Aug. 14, 2016

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – South Carolina track and field head coach Curtis Frye is down at the summer Olympics in Rio as an assistant with Team USA. He shared some of his thoughts on the opening day of competition for South Carolina’s athletes.

On rising sophomore Aliyah Abrams’ performance in the 400m
“We had lunch with her earlier in the week, and she was nervous, but she went out and performed. It’s a long year for her, I’m glad she got through the Olympic games and I’m sure that the next experience for her will be a really good one. I’m not disappointed, I know she can run 51 seconds, but there who can run 50 but ran 51. At 19 years old, it was a good effort.”

On what he saw in Natasha Hastings’ 400m race
“I saw maturity, a good race strategy and great management. She had some things she was working on that were new, and I thought she executed them well. Natasha is a brilliant young lady and has learned, even at 30 years old, to make some changes and I think it’s going to benefit her. She has a good shot at making Monday’s finals.”

On his favorite Olympic moment so far
“Michelle Carter throwing the shot put. Her father is a three-time Super Bowl winner, and he passed on his competitiveness to Michelle. She was not going to let him down, she’s the captain of the team and was not going to let the team down. She gave the team a motivational speech earlier in the week, then went out and beat a two-time gold medalist to get the country’s first medal in the shot put in 60 years. It was incredible to watch live in the stadium. I think we as a team are trying to use that momentum for the rest of the time we’re here.”