Sprinter finds Olympic stride under Smith’s guidance

Thursday, May 16, 1996

Coach provides atmosphere for Hassan’s successBy Emmanuelle
Ejercito

Daily Bruin Staff

There are some high school athletes who sit on their hands
hoping that a coach will come around bringing a ticket for a free
college ride, but not UCLA sprinter Ibrahim Hassan.

"He basically recruited us," UCLA sprints coach John Smith
said.

The foundation of the bridge from Ghana to Westwood was started
in 1988 with a 13-year old boy on a basketball court. Reading the
newspaper about the Olympics in Seoul, Korea, the young Hassan
turned to his friend and said that he would one day make it to the
Olympics.

Although the friend probably dismissed Hassan’s exclamation as a
mere fantasy, within four years Hassan would fulfill his prophesy.
But maybe Hassan thought that he would be the Michael Jordan of
Ghana’s national basketball team and not the Carl Lewis of the
track team. After all, Hassan loved basketball and track was no
more than a passing interest.

But in 1990 his friends did him a favor in ostracizing Hassan
from the basketball courts.

"The guys were like, ‘Hassan, you don’t belong on the basketball
court anymore, go to the track and run,’" Hassan said. "And I was
like ‘Why?’ And they were like, ‘You come to the basketball court,
you play and you get tired. Go to the track and beat those people
there.’"

So he did. And he took his first steps to the Olympics.

In his first year of running the 400 meters, he ran at 50
seconds. The following year he clocked in at 49 seconds. But 1992
was Hassan’s breakthrough year, breaking the tape at 46
seconds.

Not only did Hassan shear three seconds off from the previous
year, but the time was good enough to earn the 17-year old a trip
to Barcelona, Spain to represent Ghana on the track.

"I was surprised when I made the team," Hassan said. "I was
surprised because I wasn’t expecting to be at the Olympics at that
age, so I was happy."

In Barcelona, Hassan did not find his way to the medal stand. In
fact, Hassan did not even qualify for the finals in the 400. But
going to the 1992 Olympics would eventually guide Hassan to the
lanes of Drake Stadium.

Seeing 400-meter gold medalist Quincy Watts and 400-meter hurdle
world record-holder Kevin Young at the Olympics prompted Hassan to
look for their coach — John Smith. However, Smith and Hassan never
connected.

The next year at the Track and Field World Championships in
Stuttgart, Hassan found out that Smith was also present. But Hassan
had a fever and was forced to go home.

Luckily though, Smith had heard that Hassan was interested in
having him as a coach and left his number with Hassan’s
friends.

Finally, Hassan and Smith came into contact with each other.

"I knew about Hassan," Smith said. "I heard his name, seen
results. We never met, but he saw my work and decided that he
wanted to go to UCLA."

After learning that Smith was the sprints coach at UCLA , Hassan
made the decision to further his education and his track career in
California.

In winter quarter 1995, Hassan made the move from Takarodi,
Ghana to Westwood. In Los Angeles, Hassan was greeted by similar
weather, a strange language and an even stranger culture.

Hassan at first had difficulty understanding people and had to
have them repeat themselves two or three times before he could
finally understand what they said, but what was even more foreign
to him was the societal order in the United States.

"The culture is different because in Ghana the guys have much
power over all the stuff," Hassan said. "When I first got here I
was like, ‘What’s going on?’ I didn’t know what to do until my
friends were like, ‘This is how the United States is.’

"The guys are cherished more at home than the girls, but here
it’s different. Everybody, their respect is based (regardless) of
whether they are a girl or a guy."

But, after a year and a half at UCLA, the sophomore has adjusted
quite nicely.

"Anybody that comes to UCLA, because you are here at a big
university, you’re going to have to make adjustments," Smith said.
"But Hassan’s extremely intelligent and he’s adjusting very
well."

Hassan has adjusted so well that he is the top 400-meter runner
for the Bruins and a vital part of the relay teams.

Last year Hassan had a personal best of 45.48 in the 400, but he
had been hampered by a foot injury all season long. This year he
ran an injury-free 45.13 and has the potential to break into the 44
second zone. Hassan leads the Pacific 10 in the 400 and is second
in the 200 only to Ato Boldon, whose absence earlier in the season
may have helped in Hassan’s development this year.

"Whenever you have a dominant force that is not there people who
are under them have the opportunity to grow," Smith said. "Ato’s
absence attributed to Hassan finding himself. Because of that I
have tried to keep them apart."

Hassan couldn’t have found himself at a better time. He will
return to the Olympics in Atlanta as the best 400-meter runner in
Ghana with four years of experience and Smith’s tutelage under his
belt. Hassan’s goal: To be the first man from Ghana to make it to
the Olympic finals.

But even after the hoopla of the Olympics is over, Hassan will
continue to train at UCLA under Smith.

"I have learned a lot from John Smith and I really appreciate
whatever he has done for me so far," Hassan said. "This will be the
last coach that I’m going to have in my life; if I leave him that’s
it."

UCLA Sports Info

After watching other sprinters coached by UCLA assistant coach
John Smith, Ghana native Ibrahim Hassan decided to come to
California to train with him.