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Mills: Bolt well set for the double
BY KAYON RAYNOR Senior staff reporter raynork@jamaicaobserver.com
Thursday, August 13, 2009
BERLIN, Germany - Usain Bolt will repeat his Beijing success at the upcoming 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics, according to his coach Glen Mills.
"I'm very happy with his present condition at this time (although) we had a couple 'ups and down'. We started late due to his post Beijing commitments and then we had the problem with his accident (April 29), but he has really come on well and he's in great shape and I'm confident that he will emulate what he did in Beijing," Mills told the Observer in an exclusive interview on Tuesday.
"I've never seen the track at Berlin's Olympic Stadium and I don't think it is as fast as the one in Beijing, but that may not matter because right now he's in great shape and he's ready," Mills added.
Last summer Bolt completed a scintillating double, winning the 100m and 200m in world record times of 9.69 seconds and 19.30, respectively. He also ran the third leg on the record-setting (37.10secs) 4x100m relay team to collect a third gold medal.
Mills says the experience gained by Bolt between last summer and now makes him confident his charge can win Jamaica's first ever gold medal in the men's 100m at the World Championships, even with a poor start.
"Based on how he's been running and his understanding of the 100, right now the start is a minor thing because he can overcome any difficulty at the start (based on) where he is now. So I'm not worried about the start and neither is he. I think he'll start consistently well by his standard and that's all he needs to do to achieve what we want," Mills added.
MILLS... I'm very happy with Bolt's present condition at this time
Since the World Championships started in 1983, only Raymond Stewart with silver in 1993, Michael Frater with silver in 2005 and Asafa Powell with bronze in 2007 have won medals for the country in the blue riband event at the biennial meet.
The Americans won gold eight times, while Britain and St Kitts and Nevis won the other two.
Mills, the veteran sprint coach who guided Kim Collins of St Kitts and Nevis to the 100m title in Paris, France 1993, says Bolt will also win the 200m despite the setbacks this year.
"In terms of running around the turn, for months he couldn't run the turn because of his foot. His foot got better after the Trials (June 26-28) and so we haven't had any time to work on some of the things we wanted to work on the corner, but his 200 is pretty solid," Mills said.
"He's run one 200 on the circuit and in adverse condition (rain and negative wind); he ran an excellent time (19.59secs) and since then he's been doing excellent in training, so we're comfortable and pretty confident with where we are going into the championships."
Asked whether Bolt could erase his two world records, Mills said: I'm not a predictor of times; what we're going for is to win the races, like we did in Beijing, and the time will take care of itself."
No Jamaican man has ever won the 200m at the World Championships. Chris Williams took silver in the half-lap event in 2001 in Edmonton, Canada, while Bolt did likewise two years ago in Osaka, Japan.
Only reigning double world champion Tyson Gay of the United States has run faster than Bolt in either event this season, clocking 9.77 (wind +0.4) and 19.58 (wind +1.3) compared to Bolt's 9.79 (-0.2) and 19.59 (wind -0.9), both in rainy conditions.
BY KAYON RAYNOR Senior staff reporter raynork@jamaicaobserver.com
Thursday, August 13, 2009
BERLIN, Germany - Usain Bolt will repeat his Beijing success at the upcoming 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics, according to his coach Glen Mills.
"I'm very happy with his present condition at this time (although) we had a couple 'ups and down'. We started late due to his post Beijing commitments and then we had the problem with his accident (April 29), but he has really come on well and he's in great shape and I'm confident that he will emulate what he did in Beijing," Mills told the Observer in an exclusive interview on Tuesday.
"I've never seen the track at Berlin's Olympic Stadium and I don't think it is as fast as the one in Beijing, but that may not matter because right now he's in great shape and he's ready," Mills added.
Last summer Bolt completed a scintillating double, winning the 100m and 200m in world record times of 9.69 seconds and 19.30, respectively. He also ran the third leg on the record-setting (37.10secs) 4x100m relay team to collect a third gold medal.
Mills says the experience gained by Bolt between last summer and now makes him confident his charge can win Jamaica's first ever gold medal in the men's 100m at the World Championships, even with a poor start.
"Based on how he's been running and his understanding of the 100, right now the start is a minor thing because he can overcome any difficulty at the start (based on) where he is now. So I'm not worried about the start and neither is he. I think he'll start consistently well by his standard and that's all he needs to do to achieve what we want," Mills added.
MILLS... I'm very happy with Bolt's present condition at this time
Since the World Championships started in 1983, only Raymond Stewart with silver in 1993, Michael Frater with silver in 2005 and Asafa Powell with bronze in 2007 have won medals for the country in the blue riband event at the biennial meet.
The Americans won gold eight times, while Britain and St Kitts and Nevis won the other two.
Mills, the veteran sprint coach who guided Kim Collins of St Kitts and Nevis to the 100m title in Paris, France 1993, says Bolt will also win the 200m despite the setbacks this year.
"In terms of running around the turn, for months he couldn't run the turn because of his foot. His foot got better after the Trials (June 26-28) and so we haven't had any time to work on some of the things we wanted to work on the corner, but his 200 is pretty solid," Mills said.
"He's run one 200 on the circuit and in adverse condition (rain and negative wind); he ran an excellent time (19.59secs) and since then he's been doing excellent in training, so we're comfortable and pretty confident with where we are going into the championships."
Asked whether Bolt could erase his two world records, Mills said: I'm not a predictor of times; what we're going for is to win the races, like we did in Beijing, and the time will take care of itself."
No Jamaican man has ever won the 200m at the World Championships. Chris Williams took silver in the half-lap event in 2001 in Edmonton, Canada, while Bolt did likewise two years ago in Osaka, Japan.
Only reigning double world champion Tyson Gay of the United States has run faster than Bolt in either event this season, clocking 9.77 (wind +0.4) and 19.58 (wind +1.3) compared to Bolt's 9.79 (-0.2) and 19.59 (wind -0.9), both in rainy conditions.