Young runner comes face to face with stars in Rio

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

The truth is, as the Olympic Games approached, Gabriel Nunes wasn’t sure he even wanted to go.

The incoming freshman at Miami’s Belen Jesuit felt conflicted about how to spend a stretch of August that came just as he was trying to get his miles in and prepare for his first season of high school cross country. On the one hand, the Nunes family is Brazilian and the chance to see an Olympics in Rio definitely held some allure. Gabriel’s mother had entered the family into a raffle for discounted tickets to the Games months earlier.

At the same time, the cross country team at Belen Jesuit was going on a summer trip to North Carolina and Gabriel wanted to be a part of it.

“I didn’t want to go (to Rio) in the first place,” he said.

Gabriel couldn’t have imagined what would unfold at the Olympic track and field stadium or that he would meet and interact with some of his heroes. What happened in Rio, where he collected a treasure trove of Olympic souvenirs and unforgettable memories, turned into the trip of a lifetime.

“It’s super inspiring,” Gabriel said this week. “Once this all happened, it changed my attitude toward running.”

The adventure of it all began at the first track session that Gabriel attended. He noticed the lax security over by the press section of the 60,000-seat stadium, where athletes walk by to do interviews. He got close enough to Allyson Felix that he was able to say hello and shake her hand.

The next night at the stadium was the men’s 10,000 meters, an event Gabriel was excited to see.

“I was going to try to do the same thing for the 10K, to see Mo (Farah) and Galen (Rupp),” he said. “But this time, there were so many guards I couldn’t get close. I was so disappointed and just walking back to my seat.”

Gabriel said he lifted his head up and saw two men approaching him in the corridor wearing Oregon Project jackets. He recognized one of them as Alberto Salazar, the Nike coach. The kid from Miami couldn’t resist the opportunity to say hello and tell Salazar that he was “a big fan.” The interaction was brief. The coaches were celebrating Farah’s second Olympic 10K victory.

Gabriel returned to his seat to watch the remainder of the session.

When the final race was over, the spectators began to fill the stairways and aisles to leave the stadium. But in the concourse, Gabriel saw Salazar again.

“I saw him buying a Coke and he saw me,” Gabriel said. “He waved me over to him and went into his bag and started taking out a pair of Galen Rupp’s spikes, his race bib, and (Salazar’s) Oregon Project jacket and he gave them to me.”

Gabriel was stunned. He looked at the armload of stuff he was carrying and couldn’t believe it.

“I was so emotional,” he said. “You don’t understand. I was freaking out.”

Gabriel was well aware of Alberto Salazar. He had read books about the legendary marathoner who had been born in Cuba and become a star in the U.S., and watched videos about him online.

Gabriel said he isn’t sure exactly why Salazar gave him the items.

“He definitely saw the emotion and that I was so in shock,” he said. “He could tell right away that I ran and that I was American. I told him I went to Belen. He saw how enthusiastic I was to see him.”

Incidentally, it wasn't Salazar's first interaction with someone from Belen Jesuit. The coach spoke to the school's cross country team when it qualified for Nike Cross Nationals back in 2011.

Gabriel returned to the Olympic stadium in the days that followed and his luck continued.

“I did go to the (men’s) 5,000 and I saw the 1,500 final,” he said. After the 1,500 ended, with Matthew Centrowitz claiming the gold and taking his victory lap, Gabriel was able to get to the front row.

Centrowitz stepped off the track right next to Gabriel.

“Someone that (Centrowitz) knew happened to be standing right next to me,” Gabriel explained. “I took a selfie with him.”

Later, Gabriel was standing near a bank of seats that cover a tunnel where athletes were waiting for the medal ceremony for the 5,000 meters. A ceremony for medalists in the javelin was in progress. Farah was waiting for his turn on the stand.

“I had been trying to get an autograph from Mo,” Gabriel said. He took a blank white ball cap and clipped a black Sharpie to it and dropped it down below with a note that politely asked: “Can you please sign my hat?”

Farah picked it up, signed the hat, and tossed it back up to Gabriel.

The kid was not so lucky trying to get procure a signature from Usain Bolt.

“I tried so hard,” he said. “I tried to sneak through the guards. But this lady stopped me and said ‘Go back to your seat.’”

Gabriel wasn’t discouraged. At the family’s rental, he ran on the treadmill in order to log his requisite miles, fueled by inspiration.

Fortune struck one more time on the plane ride home to Miami. He noticed Jamaican sprinter Yohan Blake on the plane and managed to get a photo with him when they landed.

But nothing about the experience struck him as hard as watching Salazar reach into his bag and pull out three priceless mementos.

Gabriel felt like the jacket was not a spare but instead was actually worn by Salazar. He remembers Salazar checking all of the pockets before handing it over.

“I tried it on but it was huge on me,” Gabriel said. “I’m only 5-3. But I can’t wait until I grow into it.”