Clark, at 37, is one of the most experienced athletes at the Athens Olympics. For the United States 800 metres champion, this will be her fourth Games.
Yet the magic allure of the Olympics is still something special for Miles-Clark, who is attending the Games with her coach and husband, JJ Clark, and her sister-in-law and 800m team mate, Hazel Clark. It is a near-reprieve of four years ago, when the Clark clan dominated the US 800m team, with Joetta Clark also competing.
Asked about the possibility that this will be her final Games, Miles-Clark says, “I think about it sometimes, but I try not to dwell on it. The fact that this might be my last one, I try to savour the moment."
“I love the sport, I love running,” she says, explaining her longevity thus: “The fact that I take care of my body helps. I train hard, I sleep well, I don’t put junk stuff in my body, I don’t do drugs, I don’t drink.”
Miles-Clark’s wide ranging experience - she won the IAAF World 400m title in 1993, and has two Olympic relay gold medals - means that she’s a shrewd judge of a race, and of the talent she might be up against.
Not that she will name the likely winner of the women’s 800m. “I always say that anybody who makes the final has a chance to pop a good one,” she says. “I do feel that I’m very equipped to run the rounds, to know where I’m at and to put one down in the finals.”
Steven Downes for the IAAF
