THE CANADIAN PRESS
TORONTO — There’s already a fullness to Gary Reed’s face to replace the cheeks once hollow from countless hours of training.
There were also tears and a wide smile Monday as the world silver medallist in the 800 metres officially announced his retirement from track and field.
Despite the tears, the 29-year-old from Kamloops, B.C., called it a "joyous, positive decision."
"It’s not a decision that I’ve been forced into by injury, illness, anything negative" he said. "I feel like I’ve explored every avenue in this sport, I’ve turned over every stone in training, I left it all out there, and it feels good. I feel at peace, I feel happy, it’s great."
Reed said he no longer has the drive to log the long hours of training, and do all the little things required to be a contender for a medal at the 2012 London Olympics, and he’s never been a believer in doing anything halfway.
"To sum it up in a one-liner, the tank is empty, I have no more gas in the tank, I have no more drive left that is needed to stand on the podium," Reed said during a news conference at a Toronto hotel. "I think I know myself very well, I love the sport of track and field, I love everything it’s given me, I will always love track and field, but I don’t think it’s fair to hang around and take a stab at it and give 80 per cent."
Reed was just nipped at the finish line to win silver at the 2007 world championships in Osaka, Japan, then went on to finish fourth at the 2008 Olympics, in one of Canada’s top track performances at Beijing’s Birds Nest Stadium. His time of one minute 43.68 seconds set in 2008 in Monaco is the Canadian record in the 800 metres.
But he’s realized over several months of soul-searching that his motivation was waning.
"It’s the little things that really matter in this sport, all the little details, making sure you’re just eating right and just going to bed on time, and not missing yoga. You have to be willing to do those things and I lost the desire to do the little things, and I know you can’t make it in this sport without doing the little things," he said. "I have zero desire to carry on, absolutely no desire. I barely have motivation to run right now out the door. I’ve taken it as far as I can."
Reed describes himself as an emotional person, and while he credits his all-or-nothing approach to propelling him onto the world track and field stage, it has made for a roller-coaster ride of a career.
"If you’re emotional, I feel you can get the best out of yourself and push yourself to the absolute limit, to leave it all on the track, but it takes a tremendous amount out of you and can leave your emotional tank just dry. That’s where I am right now."
His silver medal performance in Osaka packed an unexpected emotional wallop.
"I had this emotional tidal wave where I couldn’t stop crying for two weeks, it was the first time in my life I’ve ever been overwhelmed with emotion, it was just a really neat experience," Reed said. "After Beijing it was similar, but I couldn’t feel as much emotion which made me think a lot had been taken out of me."
Reed said he’s been pondering this decision for about a year. He battled exhaustion last spring and was forced to cut his season short.
He married longtime girlfriend Caitlin Quinn in August, and Quinn was at Monday’s announcement along with his mom Mary, his longtime coach Wynn Gmitroski, and numerous Athletics Canada officials.
"I’m extremely proud to see how he’s come to this decision today, it has not been quick, it has not been easy, I would like to see more people in the sport approach it this way so they can bring it to a healthy closure," said Gmitroski. "You’re going to be missed by your teammates, but mostly by me. It’s been a unique ride."
Canadian hurdlers Priscilla Lopes-Schliep and Perdita Felicien sent messages via video. Reed and Gmitroski wiped away tears during a video montage of the runner’s career highlights.
His best friend and shot putter Dylan Armstrong was among the individuals he thanked.
Reed, who has moved to Vancouver from his training base in Victoria, will begin a career in real estate next week.
He’s also committed to help struggling young track and field athletes, and will start a fund for Olympic hopefuls. He’ll donate three per cent of his salary in his first year to the fund and said he’s committed to keeping it going for the rest of his life.
"A big thing for me in deciding to go with this was how can I make an impact on the sport, how can I help those athletes who are $100, $200 away from quitting the sport," Reed said. "It’s hard for people to understand how much $50, $75, $100, a bag of groceries, what kind of impact that can have in somebody’s life when they can have no money."
Reed has struggled to make ends meet, scraping by in the early years on part-time jobs and help from family and friends.
"My father-in-law would come to visit and buy two big bags of meat and throw them in my freezer, or maybe a card that said, ‘We believe in you, here’s $100.’ It made all the difference," Reed said.
Derek Evely coached Reed in his first years in the sport in Kamloops, when he would show up dog-tired from his shifts at McDonald’s. They trained in an old ice rink that was always cold.
"He had it tough," Evely said through a video message (Evely now lives in England and is a coach with UK Athletics). "I knew that this was a guy who could go the distance, who could overcome his struggles, not make them excuses but turn them into something that fuelled him and drove him."
Reed said the one thing he’ll miss most from his gruelling track routine is being "super fit," but he’s excited to channel his energy into his real estate career, which he says has always been a second love.
"It’s dealing with people, it sort of has the same facets of track where if you’re willing to really work hard, work really hard, there is an endless amount of potential there," he said. "It’s going to be a new chapter, but it’s going to be fun."