THIS HAS SOME GREAT INSIGHTS INTO AND BY ASAFA POWELL. WELL WORTH A READ…
With new mental approach Powell hopes to lay to rest Osaka ghosts – IAAF Golden League, Brussels
Thursday 13 September 2007
Brussels, Belgium - At the height of his fame as the world’s fastest man, Maurice Greene had a favourite mantra. “To be No.1, you must train like you’re No.2,” Greene would say. Now Asafa Powell, in his attempt to become the undisputed world No.1, is about to take a leaf out of Greene’s book.
Powell, from Jamaica, has run five of the six fastest legal times in history but Tyson Gay, from the United States, is the World champion, having beaten Powell in the process. The debate over who is No.1 will continue to rage right up until the Olympic Games, in Beijing, next year.
Asafa Powell looking the picture of relaxation in his 100m heat in Rieti in which he set the World record of 9.74
(Lorenzo Sampaolo)
But Powell is ready to change in an effort to clinch his first global title. “The other day my coach (Stephen Francis) told me that I should train like I was No.2 or No.3 in the world and that is what I am going to do,” Powell said here as he looked ahead to the Memorial Van Damme – IAAF Golden League – meeting here tomorrow evening. “This means that I am going to train hard and not miss any more training sessions.”
With Powell’s World record run – 9.74sec in Rieti, Italy, on Sunday – still fresh in everybody’s minds, the Jamaican with the reputation for quick times but championship failure also revealed that he may turn to a psychologist for help. Powell has acknowledged that he “panicked” in the 100m final at the World Championships, in Osaka, where, having led, he finished third in 9.96 behind Gay (9.85) and Derrick Atkins of the Bahamas (9.91).
“My coach is considering making me work with a mental coach,” the 24-year-old Powell said. “I think I need someone to work on my mental approach because there is too much pressure on the track, too much expectation. Each time I am on the track, people expect me to win and beat the world record.”
Asafa Powell in action in the semi final of the men’s 100m
(Getty Images)
It will be no different tomorrow evening but there is no knowing where or when Powell may produce another World record. So far during his career he has set new figures in Athens (9.77, 2005) and Rieti (9.74, 2007) and equalled the World record of the day in Gateshead (9.77, 2006) and Zurich (9.77, 2006).
Powell would not be drawn into predictions here but said: “If everything goes according to plan, I should run a quick time. I won’t ease up this time.” Both in the final in Osaka, and in the heat in which he set his World record in Rieti, Powell visibly slowed long before the finish. “What I learned from Osaka is don’t try too hard, be patient, which is what I was in Gateshead, Rieti, Athens and Zurich,” he said.
“I would like to run a lot faster but I don’t know how fast I can go. I can probably run 9.70, maybe below, I don’t know.” Referring to the fact that he set his World record in a heat with assistance of a 1.7m/s tailwind and ran 9.78 in final in windless conditions, he said: “In the final I ran a much better race technically.”
But the trail of disappointment that Powell has left at two World Championships and one Olympics will serve only to intensify the pressure on him for Beijing. Yet, asked whether he would swap his World record for Osaka gold, he replied: “I wouldn’t give this World record away for anything.”
Tyson Gay sprints past Derrick Atkins and Asafa Powell to win the 100m final
(Getty Images)
Much to the disappointment of fans of the sport, Gay and Powell are not expected to meet again this season. Gay is not here and, asked whether he should race the American more next year to help raise his confidence prior to Beijing, Powell said: “Not really. It is not important. I just need to focus on what I am supposed to do. I don’t want to focus too much on him.”
The line-up in Brussels includes Michael Frater, Powell’s fellow Jamaican, who was second (10.03) to him in the final in Rieti, and Norway’s Saidy Ndure Jaysuma, who had the closest view of Powell’s World record, finishing runner-up to him (10.07) in their heat in Rieti.
“The real Powell is the one from today, not the Osaka one,” Powell said in Rieti, in the euphoria of his World record last weekend. So it’s Asafa Powell, not Osaka Powell, who promises to turn up tomorrow night.
David Powell for the IAAF