Like thousands of other Americans, Steve Dudley and Houston Franks are traveling to Rio de Janeiro for the 2016 Olympic Games.

Unlike the others, they won’t be there to cheer on Team USA.

Don’t consider it an indictment of their patriotism if the two — for the time-being at least — are devoted fans of Team Canada and Team Portugal.

Dudley is the head track coach at Mississippi State and Franks is his assistant. They left for Rio Thursday to support a pair of their athletes — Brandon McBride and Marta Freitas, who will be competing Friday for Canada and Portugal, respectively.

It’s not just a big stage for the coaches and their athletes, Dudley said. It’s a big thing for the entire Mississippi State family.

“I’m pretty doggone passionate about this, as you can probably tell,” Dudley said before leaving for the Games. “But I think having these two athletes competing in Rio should arouse a sense of pride for everybody here at Mississippi State, from the athletic department, the administration, alumni and fans. It’s a pretty big deal.”

McBride, a senior from Windsor, Ontario, Canada, will compete in the men’s 800 meters in Friday morning’s qualifying round. Freitas, a junior from Lisbon, Portugal, will run in the qualifying heat later Friday in the women’s 1,500 meters.

Although neither are considered medal contenders in most circles, both have their unabashed confidence of their coaches.

“I think they both have a shot at making the finals,” Dudley said. “And if you get to the finals, it’s anybody’s game. These two, they are special. Don’t count them out.”

Franks, who coaches distance runners on the track team along with his duties as MSU’s cross-country coach, will be with Freitas to support and advise Freitas while Dudley will focus his attention on McBride.

Both athletes, Dudley said, are the model of what it takes to become a world-class athlete.

“You would be hard-pressed to find two athletes who are willing to sacrifice more, and be totally dedicated and disciplined,” Dudley said. “You see that in absolutely everything they do — from every morsel of food that goes into their mouths, to every work-out, every mile they run, every strength session, just everything.

“Their attitude has been, ‘I’ve got to get better right now, and get better the next minute, the next hour, the next day.’ You can’t be ‘Rocky’ for two weeks and expect to be an Olympian. It’s every day, all the time, and that’s the attitude they have. You don’t get many kids like that.”

The road to Rio

McBride is coming off a series of impressive performances, including a memorable second-place finish in the NCAA Outdoors Championships in Eugene, Oregon. In that race, McBride and Texas A&M’s Donavan Brazier turned in the fastest two times of the year in the NCAA.

Since then, McBride, who won the SEC 800 meter championship, has competed in two professional International Association of Athletics Federations Diamond League events, finishing fourth in one and second in the other.

It was that second-place finish at the Muller Anniversary Games in London on June 23 that really raised McBride’s stock, Dudley said.

“In that one, he beat the No. 1 guy in the world (Pierre Ambrose Bosse of France),” Dudley said. “With that, I think he went from somebody you hope can make the finals in the Olympics to someone you sort of expect to make the finals.”

Freitas, meanwhile, earned her spot in the Games by virtue of her second place finish at an event in Barcelona, Spain, which served as the qualifying meet for the Portugal National Team.

She is the reigning Southeastern Conference and NCAA champion in the 1,500 meters.

“With Marta, if it comes down to a kick, watch out,” Dudley said. “She has an incredible kick, and a lot of times in the Olympics it does come down to who has the best kick. I think she has a real shot.”

If McBride advances Friday, he will compete in the semifinals on Saturday. The finals are set for Monday evening. The women’s 1,500 semifinals are set for Sunday, with the finals scheduled for Tuesday evening.

Regardless of the outcome, Dudley feels their presence at the Olympics will be great marketing for MSU track.

The two are the 17th and 18th MSU athletes to compete in the Olympics going back to 1920.

“I think what they show is that, if you want to be an Olympian, Mississippi State is a place where you can achieve that goal,” Dudley said. “We have the facilities, the support, all of the things an athlete needs. Anybody that wants to be an Olympian wants to go to a place where they have all those things. We’ve proven that Mississippi State is that kind of a place.

“We’d had Olympians before, we have them now and we’ll continue to have them.”

MSU’S ALL-TIME OLYMPIANS

■ Don Scott, USA 1920, 1924

■ C.S. Cochran USA, 1924

■ E.C. “Billy” Hayes, USA, 1924

■ Lee Priester, USA, 1924

■ W.O. Spencer, USA, 1924, 1928

■ Sid Robinson, USA, 1928

■ Lee Palles, USA, 1980

■ Simeon Kigen, Kenya, 1984

■ Will Clark (silver medalist) 1984*

■ Falilatu Ogunkoya Nigeria, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000 (silver and bronze medalist in 1996)

■ Festus Igbinoghene, Nigeria, 1992

■ Julius Sedame, Ghana 1996

■ Jude Monye, Nigeria 2000 Silver medalist)

■ Pierre Brown, Canada, 2002, 2004

■ Dion Crabbe, British Virgin Islands, 2004

■ Aundre Barnaby, Canada, 2012

■ Marta Freitas, Portugal, 2016

■ Brandon McBride, Canada, 2016

*Clark was member of USA baseball team. All other MSU Olympians competed as track and field athletes

Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].

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