TheMat.com Interviews National Freestyle Coach Bruce Burnett

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Gary Abbott (USA Wrestling)
09/16/2000


TheMat.com interviews National Freestyle Coach Bruce Burnett    TheMat.com: How have the athletes been doing since they arrived in Sydney?  Bruce Burnett: They are doing well. They are focused and the training has been good. They have acclimated well to being in Sydney. Now it's time to get out of town and do some private training.    TheMat.com: What kind of things are you working on with the team?  Bruce Burnett: Now we are doing speed stuff. We are working just on things that we will use in the Olympics. There is no experimenting. They need to work on what got them here. We still have time to work hard in this cycle, and we will. It will be easier to do this when we get down to Canberra.    TheMat.com: The team was able to participate in Opening Ceremonies. How did they enjoy that?  Bruce Burnett: All of the freestyle athletes went to Opening Ceremonies and they enjoyed it. It was a little long, and that's typical. They were prepared for that. I think it was a good experience for them.    TheMat.com: Only Melvin Douglas has been to the Olympics before. How are the first-time Olympians handling the experience?  Bruce Burnett: Only two guys here haven't been to the World Championships. As far as preparing to compete, they are all fine. They are now realizing how important the Olympics are, how many people are involved and how much the media focuses on the Olympics. As far as their focus, they are on track.    TheMat.com: Is anybody looking especially good in training?  Bruce Burnett: They are all looking good. They are doing a good job of not overworking, putting too much into it because they are at the Olympics. I attribute that to the coaching staff, which has a lot of experience. Gable, Smith, Strobel, they have all been here before.    From the High Performance Center, Sydney, September 16