Macey: Don’t look back in anger
by Steven Downes
2 February 2001 - London - Dean Macey, the decathlon silver medal-winner at the IAAF World Championships in Seville in 1999, flies out to Estonia next week to link up with Olympic champion Erki Nool for some intensive training.
But whatever else the two friends and athletics rivals do, as far as Macey is concerned, they will not be discussing the sometimes controversial events in Sydney last September, where the young British multi-eventer eventually finished out of the medal positions in fourth place.
"It’s not something I want to talk about," said Macey on Thursday, speaking at a London press conference organised by his sportswear sponsors, Asics. Clearly, the disappointment still rankles with the 23-year-old Briton. "If Erki starts talking about it, then I’ll just walk away."
As in Seville a year earlier, where Macey made his international breakthrough when finishing second to world record-holder Tomas Dvorak, the decathlon in Sydney was among the highlights of the athletics events.
The event was the closest decathlon in Olympic history, less than 100 points covering the first four places. The medal positions - and Macey’s fourth place - were not determined until the finish of the 10th and final event of the gruelling two-day all-rounder challenge, the 1,500 metres.
"When I crossed the line in the 15,00, I thought I had a medal, I really did," Macey said. "So when I saw the scores go up on the board, it gutted me.
"I desperately wanted a medal. You don’t go halfway around the world to come home empty handed."
Macey had produced a lifetime best 8567 points in Sydney, with storming runs in both the 1500 and the 400, where he electrified the packed late-night crowd at Stadium Australia with his 46.41sec at the end of the first day.
But it was in the discus on the second day that controversy nearly split the friendship between Nool - who is advised in his training by Daley Thompson, Britain’s former world champion and double Olympic gold medallist - and Macey, whose coach is Thompson’s old training partner, Greg Richards.
After six events, the American, Chris Huffins, was leading a rapidly closing pack. With Dvorak struggling through injury, Nool was clearly the biggest threat, especially with his outstanding pole vault to come.
But after two no throws in the discus, Nool’s hopes looked in peril. All depended on his third throw - and once again, the official raised the red flag.
No points at this stage of the competition would have ended Nool’s medal chances, but encouraged by Thompson, the Estonian officials launched a protest to have their man’s third throw measured and scored because his foot had never actually touched the outer rim of the throwing circle.
The Jury of Appeal granted Nool’s request, enabling him to go on and win the gold medal, knocking Macey off the medal podium. There were strong counter-protests from other teams - indeed, according to the official British Olympic Association report of the Games, published last week, Nool scored no points in the discus.
But as Macey knows, you can’t really re-write history.
"I try not to think about what happened in the past, the success in Seville or the disappointment of Sydney, because there nothing more I can do about it. I don’t look back, I just look forward, to improving for the next competition.
"I think I’m stronger in my head - I’ve won a medal, I’ve lost, my body has been busted up and mended. I know I can cope, whatever happens.
"I’ve always been determined, ever since I started in the sport at 14 or 15 years old. The difficult thing for me is getting out of bed and getting down to the track. But once I’m there, I’ll train until I’m sick."
Losing in Sydney has made Macey all the more determined, but it has also given him the opportunity to improve all the more.
The charmingly engaging Essex man captured the hearts of many of the British public after his performances on and off the track in Seville, the adulation continuing for many months afterwards, as Macey basked in the glow of his silver medal.
But a cruel truism of sport is - no one cares about fourth. With Britain celebrating its most successful Olympics since 1920, with 11 gold medallists hogging the headlines, Macey has found himself no longer in demand over the past few months.
"I don’t feel left out," he said, "in fact, it’s done me a favour, because it’s let me train," he says. Six hours a day at the track and weight room near his home at the seaside resort of Canvey Island, the rest of the time spent sleeping or resting.
"Now, it’s a proper, full-time job. Last year, I found myself spending a day every week doing some sort of appearance or another. Now, I can organise everything into one day each month - and still I get frustrated, being in London, doing photo-calls or whatever, instead of being out on the track training.
"I really enjoyed the recognition that winning the medal brought me," Macey said.
"I want to be able to walk down the street and people say - ‘Hey, it’s Dean! At the moment, that only happens in Canvey."
Macey promises further improvements in 2001, at the IAAF World Championships in Edmonton, and first at the World Indoor Championships in Lisbon, Portugal, next month, when he will compete in his first indoor heptathlon.
"This is the first winter for three years when I’ve not had to have an operation," Macey said. "Going to Estonia with Erki will be really useful for Lisbon, because it gives me the luxury of training indoors for a change. I can learn how to run on a track that goes up and down."
Macey - one of eight multi-eventers invited by the IAAF for the heptathlon - reckons that his event could be the highest quality competition in the Lisbon three-day meeting, with Nool, Huffins and Dvorak all among the expected competitors.
"I’m doing Lisbon because I didn’t get a medal in Sydney," Macey said. "I’ve never done a heptathlon before, so I’m looking forward to it. The programme is quite relaxed, there’s a lot more recovery time than in a decathlon."
Macey also has another, off-track target to rise to in 2001, too. His girlfriend, Lisa, demands it.
At some point this year, Macey intends to get married. "The idea was to win a medal in Sydney and then get married. I didn’t win a medal, so there was no wedding."
