The question seems simple enough, but ask former TWU track coach Bert Lyle what makes a track athlete fast and he can run through the fine details from stride length to split times.

DRC/Gary Payne

U.S. Track and Field consultant and former Texas Woman’s University track coach Bert Lyle has analyzed talent for years.

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It’s that knowledge that has made Lyle a valuable member of the U.S. Track and Field program for 40 years. Lyle performed film and timing analysis of some of the greatest athletes in U.S. track and field history beginning in the late 1960s and worked with the team’s coaches on a regular basis until December, when he went into semi-retirement.

When the U.S. Track and Field Trials begin today at the University of Oregon in Eugene, Lyle will be back at home in Denton for the first time since the trials leading up to the 1968 Mexico City Olympics.

“I will miss it, but it is time,” Lyle said. “They will still send me the results. … I will meet with the coaches in December.”

What Lyle will provide those coaches is a look at how each athlete might improve based on information others might miss. Lyle will look at each athlete’s times split into 10-meter segments for races like the 100- and 200-meter dashes and their running form.

Lyle was one of the pioneers of evaluating runners based on split times and mechanics.

“When I was in graduate school at Texas, I became interested in research and looking at things that could help or hinder their performance as far as technique in sprinting, hurdling and jumping,” Lyle said. “I came at it from that end.”

Lyle built on what he learned during his time at Texas after taking over as the track and field coach at TWU in 1967, a position he held until the school shut down the program in 1982.

Lyle continued to work with the top U.S. athletes after the program was discontinued.

One of the best athletes from his time at TWU was Louise Ritter, who won the gold medal in the high jump at the 1988 games.

“I was fortunate to have coached both U.S. and foreign athletes who participated in the Olympics at TWU,” Lyle said. “In 1977, the U.S. Olympic Committee decided we needed to do something different because we were terrible in the ‘76 Olympics. They decided we were going to take a more disciplined approach. I was assigned to work with women’s sprinters and hurdlers and provide research on the men as well.”

Lyle helped establish a list of eight to 10 factors that were important to the performance of sprinters. Lyle named Florence Griffith Joyner as the athlete he worked with who had the best form.

Griffith Joyner and her coaches met with Lyle once a year to evaluate her performance and form.

Lyle’s abilities as a coach led the U.S. Olympic team to select him as its sprints coach for the 1992 Olympics.

Over the years, U.S. Track and Field has recognized Lyle’s contributions by presenting him with a series of awards, including the Patricia and Helio Rico and Giegengack awards for lifetime achievement and outstanding contributions to track and field, respectively. He has also received the Robicheaux Award for contributions to women’s track and field.

“Coach Lyle is very well respected and has been involved in track and field for 30 years,” UNT head track coach Rick Watkins said. “If you name it, he has done it for U.S. Track and Field. Once you get out of college you don’t have a coach there every day. Elite athletes don’t think about what they are doing wrong. He looks at what they do. There is no one more knowledgeable about training in the country.”

BRETT VITO can be reached at 940-566-6870. His e-mail address is bvito@dentonrc.com .