A Model Example Of Having It All

Suzy Hamilton could be a model. She could be doing commercials. She could be a painter. She could work with animals. She could be a golfer or a track and field broadcaster.

She has all those varied interests and has dabbled in a few of those professions.

Instead, she has chosen to be a runner - for now, and for a long time.

“I want to run at least 10 more years,” said Hamilton, who will be 28 next month. “Look at Mary Slaney and Ruth Wysocki. They give me such inspiration.

“I haven’t tapped into my potential yet. I love running so much. I love it more and more, every day, every year…”

Her love for the sport has led Hamilton to two Olympic berths - as a member of the 1,500-meter team in 1992 and the 800 team this year. Slaney, who will turn 38 Aug. 4, made the Olympic team for the fourth time, in the 5,000. Wysocki, 39, came out of retirement for a third time last year and finished seventh in the 1,500 at the World Championships.

While running is at the top of Hamilton’s list, she does not disregard her other pastimes.

For example, the blond, hazel-eyed Hamilton - she includes those physical attributes on her resumes, along with her track performances - adorns the cover of this month’s Runner’s World magazine. This month, she also will model for a swimsuit-running calendar for 1997. In addition, she has modeled for running shoes and other magazines.

Filming commercials also is part of her life, although she doesn’t particularly like them because they’re time-consuming and interfere with her training.

Hamilton, a graphics-art graduate from Wisconsin, has had a long-time passion for abstract painting and eventually plans to have a show in a gallery in Eugene, Ore.

She also enjoys her two dogs and playing golf, and has the inclination to be a broadcaster. But for now, they’re all secondary to her running.

She still is trying to learn to perform well in big international meets. So far, she has been unsuccessful, marring an otherwise outstanding career that has included a remarkable 23 Big Ten titles at Wisconsin (21 in individual events), a record nine NCAA championships, 14 NCAA All-America honors, three U.S. titles, three U.S. junior championships, one Pan American Games junior title, two World Championship teams and two Olympic teams.

Her performances at the Olympics and World Championships have all ended in despair.

At the 1992 Barcelona Games, she finished 11th in her 1,500 heat. At the 1991 World Championships in Tokyo, she was ninth in her 1,500 heat, and at last year’s World Championships in Goteborg, Sweden, she was eighth in her semifinal heat.

Hamilton blames those failures on a “lack of maturity” and a lack of experience in running against the aggressive Europeans, and calls them all “learning experiences.”

Now, Hamilton is confident, although she claims her confidence would be higher if she had made the team in the 1,500, her favorite event.

“I hadn’t even trained for the 800,” she said. “The 800 (at the trials) took it all out of me. By the time, I ran the 1,500 at the trials, I was fatigued.”

So tired that she finished 13th in the 1,500 final, after having placed third in the 800.

“I hope to make the (Olympic) final in the 800 and run my best time ever,” said Hamilton, whose best is 1 minute, 58.74 seconds, set last year at Zurich, Switzerland.

“I’m running my best times in practice. It’s getting easier and easier. My running is improving every year. I’m also doing more lifting than ever. You need a lot of strength to run the 800.

“I’m doing everything to get myself into position to win a medal in a big meet. I’m definitely prepared.”

Hamilton’s career also has been marred by miscounting the number of laps remaining in a race, misjudging the finish line, falling in national championships, and by a series of bumping and elbowing incidents.

“I’ve learned everything the hard way,” she said. “Miscounting laps was my most embarrassing moment on the track, but I’ve tried to turn it into something positive. It gave me a lot of publicity. I love publicity. I love the camera.

“From that experience, I can tell people it’s OK to make mistakes. It happens. Just don’t make them again.”

Especially in big meets.