Godina surpasses all others by leaps and bounds

Friday, July 14, 1995

Thrower favored to medal in shot put, good chances in the
discus

By Emmanuelle Ejercito

Summer Bruin Staff

Aside from Dream Team III, there aren’t too many locks for a
gold medal in Atlanta. But former Bruin shot put champion John
Godina is a good bet to be standing on the medal platform as the
Star Spangled Banner rings through the stadium.

After coming up with points for UCLA in meet after meet from
1991-1995, Godina now hopes to be equally valuable to his country.
Winning the shot put at the United States Olympic Trials last month
and finishing second in the discus, Godina earned the chance to
represent the United States in both events.

Godina will be the first American athlete to compete in the both
the shot put and the discus since double gold medalist Bud Houser
accomplished the feat in 1924. Godina is not just breaking a
72-year drought, he’s also the gold-medal favorite to win in the
shot put.

However, despite the fact that Godina was a top collegiate
athlete, the six-foot-four-inch thrower didn’t begin to realize
until the end of last season that he would be on everyone’s gold
medal list, or for that matter, that he would even be competing in
the Olympics.

"Before, it was just something that happened to other people,"
Godina said. "As of last year, that’s when I started thinking it
could happen. But up until then, I had all the NCAA titles, but I
wasn’t at the top, top level."

Godina reached the top and claimed it as his own in 1995. At the
college level, the 11-time All-American added three more NCAA
titles to his collection. At the indoor championships, Godina threw
for 66-11 1/4 to win the shot put title.

Then at the outdoor championships in Knoxville, Tenn., Godina
put on an explosive performance. Godina became the first thrower to
capture both the discus and shot put national crowns since another
outstanding Bruin thrower, John Brenner, did it in 1984. But Godina
did not just win the shot put title, he broke the 11-year-old NCAA
record by heaving the 16-pound ball for a distance of 72-2 1/4.

But those accomplishments were just consolation prizes at a
carnival compared to what happened in August of that year.

At the Track and Field World Championships in Göteborg,
Sweden, Godina thrust himself into the international spotlight,
winning the shot put and finishing ninth in the discus. Godina
ended the year ranked number one in the world in the shot put and
tenth in the discus in rankings compiled by Track and Field
News.

However, some people knew that Godina would be an Olympic great
even before his World Championship and NCAA titles. Among those
believers was UCLA throwing coach Art Venegas, with whom Godina
continues to train.

"From day one. (Godina is) just a better athlete than the rest
of the people, flat out," Venegas said. "Then when I found out that
he was a good guy and an intelligent guy on top of that, then the
whole picture was put together. It’s been a no-brainer from day one
with this guy."

Although through the years Venegas has had a slew of
distinguished throwers, Godina would be the first thrower to bring
home Olympic gold under Venegas’ tutelage.

"Godina’s easy to coach and very competitive," Venegas said.
"Some people I would take a lot more credit for than with him, just
because some people are very difficult to train and coach, but this
guy has been easy."

With expectations so high for him to achieve the ultimate honor
in his sport, it would seem that the pressure would be hard to
handle. But according to Venegas, Godina is carrying the load with
ease.

"Like anyone that is outstanding, he knows that it is expected
for him to do well, he wants to do well, and he is preparing
himself to do well."

In fact, most of the pressure is internally generated.

"I’ll be very disappointed in myself if I don’t do what I am
supposed to do, which is harder to deal with than other people,"
Godina said. "Other people, if they have something bad to say about
it then that is not going to upset me at all, because anybody that
has anything bad to say about it is not going to be there anyway,
so where do they have any point of view that they can speak from?
So I just have to worry about satisfying myself."

Amidst those standing in his way are his American teammates,
Randy Barnes and C.J. Hunter, and the Ukraine’s Roman Virastyuk.
However, Godina will try to dispose of his competition by applying
the experience he has gained from winning his numerous crowns.

"I’m going to try to approach (the Olympics) like I did the NCAA
last year ­ just total concentration and that’s about it,"
Godina said. "I enjoy trying to be the best at something and that’s
what anybody in the world would like to be ­ the best at
something, that’s just kind of a nice concept."

Daily Bruin File Photo

UCLA alumnus, John Godina, will be throwing the shot put and
discus in the ’96 Games.