Ex-Olympian getting life back on track as a coach

From a federal prison camp, Tim Montgomery observed his daughter's progress in the 100-meter dash through one suspended stride at a time.

As pictures filtered into the minimum-security facility in Montgomery, Ala., from newspaper clippings and snapshots from her meets, the former Olympian was left to piece together the race in his mind.

At 9 years old, Tymiah Montgomery was already captivated by the track event responsible for crowning the fastest person in the world — a title her father owned for three years before admitting he used steroids in 2005.

"This is my daughter who was living in Indianapolis, while I was on the other side of the world competing,” said Montgomery, 38, who ran his world-record time of 9.78 in the 100-meter in Paris.

“I was focusing on all my boys and not my daughter. And here she is wanting to be like her father.”

Feeling a familiar pang of guilt, Montgomery held impromptu track lessons with his daughter in the camp's visitation room. There they worked on her sprinting form and starts out of the blocks.

While he had to wait until his release from prison on Oct. 2, 2012, to bring his training program NUMA Speed to Gainesville, Montgomery looks back on those visits as the inspiration for his nearly seven-month-old project currently serving more than 60 local athletes.

Montgomery said his goal for NUMA Speed (NUMA stands for “Never Underestimate My Ability”) is to teach efficient running and training techniques, while also educating young people from all sporting backgrounds on the pitfalls of success and the mistakes he has made.

“It's sad that so many kids out here are not getting the correct formula to run,” Montgomery said. “It's just a great way for me to give back. As an athlete, you become selfish, and you think you're above here. You forget about where you came from.”

A two-time Olympic medalist in the 4x100 relay, Montgomery retired from the sport seven years ago when he was linked to the BALCO performance-enhancing drug scandal and received a two-year ban. His world-record time in the 100-meter was also wiped from the books.

As the next three years proved, however, Montgomery's legal troubles were far from over. In 2007, he pleaded guilty to his role in a multimillion-dollar check fraud ring as well as dealing more than 100 grams of heroin.

Montgomery said he was wary of the reaction his speed training business would get when he moved to Gainesville with his wife Jamalee Montgomery after serving more than four years in prison.

“I was very afraid because of my past, but I explain my situation,” said Montgomery, who hopes to secure a sponsorship and building for NUMA Speed within the next 90 days.

“They read about me, and when they meet me they say, ‘Oh, this guy is harmless.' They are thinking that I'm this guy that's 250 pounds with muscles out to here. When they hear steroids, they think I'm this big old monster.”

Advertising only on social media and through word of mouth since January, Montgomery has watched his clientele expand from high school athletes to college football players, including incoming UF freshmen Chris Thompson and Keanu Neal.

Much like Montgomery, some of the first athletes to approach him were looking for a second chance.

After suffering an MCL injury while playing for North Carolina Central University, former Eastside running back Tim Shankle has worked with Montgomery for the last three months to prepare for professional tryouts. In four seasons with the Division-II Eagles, Shankle rushed for 2,382 yards and 21 touchdowns before graduating in 2011.

“I was a side butt-kicking type guy,” said Shankle, The Sun's Big School Football Player of the Year in 2005. “I always went with what worked for me instead of being efficient. I think about it if I would have had a guy offering this when I was in high school. All of my teammates would have enjoyed being involved and having this type of training to prepare us.”

After being released from prison, Montgomery also began supplying workout plans to local baseball players, including former Gainesville High players Steven Fischer and Tyler Perkins.

Coming out of high school in 2012, Perkins turned down a scholarship offer from Santa Fe College but was left in limbo when he could not secure the funding to attend his college of choice.

The 20-year-old pitcher has trained six days per week with Montgomery over the last six months at SF College and Fred Cone Park in hopes of securing another offer this summer.

“Tim's definitely one of the best motivators I've ever been around. He pushes you through the whole thing,” Perkins said. “How fast it's expanded just by ear is crazy. In three-and-a-half months, it's gone up 60 people just like that.”