Bell feels his time is now
Will attempt to qualify this weekend in Oregon for Beijing Olympics
By MITCH LUCAS sports@kilgorenewsherald.com

ANOTHER SHOT - Kilgore native Kenta Bell (above) left today for Eugene, Oregon, where he will try to qualify to represent the United States in the Beijing Olympic Games in August. Bell is hoping for a return trip to the Olympics as a part of the U.S. track and field team. He finished ninth in the men's triple jump in Athens in the 2004 games, but says he believes he can and will do better this time around.

For Kenta Bell, 2008 is all about redemption.

The Kilgore native wants to prove himself to the world after finishing ninth in the Olympic Games in Athens in 2004, and while 2004 might not seem that long ago to some, Bell said it definitely feels like four years have passed.

"Believe me," he laughed, "it's been four years. I'm feeling 'em."

Bell was to leave this afternoon for Eugene, Ore., the site of qualifying for the U.S. Olympic team. He will try to qualify once again in the triple jump, his competition of choice, as a part of the track and field team.

Finishing ninth was a disappointment for Bell, who has always been his own harshest critic.

But many things have changed for the 31-year-old Bell since that summer in Athens. He's married now to college sweetheart Lakesha, and living in the Atlanta, Ga., area. The 1995 Kilgore High School graduate says he feels better mentally and physically than he did four years ago.

"I'm doing really good, actually," Bell told the Kilgore News Herald this morning as he packed for an afternoon flight to Oregon.

"It does seem like, in many ways, that since 2004 everything that could have gone wrong for me has gone wrong. But I'm actually healthy right now, and I've got a different attitude. It's different the second time around (preparing for possibly competing in the Olympics). I don't really know how to explain it. ...In 2004, I had this energy the whole year. 'It's an Olympic year, it's an Olympic year,' was kind of what I said to myself all year. There just seemed to be so much pressure, and a lot of it I think I put on myself.

"But it's different this year. It's been very weird, very laid-back. I keep wondering if that's going to change; so far it hasn't. ...Training has been going extremely well. Everything looks kind of perfect on video. You know how you want things in life, and you think you're ready, but then God says maybe you're not? This time, I feel like God might just say I am ready. It just feels different."

Bell will compete in the triple jump preliminaries on Friday, and if he does well, he'll be in the finals on Sunday. To qualify for the Olympic games in Beijing, he'll need a top-three finish. And there's a good chance the triple jump can be seen here on the NBC family of networks, which has televised Olympic qualifying both this week and last.

Should he qualify, business will really pick up for Bell in the latter part of the month. Forgive him, he apologizes ahead of time, if he isn't able to answer his cell phone too much.

"(The U.S. Olympic Committee) will have a training camp set up (in Beijing)," he said. "We'll come over a week or so early and get acclamated to the environment, and when the games get closer, we'll move into Olympic Village."

Beijing is not exactly complete foreign territory to Bell, who has been on the big stage there before. He won gold at the World University Games in Beijing in August, 2001, his coming-out party, so to speak.

"It was my mirst international major meet, first big one like that," Bell recalled. "I went in and won with flying colors. And when you do that, win in that way, it makes you think your whole career is going to keep going that way. But I haven't hardly hit the podium since."

He's being a little hard on himself. Bell has had a nice track and field career, including a few standout performances since the '04 Olympics. He finished third in the USA Outdoors in 2007, and was the runner up in the USA Outdoors in both 2005 and 2006. He won that event in 2003.

After graduating from KHS in the mid 1990s, he journeyed to Northwestern State University in Louisiana, where he became a Southland Conference wonder. His personal best in the triple jump was set in 2002: 57 feet, 10 1/4 inches (17.63 meters).

If he qualifies for that return trip to China, he'll be a part of the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, which begin Aug. 28 and finish Aug. 24, held largely at the Beijing National Stadium. Athletes will compete in 302 events in 28 sports.

The slogan for this year's summer Olympics is "One world, one dream."

Bell, who will be joined in Oregon this week by his wife, mom Diane Bell and other family members, would love to get back to Beijing and medal in this Olympics. He even teased today on the phone that should he medal, that he might consider retirement.

"I might just scoop up some dirt, and keep those shoes," he laughed.