Norwood carries a lesson to the Tokyo Games

Morgan City High alum Vernon Norwood still has the photo in his phone.
The look of discomfort on his face as he pulled up about three-fourths of the way through the first round of the 400-meter run, no longer able to continue at the U.S. Olympic Trials for the Rio Olympics in 2016.
The tough ending was due to an injury suffered a week before in practice after not allowing proper rest from competition.
“I didn’t give my body enough time to really recover and rest and properly hydrate, and I cramped up at practice real bad,” Norwood said.
At the time, Norwood said he was in the best shape he had ever been.
Now, five years later and after a year’s delay to the Olympics because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Norwood sat for an interview earlier this month about his life and his upcoming trip to compete in the 4x400-meter relay and possibly the co-ed 4x400-meter relay.
He’s definitely learned his lesson about taking care of himself.
“You see my water,” he says, referencing a jug sitting near him on the table.
At the Olympics, the co-ed 4x400-meter relay will be run at 6 a.m. Friday, while the finals will be held at 7:35 a.m. Saturday. The 4x400-meter relay men’s heats will be held Aug. 6 at 6:35 a.m., and the finals will be held at 7:50 a.m. Aug. 7.
“He’ll be an integral part of it,” Norwood’s pro coach Dennis Shaver, who also coaches LSU’s track and field teams, said of Norwood’s role in Tokyo. “The thing about Vernon, he’s always willing to do whatever the coaches ask him to do, and that’s a great asset for them to have somebody like him around that thinks that way, is willing to do whatever they need him to do. … There’s a guy you can always count on.”
Norwood said entering the Olympic trials in Eugene, Oregon, this year, he was prepared as he improved his speed.
He said he tried to qualify for the finals in the 400-meter run as easily as possible.
“I don’t care what I run through the rounds,” he said. “I just want to qualify, no matter what lane.”
However, in the semifinals, he said he almost lost his shot at the finals after running a 45.12. Norwood said he ran too aggressively, and got tired towards the end of the race as others passed him.
However, he qualified for the seventh of eight spots to make the finals and qualify for the Olympics. It was just to be determined in the finals whether he would finish in the top three to compete in the 400-meter run at the Olympics or whether he would be placed on the 4x400-meter relay or the 4x400-meter co-ed relay.
With a ticket booked to Tokyo, it took a lot of pressure off Norwood.
Locally, one of Norwood’s high school track and field coaches, Denver Chapman, woke up with a nervous feeling the Sunday morning of the finals.
“I got a surprise call. He called me, wished me a Happy Father’s Day,” said Chapman, who has been a father-figure in Norwood’s life.
It was then that Chapman learned Norwood was Tokyo-bound.
“I just love him. I love him like he’s one of mine. It’s way bigger than this track stuff. He means that much to me,” Chapman, a tear on his cheek, said before putting his head in his hands.
Norwood’s mother, Charlette Ray, said she received word from her son via text that he was heading to the Olympics.
“Sunday, it hit me,” she said. “It hit me. I said, ‘My son’s going to Tokyo.’”
Norwood’s high school coach his senior year, Gary Johnson, can relate to what Norwood is feeling. Johnson, a standout triple jumper at the University of Arkansas whose feats have been documented in past editions of The Daily Review, competed in the 1992 Olympic Trials in New Orleans. However, he was unable to qualify for the Olympics.
“Just right now, I’m even overwhelmed a little bit because I really know the depth of what he’s doing and what it means to not only him but what it means to his family and anybody that’s coming up behind him,” Johnson said earlier this month.
He compared Norwood’s progress from when he met him until now as “like a baby and a man.”
While Norwood had his Tokyo trip booked prior to the finals, he lamented what he said should have been a top 3 finish in the finals. Norwood said he thought he should have been more aggressive. He ended up having to run down competitors for his fifth-place finish.
Regardless of what his talented pupil does on the track, though, Shaver said Norwood’s character is even better.
“I love having him around. … He’s created opportunities for himself, and he’s taken total advantage of all of those opportunities that he’s created for himself,” Shaver said.
“A lot of kids, they want the opportunity but they’re not willing to do all the work to have the success, and Vernon’s not that way,” Shaver added. “So we really appreciate it. He’s one of the best guys I’ve ever had the opportunity to work with, both on and off the track.”