Former NSU Great Kenta Bell Ready For Triple Jump Qualifying
BEIJING, China ? Northwestern State alumnus Kenta Bell says he has a case of “five-ring fever” and is excited about his form heading into the qualifying round in the men’s triple jump Sunday night (Monday morning Beijing time) at the 2008 Olympic Games.
Bell, a 31-year-old native of Kilgore, Texas, who graduated in 2000 with a criminal justice degree from Northwestern, is competing in his second Olympics. He reached the 12-man finals in 2004, advancing through qualifying, and finished ninth in the event at the Athens Games.
That experience, he believes, is a great asset for him as he approaches the qualifying round at 10 a.m. Monday Beijing time in the Bird’s Nest, the National Stadium that hosted the spectacular Opening Ceremonies.
“Monday it’s all about being one of the 12 guys moving on to Thursday. I believe having been there before in 2004 is a definite advantage for me. I know the routine and I am one of the more experienced guys in the field,” he said. “It’s just about going to work and doing what I’m capable of doing to get to the finals. I am as consistent a jumper as there is in the world over the last six years, so I just want to maintain that and get to the finals, then see if I can hit another big jump and medal.”
Bell believes his extensive international experience and having been an Olympian in 2004 gives him a sense of calm and confidence that will serve him well in competition.
“Hey, it’s the Olympic Games. If you’re human, it’s exciting. But the key is to use that energy in a positive manner, control it, and channel it. Relax, focus on your task at hand, not what surrounds you. Control what you can, and that’s your performance. Keep everything around you as peaceful as possible,” he said.
Along those lines, soon after Bell arrived from the USA Track and Field training center an hour’s flight away in Dalian, China, he took a trip to visit the Bird’s Nest.
“It allowed me to realize that it’s just another stadium and just another track. Once you get your mind wrapped around it all, it definitely prevents the shock of seeing the facilities for the first time on game day,” he said.
Bell has enjoyed keeping friends and fans informed with his personal blog, which is available through the www.nsudemons.com website along with an array of websites, blogs and media coverage focusing on the Olympics. His most recent post came Friday afternoon. He has included many photographs of his activities around the Olympic Village and elsewhere.
The second-place finisher at the USA Olympic Trials last month, leading the competition until the final jump, Bell believes he is in peak shape physically and mentally heading into the qualifying round.
“Things are going really well ... I had a really great training camp down in Dalian,” said Bell. “Being in the training camp and not having anything to do but train created and stirred my five-ring (Olympic) fever .... (watching video of his training sessions) I was hitting positions that you can only picture and imagine. If I’m able to duplicate and hit thee same positions from a full run in competition I could easily walk away from here as the gold medalist.”
It has happened for him before in Beijing. In his first major international competition representing the United States, Bell set a then-personal record with a winning 56-6 to capture the gold medal at the 2001 World University Games.
“It’s funny how my career has come full circle, and here I am in Beijing again,” said Bell. “I definitely have great memories of 2001. That was a time when I was struggling to stay in the sport because of the finances, and I needed to have something big happen, and I was blessed that it did. That does give me some additional confidence knowing the success I experienced here before.”
He hopes to give Team USA its first triple jump medal since 1996.
“It’s a wide open competition. We have three great jumpers on our team coming out of the Olympic Trials, and our chances are as good as anyone’s,” he said.
Bell has a career best of 57-10 1/4 in 2002. He was the 2003 USA Outdoor champion, sixth at the 2003 World Championships, seventh in the 2005 World Outdoors along with his ninth-place Olympics finish in 2004. Bell was runner-up at the the recent Olympic Trials, the 2006 USA Outdoors, the 2005 USA Indoors and Outdoors, and was third at the 2004 Olympic Trials and the 2007 USA Championships.
He has ranked as one of America’s top 10 triple jumpers in each of the past nine years by Track & Field News. At Northwestern, he was a three-time All-American and the 2000 Southland Conference Male Indoor Athlete of the Year under veteran coach Leon Johnson and assistant coach Dean Johnson.
“When I think of the people I have to thank for helping me grow as an athlete and a person, those two guys are at the top of the list. When I am training and competing even now, I have the ?WWDD’ rule ? what would Dean do? His coaching was the single biggest factor in my development into a world-class jumper, and Coach (Leon) Johnson’s encouragement and support helped me get started and mature. I thought I was mature in 2004, and I wasn’t. I now have such a great appreciation for what those guys mean to me,” he said.