Final Quarter feature: Olympic memories with Mark Crear

STOCKTON, Calif. (KTXL) – It has been 24 years, but Mark Crear still remembers that feeling.

“People say how does it feel, and what’s the most important part about being an Olympian?” he smiles. “It’s putting on that USA gear.”

He did it twice: first, at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, and then four years later at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia.

“I didn’t start track until my senior year in high school, so I was a late bloomer, according to most,” said Crear from his home in Stockton. “When it really clicked in is when I went to USC and I was able to run a race and I won the NCAA championship. And they say if you can win an NCAA championship, then you can win an Olympic championship or you can make an Olympic team because you have endured the pressure.”

And, in his case, injuries.

“My broken arm. I had a broken arm in 1996 and I had a double hernia in 2000. And those are painful experiences, especially at the Olympic level,” said Crear. “But when you train and you have the confidence and you have the focus, you’re walking away and you’re gonna be successful.”

He has the medals to prove it.

Mark Crear ran the 110m hurdles. He won silver in 1996 and bronze in 2000.

“You know what, I remember everything but then I don’t remember anything,” he laughed. “You look at your city. Okay, I’m the fastest in the city. And then, okay, I’m the fastest in the state, I’m the fastest in the country. We’re talking about a lot of people, and you have to be in the top three in the United States of America, the whole world.

“And when you factor in that thought pattern, it’s like, ‘wow.'”

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