EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — Middle-distance runner Eric Holt quit his job and moved back in with his parents. They pay his cell phone bill and let him use the car for a long commute to practice. He works out in any pair of running shoes he happens to get for free and babysits at his sister's place for extra meal money.
Anything to keep his costs low and his training high.
Never quite fast enough to earn a lucrative shoe deal, he’s put everything on hold to chase a spot on the U.S. Olympic team in the 800 and 1,500 meters at track and field trials.
The 29-year-old from New York is making a big investment in himself.
“All of the struggles he’s had, all of the people that have said he can’t do it, that he’s not talented enough — this is the great American story,” his coach, John Trautmann, said as Holt advanced to the semifinal round of the 1,500 meters. “Hopefully, it has the All-American ending, too."
Holt was a state champion in high school and a multi-time conference champion at Binghamton University. After that, he figured his running career was wrapping up.
His good friend, Jacob Sweet, wrote a lengthy paper on him as part of a creative writing project at Yale.
The title: “Running with Eric.”
The theme: Holt’s relentless quest to break the four-minute barrier in the mile. It included the lengths Holt traversed to achieve it, even shoveling snow from a lane of a track to train. It was an admirable determination from the “most tenacious and inspiring person I've ever met,” Sweet said in a text. “Just the nicest, most genuine guy in the world.”
What it really did was rekindle Holt's drive.
“I mean, for me, just having someone believe in you goes a long way,” Holt said. “Having a friend like Jacob writing a paper about me, how he was so enthralled with my success, it just made me want to work hard. It made me love the sport again.”
Holt would center his training around working the late shift at a psychiatric ward as a mental-health worker. Sometimes, he'd log 13-hour shifts at his arduous job and then go to practice.
“I’ve been kicked in the knee. I’ve been punched,” Holt said. “I’ll never forget one day where I was struggling through a workout because my knee was swollen, because I got kicked right in the knee. It could be really tough.”
But his times were improving, even if the respect didn't always follow. At the 2019 Monmouth Mile, he remembered the words of someone who was concerned he might “slow down the field,” Holt recalled. "It just motivated me.”
He won that day — in 3:58.88. At long last, he broke the 4-minute barrier.
“From there I saw light at the end of the tunnel," Holt said. "I knew I could get a lot better."
His late-night workouts drew the attention of Trautmann. He and fellow coach, Tom Nohilly, were looking at performances on Strava, an app that tracks exercise with a social-network component, when they noticed this runner in the area posting his training sessions at all hours.
They were intrigued. They discovered his background. They reached out.
That’s how Holt ended up at the Empire Elite Track Club with Trautmann, a standout at Georgetown and a 1992 Olympian in the 5,000 meters. Like Holt, Trautmann rediscovered his love of running. The 55-year-old Trautmann got away from the sport, steadily worked his way back into the running world and into coaching.
They just clicked.
“He believed in me,” said Holt, who made it to the semifinal round of the 1,500 at the 2021 Olympic trials. “The sky was the limit.”
First, some life modifications. He switched to the day shift at work before going all in and stepping away from his job about a year ago.
He had a nest egg built up.
To preserve his bank account any way he could, he followed his parents to Connecticut, which meant at least a 90-minute one-way commute to get to practice in Westchester County. He borrows his parents' car for the trips and ate at home.
Holt sometimes received free shoes from local running stores ("I'll wear whatever," he said). But he did splurge on racing spikes. His girlfriend pays when they go out, with his solemn vow that someday, should he earn a sponsorship deal, he will treat.
“I’m frugal," Holt said, “and I’m careful with my money.”
He said he received a $10,000 stipend from the USA Track and Field Foundation to help make ends meet. Even earning a little bit of prize money at small races is reason to celebrate — inexpensively, of course.
The idea of being sponsored?
“Getting paid a livable salary and doing what I love, it just sounds too good to be true,” he said.
Holt recently flashed his talent at the USATF NYC Grand Prix, finishing runner-up in the 1,500 meters to 2022 world champion Jake Wightman. It showed he was on the right track.
“I’m betting on myself,” Holt said. “I’m putting in the work and believe I’m talented and deserving enough to get a good contract.
“I want to show sponsors and the world that I am a contender, that I’m a good runner.”
AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games
Eric Holt responds to questions during a news conference before the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials, Thursday, June 20, 2024, in Eugene, Ore. Holt will compete in the 800m and 1500m races. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Eric Holt responds to questions during a news conference before the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials, Thursday, June 20, 2024, in Eugene, Ore. Holt will compete in the 800m and 1500m races. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Eric Holt competes in a heat in the men's 1500-meter run during the U.S. Track and Field Olympic Team Trials Friday, June 21, 2024, in Eugene, Ore. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — Supporters of Bolivia’s president rallied outside his palace on Thursday, giving some political breathing room to the embattled leader as authorities made more arrests in a coup that shook the economically troubled country a day earlier.
Bolivia’s government announced that a total of 17 people had been arrested for their alleged involvement in the attempted government take-over, including the army chief, Gen. Juan José Zúñiga, who was arrested the day before.
The South American nation of 12 million watched in shock and bewilderment Wednesday as military forces appeared to turn on the government of President Luis Arce, seizing control of the capital’s main square with armored vehicles, repeatedly crashing a small tank into the presidential palace and unleashing tear gas on protesters. Zúñiga and former navy Vice Adm. Juan Arnez Salvador were both arrested and remained in custody.
Senior Cabinet member Eduardo del Castillo did not elaborate on the other 15 people who were arrested on Thursday other than to identify one civilian, Aníbal Aguilar Gómez, as the “mastermind” of the thwarted coup. He said the alleged conspirators began plotting in May.
Riot police guarded the palace doors and Arce — who has struggled to manage the country's shortages of foreign currency and fuel — emerged on the presidential balcony to condemn Zúñiga and declare that “no one can take democracy away from us.”
Analysts say that the surge of public support for Arce, even if fleeting, provides him with a reprieve from the country’s economic quagmire and political turmoil. The president is locked in a deepening rivalry with the popular former President Evo Morales, his erstwhile ally who has threatened to challenge Arce in 2025 primaries.
“The president’s management has been very bad, there are no dollars, there is no petrol,” said La Paz-based political analyst Paul Coca. “Yesterday’s military move is going to help his image a bit, but it’s no solution.”
Some protesters gathered outside the police station where the former army general was being detained, shouting that he should go to jail. “It’s a shame what Zúñiga did,” said 47-year-old Dora Quispe, one of the demonstrators. “We are in a democracy, not a dictatorship.”
Before his arrest late Wednesday, Zúñiga alleged without providing evidence that Arce had ordered the general to carry out the coup attempt in a ruse to boost the president’s popularity. That fueled a frenzy of speculation about what really happened, and opposition senators and government critics echoed the accusations, calling the mutiny a “self-coup" — a claim strongly denied by Arce's government.
In La Paz's main Plaza Murillo, supporters addressed Arce, yelling, “Lucho, you are not alone!” as fireworks exploded overhead. Lucho, a common nickname for Luis, also means “fight" as a Spanish verb.
Some Bolivians said they believed Gen. Zúñiga's allegations on national TV that the coup attempt was a hoax.
“They are playing with the intelligence of the people, because nobody believes that it was a real coup,” said 48-year-old lawyer Evaristo Mamani.
Lawmakers and former officials, particularly those allied with Morales, bolstered the allegations. “This has been a setup,” said Carlos Romero, a former official in the Morales government. “Zúñiga followed the script as he was ordered."
Soon after the military maneuver was underway, it became clear that any attempted takeover had no meaningful political support. The rebellion ended bloodlessly by the end of the business day. Arce named a new army commander, who ordered troops to retreat.
“Here we are, firm, in the presidential palace, to confront any coup attempt,” Arce said after facing down Zúñiga. Hundreds of the president's supporters surged into streets surrounding the palace Wednesday night, singing the national anthem and cheering for Arce.
The U.S. deputy secretary of state for management, Rich Verma, condemned Zuniga's actions and speaking in Paraguay on Thursday noted that “democracy remains fragile in our hemisphere.”
The short-lived mutiny followed months of mounting tensions between Arce and Morales, Bolivia's first Indigenous president. Morales has staged a dramatic political comeback since mass protests and a deadly crackdown prompted him to resign and flee in 2019 — a military-backed ouster that his supporters decry as a coup.
Morales has vowed to run against Arce in 2025 elections despite a constitutional court ruling that said he was ineligible because he had already served. The possibility of Morales running again has rattled Arce, whose popularity has plunged as the country’s foreign currency reserves dwindle, its natural gas exports plummet and its currency peg to the U.S. dollar collapses.
Morales’ allies in Congress have made it almost impossible for Arce to govern. The cash crunch has ramped up pressure on Arce to scrap food and fuel subsidies that have put a strain on state finances, a combustible move ahead of elections.
Defense Minister Edmundo Novillo said Wednesday's turmoil had its roots in a private meeting Tuesday in which Arce dismissed Zuñiga over the army chief’s threats to arrest Morales if he proceeded to join the 2025 race. Arce has also denied the legitimacy of Morales’ presidential bid.
In their meeting, Zuñiga gave officials no indication he was preparing to seize power, Novillo said.
"He admitted that he had committed some excesses,” he said of Zuñiga. “We said goodbye in the most friendly way, with hugs. Zuñiga said that he would always be at the side of the president.”
Mere hours later, panic gripped the capital of La Paz. Tailed by armored vehicles and supporters, Zuñiga burst into government headquarters and declared the armed forces sought “to restore Bolivia's democracy."
The influx of soldiers sent Bolivians into a frenzy, thronging ATMs, queuing outside gas stations and ransacking grocery stores. By one count, Bolivia has had more than 190 coup attempts and revolutions since its 1825 independence.
The country’s fragmented opposition rejected the coup even before it was clear it had failed. Former interim President Jeanine Áñez, detained for her role in Morales’ 2019 ouster, said that soldiers sought to “destroy the constitutional order," but appealed to both Arce and Morales not to run in the 2025 elections.
Even if proven false, the accusations of Arce's involvement stoked confusion and threatened more chaos. Santa Cruz Gov. Luis Fernando Camacho, also detained for allegedly orchestrating a coup in 2019, demanded answers.
“Was it a media spectacle put on by the government itself, as General Zúñiga says? Was it just some military madness? Was it simply another example of lack of control?” he wrote on social media platform X.
Zúñiga's answer came as a shock, telling reporters that Arce had asked him directly to storm the palace and bring armored vehicles into downtown La Paz.
“The president told me: ‘The situation is very screwed up, very critical. It is necessary to prepare something to raise my popularity,'” Zúñiga alleged the Bolivian leader told him.
Bolivian officials have insisted the general was lying to justify his actions. Prosecutors said they'd seek the maximum sentence of 15 to 20 years in prison for Zúñiga on charges of “attacking the constitution.”
Political experts have struggled to comprehend the reasons driving Wednesday's turmoil.
“This is the weirdest coup attempt I have ever seen,” said Kathryn Ledebur, director of the Andean Information Network, a Bolivia-based research group. “Bolivia’s democracy remains very fragile, and definitely a great deal more fragile today than it was yesterday.”
DeBre reported from Buenos Aires, Argentina.
People arrested in connection with the previous day's uprising are presented by the police to the press in La Paz, Bolivia, Thursday, June 27, 2024. The government announced more arrests over their alleged involvement in what President Luis Arce called a coup attempt. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
Police guard the government palace the day after a now-ousted Bolivian army chief led some soldiers to storm the building in La Paz, Bolivia, Thursday, June 27, 2024. The rebellion was short-lived as authorities arrested the general and his soldiers retreated. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
A supporter of Bolivian President Luis Arce raises a clenched fist in front of the government palace in Plaza Murillo, in La Paz, Bolivia, Wednesday, June 26, 2024. Arce addressed supporters who gathered in Plaza Murillo, after Wednesday’s apparent failed coup attempt. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
Supporters of Bolivian President Luis Arce crowd into Plaza Murillo in La Paz, Bolivia, Wednesday, June 26, 2024. Armored vehicles rammed the doors of Bolivia's government palace located in Plaza Murillo, in an apparent coup attempt on Wednesday against Arce, but he vowed to stand firm and named a new army commander who ordered troops to stand down. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
Military police block entry to Plaza Murillo in La Paz, Bolivia, Wednesday, June 26, 2024. Armored vehicles rammed into the doors of government palace located in Plaza Murillo, on Wednesday, as President Luis Arce said the country faced an attempted coup. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
Alicia Chura, a supporter of Bolivian President Luis Arce, shouts against Juan Jose Zuniga, a former top Army general who led some soldiers to storm the presidential palace, outside police offices in La Paz, Bolivia, Thursday, June 27, 2024. The rebellion was short-lived as authorities arrested Zuniga and his soldiers retreated. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
Bolivian President Luis Arce raises a clenched fist surrounded by supporters and media, outside the government palace in La Paz, Bolivia, Wednesday, June 26, 2024. Armored vehicles rammed the doors of Bolivia's government palace Wednesday in an apparent coup attempt against Arce, but he vowed to stand firm and named a new army commander who ordered troops to stand down. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
An armored vehicle and military police form outside the government palace at Plaza Murillo in La Paz, Bolivia, Wednesday, June 26, 2024. Armored vehicles rammed into the doors of Bolivia's government palace Wednesday as President Luis Arce said the country faced an attempted coup. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
Police guard the government palace the day after a former top Army general led some soldiers to storm the building in La Paz, Bolivia, Thursday, June 27, 2024. The rebellion was short-lived as authorities arrested the general and his soldiers retreated. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
Bolivian police hold the detained Juan Jose Zuniga, former general commander of the Army, in La Paz, Bolivia, Wednesday, June 26, 2024. An apparent failed coup attempt erupted Wednesday in the country, and Zuniga appeared to be leading the rebellion. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
Army Cmdr. Gen. Juan Jose Zuniga sits inside an armored vehicle at Plaza Murillo in La Paz, Bolivia, Wednesday, June 26, 2024. Armored vehicles rammed into the doors of Bolivia's government palace Wednesday as President Luis Arce said the country faced an attempted coup. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
Supporters of Bolivian President Luis Arce protest against Juan Jose Zuniga, a former top Army general who led some soldiers to storm the presidential palace, outside police offices in La Paz, Bolivia, Thursday, June 27, 2024. The signs read in Spanish, left, "No to the coup. Respect democracy!" and "Yes to democracy! Jail the coup plotters." Authorities arrested Zuniga and his soldiers retreated the previous day. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
