Harry Marra (born 1947 in

Cohoes, New York Cohoes ( ) is an incorporated city located in the northeast corner of Albany County in the U.S. state of New York. It is called the "Spindle City" because of the importance of textile manufacturing to its growth in the 19th century. The city's f ...

) is an American

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

coach. He is best known as the coach of

decathlon The decathlon is a combined event in Athletics (sport), athletics consisting of ten track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek language, Greek δέκα (''déka'', meaning "ten") and ...

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...

holder

Ashton Eaton Ashton James Eaton (born January 21, 1988) is a retired American decathlete and two-time Olympic champion, who holds the world record in the indoor heptathlon event. Eaton was the second decathlete (after Roman Šebrle) to break the 9,000-point ...

. After improving the world record twice and two

world championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

gold medals, Eaton closed off his career by becoming only the third man to defend the Olympic gold medal in the decathlon. Eaton is also the world record holder in the indoor

Heptathlon A heptathlon is a track and field combined events contest made up of seven events. The name derives from the Greek επτά (hepta, meaning "seven") and ἄθλος (áthlos, or ἄθλον, áthlon, meaning "competition"). A competitor in a hept ...

and won three world championships. He also coached

Brianne Theisen Brianne Theisen-Eaton (born 18 December 1988) is a Canadian retired track and field athlete who competed in the heptathlon and women's pentathlon. She won the bronze medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics. Theisen-Eaton holds the Canadian record fo ...

Paul Terek Paul Anthony Terek (born October 20, 1979 in Dearborn, Michigan) is an American Olympic decathlete. He graduated from Livonia Franklin High School in Livonia, Michigan. His personal best in decathlon is 8312 points, achieved in July 2004 in Sacra ...

Sheldon Blockburger Sheldon Blockburger (born September 19, 1964) is a retired male decathlete from the United States, who competed in the late 1980s and the early 1990s. He won the SEC Decathlon Championship in 1986 (breaking the SEC record) and won the 1987 SEC ind ...

and four other 8,000 point decathletes; Brian Brophy, Paul Foxon, Bart Goodell and Chris Wilcox. Theisen won two world championship silver medals in the women's

heptathlon A heptathlon is a track and field combined events contest made up of seven events. The name derives from the Greek επτά (hepta, meaning "seven") and ἄθλος (áthlos, or ἄθλον, áthlon, meaning "competition"). A competitor in a hept ...

, plus the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

and world indoor pentathlon gold medalist for Canada. Training partners under Marra, Eaton and Theisen were married in July 2013, officiated by Marra. Marra was a

pole vault Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the Myc ...

er sprinter at Christian Brothers Academy in nearby

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York City ...

. After receiving some helpful coaching tips there he learned Marra got his B.S. Degree at

Mount Saint Mary's University Mount St. Mary's University (The Mount) is a private Roman Catholic university in Emmitsburg, Maryland. It includes the largest Catholic seminary in the United States. The undergraduate programs are divided between the College of Liberal Arts, ...

and his master's degree from

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

. He was an assistant coach at

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduate ...

, under Sam Adams before his first head coaching job at

Springfield College Springfield College is a private college in Springfield, Massachusetts. It confers undergraduate and graduate degrees. It is known as the birthplace of basketball because the sport was invented there in 1891 by Canadian-American instructor J ...

. From 1981 to 1993, Marra coached at

San Francisco State University San Francisco State University (commonly referred to as San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a public research university in San Francisco. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers 118 different b ...

, while simultaneously serving as a speed and fitness consultant for the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...

. Marra was the American National Decathlon Coach from 1990-2000. When Eaton's original coach

Dan Steele Dan Steele (born March 20, 1969) is an American bobsledder and track and field athlete who competed from the early 1990s to 2002. Competing in two Winter Olympics, he won the bronze medal in the four-man event at Salt Lake City in 2002. He was re ...

left,

Vin Lananna Vin or VIN may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Vîn TV, a Kurdish language satellite television channel founded in 2007 * ''Vos Iz Neias?'', an American Jewish online news site * Coastal radio station VIN Geraldton (callsign), a stati ...

first sought Marra's recommendations for a coach. Not liking the recommendations, Lananna offered Marra the job. He became a full-time assistant coach for multi-events at the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

, where he coached both Eaton and Theisen to NCAA championships in their respective events. Working for the

Oregon Track Club The Oregon Track Club (OTC) is an American running organization based in Eugene, Oregon. History Emerald Empire Athletic Association Formed by Bill Bowerman, the Emerald Empire Athletic Association (EEAA) was the predecessor to the Oregon Track C ...

he continued to coach them while also coaching the Oregon Ducks. Marra's technique involves breaking complex events into simple movements following scientific principles. As an example he cites Eaton's unique shuffle

shot put The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. The shot put competition for men has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival in 1896, and women's ...

technique originating from an act of frustration. In 2012, Coach Marra was named NIKE COACH OF THE YEAR by USATF, the National Governing body of Track and Field in the USA. Additionally, in 2016, after a highly successful Rio Olympic Games for his athletes, Coach Marra was named WORLD ATHLETICS COACH OF THE YEAR. At the end of 2016, after Eaton had won his second gold medal and Theisen had won bronze at the 2016 Olympics, Marra was given the World Athletics Award for Coaching Achievement. Following his accepting of the award, Marra was approached by several countries to assist in developing their athletic teams. He accepted the offer from

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

. In 2018, one of his new charges

Lalu Muhammad Zohri Lalu Muhammad Zohri (born 1 July 2000) is an Indonesian track and field sprinter. He is the first Indonesian male to win any medal at the IAAF World U20 Championships by winning a gold medal in the 100m. He is the current holder of the Indonesia ...

won the world junior championships in the 100 meters. He continues to do coaching clinics around the world. Marra has been inducted into the Christian Brothers Academy, San Francisco State University, Pacific Association USATF and Mt. St. Mary's University Halls of Fame. Marra just recently had his first book published....Title: Stories From The Passenger Seat / Lessons Learned from a Lifetime of Coaching...Coaches Choice Publishers, September, 2022

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marra, Harry 1947 births Living people American track and field coaches People from Cohoes, New York Mount Saint Mary College alumni Syracuse University alumni