Harry Marra

Last updated

Harry Marra (born 1947 in Cohoes, New York) is an American track and field coach. He is best known as the coach of decathlon world record holder Ashton Eaton. After improving the world record twice and two world championship gold medals, Eaton closed off his career by becoming only the third man to defend the Olympic gold medal in the decathlon. [1] Eaton is also the world record holder in the indoor Heptathlon and won three world championships. He also coached Brianne Theisen, Paul Terek, Sheldon Blockburger and four other 8,000 point decathletes; Brian Brophy, Paul Foxon, Bart Goodell and Chris Wilcox. Theisen won two world championship silver medals in the women's heptathlon, plus the Commonwealth Games and world indoor pentathlon gold medalist for Canada. Training partners under Marra, Eaton and Theisen were married in July 2013, officiated by Marra.

Marra was a pole vaulter sprinter at Christian Brothers Academy in nearby Albany, New York. After receiving some helpful coaching tips there he learned

"a light went on that there's a right way to do things, and there's a wrong way to do things." [2]

Marra got his B.S. Degree at Mount Saint Mary's University and his master's degree from Syracuse University. He was an assistant coach at University of California, Santa Barbara, under Sam Adams before his first head coaching job at Springfield College. From 1981 to 1993, Marra coached at San Francisco State University, while simultaneously serving as a speed and fitness consultant for the San Francisco Giants.

Marra was the American National Decathlon Coach from 1990-2000. When Eaton's original coach Dan Steele left, Vin Lananna first sought Marra's recommendations for a coach. Not liking the recommendations, Lananna offered Marra the job. [3] He became a full-time assistant coach for multi-events at the University of Oregon, where he coached both Eaton and Theisen to NCAA championships in their respective events. [4] Working for the Oregon Track Club he continued to coach them while also coaching the Oregon Ducks.

Marra's technique involves breaking complex events into simple movements following scientific principles. As an example he cites Eaton's unique shuffle shot put technique Video on YouTube originating from an act of frustration. [5] In 2012, Coach Marra was named NIKE COACH OF THE YEAR by USATF, the National Governing body of Track and Field in the USA. Additionally, in 2016, after a highly successful Rio Olympic Games for his athletes, Coach Marra was named WORLD ATHLETICS COACH OF THE YEAR.

At the end of 2016, after Eaton had won his second gold medal and Theisen had won bronze at the 2016 Olympics, Marra was given the World Athletics Award for Coaching Achievement. Following his accepting of the award, Marra was approached by several countries to assist in developing their athletic teams. He accepted the offer from Indonesia. In 2018, one of his new charges Lalu Muhammad Zohri won the world junior championships in the 100 meters. [6] He continues to do coaching clinics around the world. Marra has been inducted into the Christian Brothers Academy, San Francisco State University, Pacific Association USATF, Greater Capital District Track and Field Hall of Fame and Mt. St. Mary's University Halls of Fame. [7] Marra just recently had his first book published....Title: Stories From The Passenger Seat / Lessons Learned from a Lifetime of Coaching...Coaches Choice Publishers, September, 2022. In December of 2022, USATF presented Coach Marra the " John Bennett Award " for Excellence in the area of Combined Events Coaching.

In February 2024, Sportsfoundation.org ranked the top 10 Track and Field Coaches in the world of all time. Coach Harry Marra was ranked number one.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">USA Track & Field</span> US governing body for track and field

USA Track & Field (USATF) is a United States national governing body for the sports of track and field, cross country running, road running, and racewalking. The USATF was known between 1979 and 1992 as The Athletics Congress (TAC) after its spin-off from the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), which governed the sport in the US through most of the 20th century until the Amateur Sports Act of 1978 dissolved its responsibility. Based in Indianapolis, USATF is a non-profit organization with a membership of more than 130,000. The organization has three key leadership positions: CEO Max Siegel, Board of Directors Chair Steve Miller, and elected president Vin Lananna. U.S. citizens and permanent residents can be USATF members, but permanent residents can only participate in masters events in the country, and they cannot win USATF medals, prize money, or score points for a team, per World Athletics regulations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bryan Clay</span> American decathlete (born 1980)

Bryan Ezra Tsumoru Clay is an American decathlete who was the 2008 Summer Olympic champion for the decathlon and was also World champion in 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dan Steele</span> American bobsledder and track and field athlete and coach.

Dan Steele is an American bobsledder and track and field athlete who competed from the early 1990s to 2002. Competing in two Winter Olympics, he won the bronze medal in the four-man event at Salt Lake City in 2002. He was recently one of the most successful collegiate track and field coaches in America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ashton Eaton</span> American decathlete

Ashton James Eaton is a retired American decathlete and two-time Olympic champion, who holds the world record in the indoor heptathlon event. Eaton was the second decathlete to break the 9,000-point barrier in the decathlon, with 9,039 points, a score he bettered on August 29, 2015, when he beat his own world record with a score of 9,045 points, and remains the only person to exceed 9000 points twice. His world record was broken by Frenchman Kevin Mayer on September 16, 2018, with a total of 9,126 points, who became the third man to pass the 9,000-point barrier.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trey Hardee</span> American track and field athlete

James Edward "Trey" Hardee III is a retired American track and field athlete who specialized in the combined events. He is a former NCAA Champion, a two-time World Outdoor Champion, a member of the United States 2008 Olympic team, and the silver medalist in the decathlon at the London 2012 Olympics. He was Inducted into the Texas Track and Field Hall of Fame in 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jake Arnold (athlete)</span> American decathlete (born 1984)

Robert Jacob "Jake" Arnold is a decathlete from the United States. He represented the United States in the decathlon at the 2007 and 2009 World Championships ranking 13th and 24th respectively. He became the first athlete to win back-to-back NCAA decathlon titles in over twenty years after winning the event in both 2006 and 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brianne Theisen-Eaton</span> Canadian athlete

Brianne Theisen-Eaton is a retired Canadian track and field athlete who competed in the heptathlon and women's pentathlon. She won the bronze medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics. Theisen-Eaton holds the Canadian record for the heptathlon with 6,808 points, as well as the indoor pentathlon with a score of 4768 points. Theisen-Eaton is a heptathlon silver medallist from the 2013 World Championships and 2015 World Championships, as well as a pentathlon silver medalist from the 2014 World Indoor Championships. She is the first and only Canadian woman to podium in the multi-events at the World Championships. Theisen-Eaton won Commonwealth Games gold in the heptathlon at Glasgow 2014 and was the 2016 World Indoor Champion in the pentathlon. She also won a bronze medal as part of the women's 4 x 400 m relay at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matthew Centrowitz Jr.</span> American middle-distance runner

Matthew Centrowitz Jr. is an American middle-distance runner, who specializes in the 1500 metres. He won a gold medal in the event at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. He also achieved a bronze medal at the 2011 World Championships and a silver medal at the 2013 World Championships. Centrowitz is a five-time national champion in the 1500 m at the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Damian Warner</span> Canadian decathlete (born 1989)

Damian David George Warner is a Canadian track and field athlete specializing in decathlon. He is the 2020 Olympic champion and a four-time world medallist. Warner also won the bronze medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics and was the 2014 Commonwealth champion and a two-time Pan American champion from the 2015 and 2019 Games. Competing in the heptathlon, he is the 2022 World Indoor champion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kevin Mayer</span> French decathlete

Kevin Mayer is a French athlete specialising in decathlon and indoor heptathlon. He is two-time world champion, two-time Olympic silver medalist and the world record holder in the decathlon since 2018. He is also a world and three-time European champion in heptathlon.

Jacquelyn Kate Johnson is an American heptathlete. She is a four-time NCAA outdoor champion, and a three-time NCAA indoor champion (2006–2008) while competing for Arizona State University. She also set a personal best of 6,347 points by placing second at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon, which guaranteed her a qualifying place for the Olympics. Johnson was a member of the track and field team for the Arizona State Sun Devils, where she wa coached and trained by Dan O'Brien, gold medalist in the decathlon at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. In 2008, she won the Honda Sports Award as the nation's best female collegiate track and field athlete.

David Klech is an American decathlete. He attended the University of Oregon, after transferring from the University of California, Los Angeles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gunnar Nixon</span> American decathlete (born 1993)

James Gunnar Nixon is an American track and field athlete who competes in the decathlon. He broke the American high school record for the event in 2011, and was the World Junior Champion in 2012. He won his first national title indoors in 2013, and was runner-up at the 2013 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. His personal record for the decathlon is 8313 points at the 2013 IAAF World Championships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Combined events at the Olympics</span> Athletics events at the Olympics with scores based on multiple events

Combined events at the Summer Olympics have been contested in several formats at the multi-sport event. There are two combined track and field events in the current Olympic athletics programme: a men's decathlon and a women's heptathlon.

In 2015, the foremost athletics event was the 2015 World Championships in Athletics in Beijing. The two other major global level competitions in 2015 are the World Cross Country Championships and the IAAF World Relays.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barbara Nwaba</span> American track and field athlete

Barbara Udoezi Nwaba is an American track and field athlete who represents the Santa Barbara Track Club. Nwaba is known for the pentathlon and heptathlon. She is the 2015 USA Outdoor Track and Field champion in the heptathlon.

In 2016, the foremost athletics events will be staged at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. The two other major global level competitions in 2016 are the World Indoor Championships and World Half Marathon Championships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vin Lananna</span> American track and field coach (born 1953)

Vin Lananna is an American track and field coach. He coached collegiate teams included the Stanford Cardinal and the Oregon Ducks. He has served as national team coach for the 2011 World Championships in Athletics and the 2016 Rio Olympics. He was included in the 2012 USTFCCCA Hall of Fame as a coach.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lalu Muhammad Zohri</span> Indonesian sprinter

Lalu Muhammad Zohri is an Indonesian track and field sprinter. He is the first Indonesian male to win a medal at the IAAF World U20 Championships by winning a gold medal in the 100m. He is the current holder of the Indonesian 100m and 200m national records, and is labelled the "fastest man in Southeast Asia".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anna Hall (athlete)</span> American athlete (born 2001)

Anna Hall is an American athlete specializing in the combined events. She won the silver medal in the heptathlon at the 2023 World Championships and the bronze medal at the 2022 World Championships. Hall is the North American indoor record holder for the pentathlon.

References

  1. ↑ "Harry Marra – OlympicTalk". olympics.nbcsports.com.
  2. ↑ "Jennifer Gish: Harry Marra's Olympic path started at CBA". 17 February 2016.
  3. ↑ "Spikes: When Harry Marra met the Eatons - Spikes". spikes.iaaf.org.
  4. ↑ "Harry Marra - Staff Directory - GoDucks.com - The University of Oregon Official Athletics Web Site". goducks.com.
  5. ↑ Wuest, Sam (28 January 2018). "Coaches I Love: Harry Marra and 18 Words to a World Record".
  6. ↑ "IAAF: Zohri's golden run puts Indonesia on the athletics map- News - iaaf.org". iaaf.org.
  7. ↑ "Harry Marra returns to help athletes reach new heights w/photos".
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.