Catching up with the ‘MAN’tia – U.S’s Speedskating savior on top of his game!

I’m often times reminded by skaters what a cool job I have primarily because they think I get “free stuff”. Granted I get access to my share of ground-breaking products & technology from the skating world & being part of the Luigino/Atom Wheels (www.atomwheels.com) R&D team certainly has its perks but the really cool factor for me comes from the people that make all of this possible & actually "happen"!

My access to the top athletes in the world is probably where I receive my biggest gratification from but that’s never exactly an easy task per se. I don’t have the red colored phone that we see in the theaters that go straight to the President’s office! (Although that could be cool but quite laborious knowing some of these guys :) ) Often times its a few minutes at an event or short text messages here & there or sometimes just a hotel room with 5 minutes of chat, 4-5 hours of rest & then its race time the next morning!

I’ve been fortunate this past year to not only work with World Champion Joey Mantia extensively during NSC (www.pronsc.com) season 2 but also shared some exclusive downtime with the All-Star at some recent events. The 28 time world champion likes to think he has a pretty normal life but it’s anything short of normalcy in my book! His 2011 winning season has been nearly flawless with back to back wins in marathons and sprint races alike. I caught up with him in Salt Lake City this past weekend where’s he’s currently residing & preparing for one of his biggest summers yet!

Here is my interview with Joey Mantia (June 2011)

Pete Snell - First things first Joey, you just got back from Incheon, Korea on a huge win in the world inline cup marathon. I'm sure that feels pretty good especially this time of year. What are some thoughts about this particular marathon in Korea? Were you basically skating by yourself, how exactly did you pull off the 'W' with a field that big & some of the world’s best comprised of 5 to 7 to each team? What were some key moments, lows, doubts & game changers?

Joey Mantia - I really enjoy going over to Korea to race. The reality is, over the last several years they have become a tremendous international force in inline speed skating and with that comes excitement and awareness of the sport that has become my life. The marathon got some unfortunate nasty weather last year resulting in the cancellation of all races except the World Cup category.

This year, however, the weather was absolutely beautiful and the number of entries for the race certainly reflected that; it was both motivating and inspiring seeing all the young kids participate. I've spent a vast majority of my international career as an independent athlete, so I had to learn pretty quick how to do that successfully. I do have to say, there have been a handful of times where I had some tremendous team support around me that contributed to me coming out victorious, but primarily, I’ve had to take control of my own race. Luckily for me, I always had a knowledgeable mentor that I confided in showing me the metaphorical ropes when it came to trusting my ability and executing race strategy. From the time I was coming up, Doug Glass has always been my secret mental weapon teaching me the do's and don'ts of racing and I really think its those lessons mixed with a strong desire to win that has brought me to where I am today.

(Doug Glass & Mantia at the 2008 world championships)

(cont'd) In Korea, this was certainly the case. I knew that I had to control the attacks and keep them at a safe distance, even if that meant spending energy leading the pack- I had prepared for this specific situation in my workouts. With all the Koreans working together, all the Powerslide guys working together, and me being alone, I knew I wanted to get on a break-away and stay away from the pack; otherwise I would spend the entire race reeling back endless attacks. Conclusively, Yann Guyader and I successfully broke from the main field and finished as such. Despite being fatigued from the amount of work done in the beginning of the race, I was able to edge out Yann at the line. I would say the key moment was when I contemplated giving up on the break, there was a specific point where my legs were telling my brain 'enough is enough' but my brain fired back with 'we came all the way to Korea, you're gonna tuff it out' haha and they did luckily.

(Mantia (Atom Wheels) wins the world cup inline Marathon in Icheon, Korea, May 29^th, 2011)

Pete Snell – There seems to be this constant ice vs. wheels confusion, which are you? I get this question a lot in the field from people in the inline community, especially the little guys who are looking ahead to someday fill your shoes. Is Joey skating ice or is he skating inline? Which is it and how do you explain it?

Joey Mantia - I am and always will be an inline skater. The truth is that there came a point in my career where I began feeling stagnant. It was such a feeling of redundancy that I was spiraling into a mental state of fatigue and I knew it was time for a change; it was time for a new challenge. Naturally, with athletes like Chad Hedrick, Derek Parra, and Joey Cheek all paving the way for athletes like myself to transition to long track successfully, it was a simple choice of what that new challenge was going to be. Admittedly, I haven't spent too much time on the ice to date; however, I can certainly say that it is not as fun as inline. In fact, skating on the ice has sort of rekindled my love for my inlines. I think this next world championships (roller speedskating) could actually be my last, at least until after the 2014 Olympic Games. Realistically, the time that inline worlds takes to accurately prepare for is something I’m not willing to take away from the small amount of time I have to prepare for the 2014 Olympic games. I won't be hanging up the inlines completely because I really think that there’s a certain magic that comes from inline and I don't want to lose that. I'm considering racing some marathons next year, both international and domestic.

(Mantia in the Netherlands on the ice 12/2010)

Pete Snell - How's your training going thus far? Are you on track as to where you wanna be? What are you actually doing this time of year? Same as last year? Over the years you've been very technical in your skating and training. Is it the same today as it was last year or even 2 years ago?

Joey Mantia -Training is going phenomenally. There isn't a better place for me to be training right now as far as quality of athletic ability and motivation goes. We have the national short track (ice) team here and I can say with confidence that nobody I know trains harder than that group. Then there are the long track groups who are doing a lot of their pre season dry land training right now. I'm skating a ton on my inlines and a little bit of short track to keep the turn technique in check, which has turned out to be a tremendous help thus far. The altitude here in Salt Lake is also another key factor in my training. In a nut shell, I pretty much bounce around from group to group picking out what I need from each, so it’s working perfectly.

(when focused, Mantia's (above) off & on-skate training is second to none)

(Cont’d) Joey Mantia - I have been and always will be very methodical when it comes to my technique. Even in the heart of the training season, approaching worlds, I will continue to focus a vast majority of my attention on technical aspects. I have had the incredible opportunity of working one on one with inline world champion and Olympic long track champion Derek Parra who has helped me make huge technical strides. Frankly, there's not a person on the planet I would trust more as a technical coach than him, he had arguably the best corner technique in the history of long track and knows exactly why & how he did. I'm just about to start my hard training cycle for worlds which should be right on point as far as intensity and volume from last year. I’m confident in the program, after just six weeks of it last year, I think I was skating stronger and more efficiently than I ever have before.

(Derek Parra (above) former Olympic Gold Medalist & Inline World Champion)

Mantia on wheels (NSC) http://www.pronsc.com/

(Mantia (above) goes solo in an international marathon!)

Pete Snell - Worlds this year in Korea ( http://www.yeosu2011.com) August 30th, 2011 – September 05th, 2011) Thoughts? No residency for Team USA in 2011, is that good or bad in your opinion? (Residency is a training program at the OTC. After team USA is selected from Outdoor Nationals, the team arrives at this program to train for weeks before the world championships) You just got back from Korea and I'm sure the world championships were on your mind at some point but tell us what worlds will be like in Yeosu City, Korea 2011 on 8/30/11.

Joey Mantia - Last time worlds were in Korea, the organization was top notch. They really took care of the athletes and it had a professional feel to the championships. As I said earlier, Korea has been becoming a very strong international presence in the world of inline speed skating, so I’m confident that the spectators and/or attendance will be great as well. With no residency program set up this year, I think it will actually hinder the performance of Team USA. There is no greater training camp for what we do than residency at OTC http://www.teamusa.org/ Personally, I'll be anticipating this and designing my program to use outdoor nationals more as training than an actual competition. By this, I’m not saying it will be easy to make the team, but I will be prepared to alter my race strategies to cater to workouts instead of victories, once I have solidified my spot.


Pete Snell – ODN (outdoor nationals) http://usarollersports.org/events/7468 this year (August 13th, 2012) is coming up pretty soon. There's always drama 1/2 way through. Who's gonna make the team, who's not. Who deserves it? Who came prepared? Etc. etc. (Team USA is chosen based on qualifications at the U.S Outdoor Nationals each year)
Even though you skate for yourself and while you have friends in all your races, does it ever cross the line (i.e. interfere) and do you get tired of all that “stuff” year in & year out? Does the parabolic track give you a major disadvantage when going to the flat banked tracks which are what they have at the world championships and which is now mandatory?
What are your thoughts on the flat banked tracks that every country is building left and right? Do you think the process of selecting Team USA currently is the best way based on the U.S talent and how we fare at worlds each year in your opinion?

Joey Mantia - I think any time you're having a trials for a chance to compete at a meet that could define your career as an athlete, there's going to be drama. Since the beginning of our sport, there has been team skating to put people on the team and to keep people off, some successful, some not. The ultimate reality of the situation is this- if you aren't strong enough to make the team by yourself convincingly, you're most likely not going to have what it takes to compete with the world’s best. The only thing I get tired of is people thinking there's aggressive team work going on when there's actually not, that part gets a little old. I think the entire time I competed for Luigino with teammates Chad Horne, Chris Creveling and Michael Cheek; we got fingers pointed at us every single race just because we took control and dominated the races. The truth is that there were only a few times I can recall where we actually went into a race with a set strategy.

(Mantia (above) at ODN 2010 leads the pack high off the bank down the back stretch to the start/finish line)

(Cont’d) Joey Mantia - I don’t know that the parabolic track is a disadvantage, but it would definitely make more sense to hold trials and residency on a flat track, IF that was the only factor. However, with the Olympic training center giving our national team (except for this year) great support for residency, it’s not really feasible to have the program or trials in Florida. I think that the racing on a flat banked track is absolutely terrible. Parabolic racing is better for the spectators and the athletes because the line options are considerably greater than a flat track, where all the racing is done tight. The issue is that flat tracks are a lot less expensive to construct, I think that is the underlying reason that the CIC (http://www.cic-roller.com/)ruled all worlds tracks must be flat bank now. The selection process will never ever be perfect; I’ve come to think that over the years. Accepting that, if you want to make the team, do your homework, train accordingly and there won't be an issue.

(Mantia lines up on the inside line for the start of a race at worlds in Columbia on a 200m flat banked track)

Pete Snell – IDN (U.S Indoor Nationals) http://usarollersports.org/events/5398 When’s the last time you skated IDN? Will you ever skate it again? We often hear that indoors is why the U.S skaters are so dominant at worlds when it comes to track skating and even for road skating but yet we don't' see you compete indoors that much. Why is that? What are your thoughts in U.S indoor skating? USARS (www.usarollersports.org) just added the Indoor World Cup, thoughts?
Do you think the numbers are coming back indoors even if it's little at a time? What would you like to see indoors? You're a huge part of NSC (www.pronsc.com) which is showcasing indoor professional level skating to non-skater spectators. Is it working? I must admit it’s sometimes difficult for a true fan like me to watch NSC with you watching from the sidelines instead of racing. Kind of like, is the fastest guy not out there right now? All the props in the world to the guys like Will Bowen who have been destroying the field in NSC but do you think he's thinking that it's w/out you out there also? Will you skate NSC again?

Joey Mantia - The last time I skated indoor nationals was last year, I won World Class for the fourth time in my career. I love skating indoor practices, I can't get enough of the tight turns and the workout it gives, but the racing has sort of lost its luster. I think because I’ve done it so long, coupled with the fact that the stronger I got outdoors, the bigger I became and the harder time I had getting around corners. Secretly, I stopped spending so much time on my corner technique, my flexibility went out the window, and my ability to skate indoors efficiently more or less vanished. That being said, it just wasn't as fun for me any more, it was more like a job than a passion.

(From left to right, Mantia, Vogel & Horne hawk at the line 2009 Indoor Nationals)

(Cont’d) Joey Mantia - When I stopped having to worry about being able to perform indoors, it became a lot more enjoyable for me again. I think that indoor is why US skaters USED to be so good compared to the rest of the world, but they (rest of the world) have certainly caught up and some have even surpassed us unfortunately. The sad reality is that there doesn’t seem to be many athletes in the US who seem to care about winning enough to commit to the amount and quality of training it takes to do so on a world level. This is starting to become evident even watching indoor meets in the States where international skaters are coming in and winning races.

(Mantia (middle in orange) was a top contender in NSC Season 1 - For Season 2 he chose to co/produce the show with partner Miguel Jose & NSC doubled in size!)

(Cont’d) Joey Mantia - I’m not really sure what to think about the indoor world championships, in fact, I don’t have enough info on it to really give a solid opinion thus far. Ultimately I would LOVE to see athletes battling on the grand stage in front of main stream America, earning a living doing what they love to do. That is the mission of NSC, and trust me when I say that we are well on our way. We have some great new things planned for the next season (season 3) and look to be out of the skating rinks and into actual arenas sooner than later.

(cont'd) Mantia -There's certainly a part of me that wants to be out there racing those guys, I think it’s just in my blood, but I do really enjoy running the show, its something different that I get to experience while still being a part of the sport I love. I think once upon a time, when I was 10 pounds lighter and skating indoor every day, the NSC would have been a place for me to shine, but with guys like Will Bowen throwin down some sick lap times, it would be tough for me to compete today. I think Will is a great racer and has respect for me as an athlete, but the reality is, any athlete that becomes so dominate like he has recently, knows deep down that they are king and it wouldn't matter who was in the race, they were still going to win. That's how I think it should be at least.

(cont'd) Mantia -Actually thinking about it, I really, really wish Chad Horne (D&M/Luigino) wouldn't have injured his ankle because I truly believe he was the fastest indoor skater the world has ever seen. When it comes to pure top speed, Horne is his prime was in a league of his own. I’m not really sure if I will skate NSC again, we'll have to wait and see.

(Chad Horne (above) in 2010 prior to his ankle injury, Mantia believed to be one of the fastest the world has seen! Horne is currently on his long awaited comeback & should be racing @ IDN in FT. Wayne, IN 7/17/2011)

(Mantia #07 (above) NSC Season 1 2009/2010)

Pete Snell - Gotta put you on the spot here. Who’s your pick this year for Indoor Nationals http://usarollersports.org/events/5398 in World Class Men? & no 'safe' answers allowed! Forget the friends & foes aspect of it for 2 seconds. Answer it like you have 100G’s riding on it :)

Joey Mantia - It’s pretty apparent that the world class division at indoor nationals is geared toward the sprinters. When you look at which races are run its 500m, 1500m, 5k elimination, and the standing 100m time trial. The 500m is a sprinters race, typically the guy with the fastest start wins, given there's normally a lot of crazy stuff going on behind him. The 1500m used to be an endurance race because the qualifications were based on time, meaning you had to be able to maintain a good pace to get into the final, eliminating most of the pure sprinters, however, with the new rules, the 1500m has pretty much turned into a semi-sprint depending on who takes control of the race. This definitely benefits the sprinters, allowing them to collect some more top points in the 1500m.

(cont'd - Mantia) The 5k is the only race at nationals that is a sprinter's nightmare. It’s a hard grind with lots of stop-and-go the entire time. Then of course, there's the 100m standing time trial where typically, the guy with the fastest start wins. Given that info, it’s clear to see that as an endurance athlete, you really only have 1 chance to shine and collect points towards the overall national title, where as the sprinters have THREE!
(cont'd) Mantia- All that being said, I think Bowen is probably going to walk away from nationals with his 2nd Pro victory. I have Bowen winning the 100m and the 500m with a top 4 finish in the 1500m and a top 8 in the 5k. Cheex and Stelly will battle for the top spots in the 1500m and 5k finals. With Bowen collecting his easy first place points in the 100m, it will give him the points advantage towards the overall. This all riding on the fact that Bowen has been able to maintain his level from the beginning of the season over the last month and into the next. If you take out the 100m, my money would be on Stelly, based mostly on the fact that Cheex has a rough time picking up points in the 500m, Stelly's start is fast enough to put him in contention, but not fast enough to win the 100m.

(Will Bowen (above) currently in a league of his own indoors for the 2011 season)

Pete Snell - What's 2012 look like after worlds? Gold medals or not, what's the plan?

Joey Mantia- After worlds, I’m gonna come right back and get on the ice. I may skate the Berlin marathon http://skating.bmw-berlin-marathon.com/en that’s always been one of my favorite marathons, so we'll see there. I'll still be skating a lot of inlines, but my racing mentality will pretty much be focused all on long track for the next few years.

(Mantia (above) Life CAN be good! ODN/Team USA trials 2010)

Pete Snell - What are you into lately? Piano? Motorcycles? What?

Joey Mantia - Haha seems like you've been doing some homework. I did pick up a digital piano for no real reason other than I’ve always wanted to learn and I felt the best way to do that was to actually have a decent one to practice on. My teacher has been none other than YOUTUBE; I’m pretty sure with all the people teaching skills they know on YouTube, a college education, depending on the field, could possibly be surpassed my YouTube tutorials... except of course for the whole piece of paper with your name on it that says you know stuff (lol). The weather has just been getting nice here in Salt Lake so I’ve been on the motorcycle every single chance I get, I LOVE it. Other than those, training has been taking all of my free time.

(Mantia (above) 2011 picks up the piano to become the next Billy Joel)

JOEY MANTIA is a 28 TIME WORLD CHAMPION & will be representing Team USA & ATOM WHEELS during the 2011 World Championships in Yeosu City, Korea August 30th, 2011. Let's cheer him on!

Thanks for your time Joey. Let us know whom else you guys would like to catch up with and we'll be sure to make it happen! We have some great interviews lined up so check back with us soon right here at ATOM WHEELS!

Let's go fast!

Pete Snell
Luigino/Atom Wheels
pete@luiginoUSA.com