CEHHS Professor’s Experience Coaching at Paris Olympics
By Cara Smith, CEHHS Student Reporter, Class of 2024
Assistant professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies (ELPS) in the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences (CEHHS), James Martinez discovered his love for rowing after watching the 1988 Seoul Olympics where he watched Anne Marden compete in rowing.
“It was really an inspiring race,” said Martinez. “She was way down and came back to win a silver.”
He was so impressed, he wrote Marden a letter, and she convinced him to start rowing. Since he began rowing, he has rowed competitively for the U.S. and represented them nationally and internationally from 1993 to 1998.
With his background in rowing, Kathleen Noble, an athlete from Uganda, approached him about coaching for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Noble was looking for a level-three, international coach when she discovered Martinez. Noble impressed Martinez instantly with her determination and technique, and the two began training together in June 2023 for 15 to 20 hours a week.
“Dr. Martinez is an extremely knowledgeable and dedicated coach,” said Noble. “My speed and technique improved significantly under his instruction as well as my understanding of what it takes to be an elite athlete.”
Noble is the first person ever to represent Uganda in rowing and qualified for the Paris Olympics in October 2023. Together, Martinez and Noble trained extensively until the games began.
Throughout training, UT supported Martinez and Noble extensively by supplying Noble with sports nutritionists and psychologists. Noble was also given a job by UT in the ELPS department and worked with Martinez over the summer.
“UT went all out to assist me with coaching and with her,” said Martinez.
Two weeks before leaving for Paris, while Noble was training, she broke her record by ten seconds. However, because of how hard she pushed herself, she got sick and had to take a week off.
Once she made it to Paris, Noble built her strength back and placed 26th—high enough to make the semi-finals but, unfortunately, not high enough to make the quarter-finals.
“Regardless of place, she is a two-time Olympic rower and first-time rower ever from Uganda,” said Martinez. “She’s a wonderful representative of her country.”
From sickness to uncomfortable beds and being under-sized from other athletes, Noble faced multiple difficulties during her time at the Olympics. Despite the hardships, the memories and excitement of Paris are something Martinez and Noble will never forget.
“He persistently challenged me to believe I was capable of more than I thought I was, and in the year and a half I worked with him, I did achieve results I would never have imagined possible for me,” said Noble. “Dr. Martinez has a passion for coaching combined with a wealth of experience as an elite sculling athlete that is rare.”
In the future, Martinez’s decision to coach at the Olympics again will depend on the athlete and their skill.
“It would have to be the right person, and they would have to show me they have both the internal and external resources to be able to manage the Olympics,” said Martinez.
Martinez’s advice to future Olympic athletes is to understand it takes a lot of practice and dedication.
“Most don’t recognize that to get to the Olympics, it takes a lifetime,” said Martinez.
Special thanks to UT’s senior associate athletics director and associate provost, Marshall Steward, associate professor in the Department of Kinesiology, Recreation, and Sport Studies, Jim Bemiller and Martinez’s students and departmental colleagues for making his time coaching at the 2024 Paris Olympics possible.