Kevin Toth (USA) (© Getty Images)
Two competitions over 21 metres including a world indoor season’s Shot Put lead of 21.70 (11 January) is quite a spectacular way to start any year, but America's Kevin Toth believes he is still only at 80 to 85% of his full strength.
Despite a slight but nagging groin injury, Toth produced his second display of solid early season form with his 21.17 win at the Doug Raymond Invitational at Ohio's Kent State University last weekend (8 February).
"I felt some discomfort on each throw," said Toth. "It first popped up about two weeks ago in training. But now that we've identified it, we're working on fixing it."
After two back surgeries and other related aches and pains, the 35 year-old Ohioan is no stranger to injuries. "This is all a part of what we have to do," he said, adding that he's not overly concerned. "Today I'm probably at about 80 to 85% (full strength)."
His early January throw added 45cm to his previous indoor best from 1994. "That was a hell of an opener, I didn't expect it, but by no means was it a peak."
For Toth, whose world-leading throw supplanted Brian Oldfield as No.10 on the all-time indoor list, that's a very good sign indeed. No shot putter has ever thrown so far so early in the year.
But rather than attributing his early season form to momentum from his 2002 campaign, in which his put of 22.19m was the second longest in the world, the veteran thrower credits a new training regimen formulated by a new coach - former discus thrower Mike Mielke.
"He thinks I can be number one in the world, if not break a World record. And he's right. I'm a believer now. To see the result in the first meet of the year is just mind-boggling."
Toth met Mielke, a California-based US Army coach, at the USOC Olympic Festival in 1991, but the two never associated much off the track. "He called me in November, and told me, 'You've got all the tools, you just need some tune-ups here and there.' "
After two back surgeries, Toth says he was wary of letting anyone in. "My recovery [from training] is totally different. If I don't have a good enough recovery, I have dead legs because I've had so much nerve damage. But he was so confident and understood my handicap. So I let him in the door, and in eight weeks the guy has turned me into a machine."
Mielke has added an emphasis on cardiovascular development, flexibility and endurance, adding an hour to the 305-310 pound Toth's daily training routine, work that Toth says is making him a better pure athlete. Mielke also stressed some technical details in the back of the ring. "I'm using power that I've never used before."
Even more encouraging to Toth was that both his big throws -a fourth round 21.46m also bettered his previous indoor best - were just flat palm speed throws. "I didn't get any finger pop on either of those throws," an element, he says, that could add from one to three feet to a throw.
"I could have gone over 73 feet (22.25m). It's going to take a thousand throws, but right now, the thought patterns are in the right direction to where I can get big throws off…the sky's the limit.”
But just a few years ago, Toth was on the verge of quitting. He underwent back surgery 15 years ago, and those same back problems resurfaced at the most inopportune time - the 2000 Olympic Trials, where he finished fifth.
"I had inconsistent training, and a lot of weakness in my legs because of the damage I had to nerves in my back." His worsening back actually led him to retire following his 2000 campaign. "I was just emotionally, mentally and physically kaput. I just had it."
He took a job at a salt mine in Cleveland, spending his days deep beneath the calm waves of Lake Erie. After three and a half months, his competitive fire began to reemerge.
”One day, I told my wife that I was going to take the day off to throw, and if I could throw over 60 feet (18.30m), I was going to go back to throwing." He threw 62 feet (18.90m), effectively putting a hold on his retirement plan.
Then, he says, "I blew out my back," ultimately leading to a second surgery in February 2001 when, he says, a "horrendous" amount of scar tissue was removed. Toth emerged a new man.
Toth says his 2002 season, in which he extended his PB to 72-9 ¾ (22.19m), was but a stepping stone to an appearance on the podium in Athens next year. "The biggest thing is next year…And I definitely want to be on that podium for gold."
Adding to Toth's excitement for 2003 was the birth of his first child, Kevin Junior, on 21 January.
“I'm just so fired up right now. With everything going on, I've got so much inspiration and motivation, and my heart is there. I'm working harder than I ever have, and my little baby. Everything is just clicking. It's one great feeling.”
Toth won't compete again until the US Indoor Championships on 1 March in Boston.
Bob Ramsak for the IAAF
