EUGENE, Ore. - Hazel Clark's track career started with a Slurpee run.

The younger sister of middle distance superstars Joetta and J.J. Clark, Hazel wanted nothing to do with running. She had no desire to be in the shadow of her older siblings, and instead spent all her time running in the other direction.

Joetta and J.J. wouldn't have it. When Hazel was 8, they decided to use some good, old-fashioned bribery.

"Betcha can't run around the block twice," a 23-year-old J.J. said to his younger sister one day outside their New Jersey home.

Hazel replied that she could, but wanted something for her effort. So she ran around the block twice like she had been training for it, and was rewarded with a frozen treat. The event proved to be a foreshadow: J.J. doesn't bet Hazel anymore, but as her coach, he still lays out her running route.

Her reward? A chance to qualify for her third straight Olympics, which she did Monday night by winning the 800-meter finals at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials.

In between the eight years of the Slurpee run and the actual start of her track adventure, Hazel Clark tried just about everything else. Figure skating, horseback riding, basketball. As long as it didn't involve track spikes, Hazel was game.

"I sucked at all of it," she said with a wry smile.

Finally, 16 and in her sophomore year of high school, Hazel decided she'd give in and see what all the fuss surrounding track was about. That's when she ran into a problem: She attended a small private girls' high school that didn't have a track program.

Her dad found a quick solution. He'd read the paper, find a local meet, and drop her off in his Cadillac.

"The first meet, I didn't understand how to do things," she said shaking her head and laughing. "I just went for it. I ran a 62 (second) first lap and then an 85. I walked in."

Hazel transferred to Columbia High School her junior year and was an instant star.

"I didn't really like the running, but it was like, 'Finally, something I'm good at,'" Hazel said.

By the time she graduated, she was the No. 1-ranked 800 meter runner in the country. And that's when J.J. came knocking.

J.J., then a coach at Florida, didn't have much interest in recruiting his sister. But after sneaking into the state meet her junior year and watching her run a sub-2:10, he decided maybe her talent could translate to the college level.

"She just looked solid," J.J. said, "and special."

So Hazel went off to Gainesville and proceeded to win five NCAA championships, two indoor and three outdoor. When she graduated in 2000 she said there was "no question" that J.J. would remain her coach.

"I just have so much respect for him," Hazel said. "I know I'm biased, but I really think he's the best middle-distance coach in the country."

Further proof Hazel might be right: J.J. is the Olympic coach for next month's games in Beijing.

In 2002 when J.J. took over the UT women's track program, Hazel and her husband, Wenston Riley, moved to Knoxville to continue her training. She has since won the USA Outdoor Championship two times (2005 and 2006), the USA Indoor Championship (2005) and has been to the 2000 and 2004 games.

Missing from all this, though, is an Olympic medal.

"There's a certain maturity she has now though," J.J. said, adding that Hazel truly "understands" the event now, and how to run it.

Besides Joetta and J.J.'s accomplishments, Hazel is often also compared to J.J.'s wife, Jearl Miles-Clark, the American's record-holder in the 800. In 2000 when they all went to Sydney it was the first time in Olympic history all 800-meter runners were related.

Instead of adding pressure, though, Hazel says Jearl has helped her.

"She's more of a quiet inspiration," Hazel said. "I used to have a bad problem with nerves but one day she said to me, 'All you can do is your best.' That's simple, but I liked it.

"I used to feel pressure, and I think it was holding me back. I don't feel it anymore."

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Women's 800 Final: Clark qualified for her third Olympic games by winning the 800 in 1:59.82, a race she led from start to finish. She went to the 2000 and 2004 Olympics, but wants to bring home a medal this time.

"It's hard to lead like that, it takes a lot of courage to lead a race wire to wire," Clark said. "I just went for it."

A pileup - which Clark was not a part of - in the 800 semifinal made her hesitant to hang back, and "really forced me to focus." She said she decided before the final she wanted to separate herself from the group as much as possible.

"I knew I was strong enough," she said.

Former Lady Vol Kameisha Bennett, Clark's training partner, finished third at 2:01.20, but will not go to Beijing. Athletes had to run 2:00.00 (the Olympic "A") standard at some point in the season in order to go to the games. Bennett did not run the "A" standard this year, but Nicole Teter, who finished fourth, did. She will go to Beijing with Clark and second-place finisher Alice Schmidt.

"I told her (Bennett) she's come a long way," Clark said. "She had a baby last year and that's a big accomplishment, to come back."

© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.