THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, July 15, 1996 TAG: 9607150118
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ED MILLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 47 lines
For sheer drama, it's hard to beat the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials. You line up, you compete. If you don't finish in the top three, you don't make the team.
But not every country does it that way.
Paul Tucker, a hurdler at Norfolk State, was visiting his parents in New Jersey when he got a call from a coach in Guyana, where Tucker was born and lived until he was 10.
Congratulations, Tucker was told, you've made the Guyanese team.
``I was surprised,'' he said. ``I didn't really know if we had a team going or not.''
Guyana, a South American nation of about 800,000, not only has a team, it has a team with not one, but two, Norfolk State athletes. Malcolm Watts, also a native of Guyana, will run the 100 and 200 meters and will compete on the 400-meter relay team.
A Guyanese coach saw Watts run at the Penn Relays in April and got in touch with him. One thing led to another and soon Tucker was on the team, too.
Tucker has been measured for his Olympic uniform and will meet his new teammates this week.
His stay could be a short one. Although he's a good college hurdler, his fastest times are about three seconds slower than the world's best.
``I've told him to enjoy the experience, soak up the atmosphere,'' Norfolk State coach Steve Riddick said. ``You can't go there expecting to win. You've got to be realistic.''
Even if Tucker runs just one race in Atlanta, reaching the Olympics is a crowning achievement not only for him but for his family, which has made the most of life in America.
Tucker's father, Paul Sr., emigrated to the U.S. in 1980. Tucker's mother followed in 1982. Tucker stayed with grandparents and didn't join his parents until 1986, when he was 10.
By then, Tucker's father was on his way toward a successful career in the automobile business.
``When my father first got here, he worked at a dealership,'' Tucker said. ``After a couple of years, he opened his own dealership, selling used cars.
``We had it pretty good. I was kind of spoiled.''
But not too spoiled to realize his good fortune. If Tucker were an American, he might never make an Olympic team.
``Those American guys have it tough,'' he said. ``This experience will just make me work harder, for next time, in Sydney, in 2000.'' by CNB