competing all bets were off; talks about the 1996 Olympics, won the Bronze medal, intensity massive, constantly learning, had to be in that frame of mind 37:06What did your opponents see in you: went to the start line with 3 or 4 strategies 38:38On the bike: slept with his bike, extension of himself, stayed with the same company over his career, went through 1 - 2 bikes a year, company understood him, had to ability to duplicate the bike with new materials and technology and yet maintain core dimensions, the mechanics of the bike his responsibility, became a form of mental preparation for each race 2 of 2; 00:03On the 1988 Olympics: talks about the bike and the wrong gear being put on his bike, from that incident he learned not to trust someone else to work on his bike, a significant lesson to learn, ultimately his responsibility, tough but a great lesson, "Lessons like that are what makes sport so palatable and such a great opportunity for kids. You have to learn pretty quickly how to lose or how to not win or how to fail.", process of getting to podium is not wrought with failure or not success, sometimes lose sight of that 07:28On performance enhancing drugs: level playing field in his career, looks at sport as a microcosm of society and you are certainly going to get some people who cheat, he did not have a winner take all attitude, could accept when he got beat by other guys who were better, drug usage never an issue for him, never concerned himself, when he got to the line attitude was nothing was going to beat him |
Date |
2006/11/13 |
People |
Harnett, Curt |
Search Terms |
Curt Harnett Interview Cycling cycling track 1984 Olympic Games Los Angeles 1992 Olympic Games Barcelona 1996 Olympic Games Atlanta 1994 World Championships 1990 Commonwealth Games Auckland 1994 Commonwealth Games Victoria 1987 Pan American Games Indianapolis |