Sixteen-year-old Woolwich Poly student, David Bolarinwa, from Thamesmead, rubbed shoulders with some of the world's top athletes on Tuesday, as he completed a blocks session under the tutelage of leading USA sprints coach Brooks Johnson, alongside Trackspeed1's own John Powell.
Athletes lining up alongside David included Olympic hurdles medalist David Oliver, and Dwight Thomas, Jamaican Olympic sprint relay gold medalist. America's Xavier Carter, one of the fastest men in history over 200m, was also on hand for advice.
"This was the experience of a lifetime for David at his stage of development," said John Powell, "we both learned alot. It's the best opportunity going from my point of view to have another set of eyes look at your athlete, because they are almost certain to pick stuff up you've missed."
David, obviously thrilled at the whole deal, made a few adjustments through the session, and ended barely a yard behind some of his new found training group for the day as they blasted out of the blocks over 20-30 metres.
David (in yellow) powers out of the blocks with some of the world's fastest.
David said afterwards: "That was an amazing experience and I kept having to pinch myself that I was actually running alongside those guys. You see them on TV, and you read about their results, but this was some of them training just like the rest of us. It helps you realise nobody is superhuman and anything is achievable if you really want it. This has really doubled my determination to work hard over the next few years, and then it will be me entertaining the apprentice!"
Meanwhile, Trackspeed1 now face their first serious competition of the season as they contest the University of Central Florida (UCF) Twilight Track and Field Meeting this week, and then the Florida Gliders Spring Classic Meeting at the weekend.
The UCF meeting could see a bit of athletics history made as the 4 x 100m relay team of Jer O'Donoghue, Dwayne Grant, David Bolarinwa, and James Ellington, aim to crack 40 seconds as a squad team, and become the first training group to break into the IAAF world rankings!
Some more images of David's session appear below, beginning with the end-of-session handshake between Brooks Johnson, who is also Trackspeed1's Training Advisor, John Powell, and David...
It's good to see David competing with the world's best.This is obviously an opportunity for him learn new things away from home.
ReplyDeleteGreat to see all the guys working together.
John & Elizabeth-London