Bolt’s coach says he will be the fastest starter
Saturday, January 3, 2009,
KINGSTON, Jamaica: Usain Bolt’s coach, Glen Mills, has vowed that the Jamaican double world record holder will become the fastest starter at his height in the next two seasons.
Bolt dominated the 100-metres dash all season — winning all but one race, which he lost to countryman Asafa Powell, who used a blinding start to see off the strong finish from the record holder at a Grand Prix meeting in Stockholm, on July 22.
His height and laid-back approach out off the blocks had several pundits doubting his abilities to beat the more specialized 100m runners, such as Powell and Tyson Gay. But under the guidance of Mills, Bolt’s starts improved significantly that he virtually outclassed both sprinters all year.
Mills warned that Bolt, who blasted his way to ten sub-10 seconds this season, will get even better after he is finished working with him. The coach also promised that no one will be able to leave his pupil in the blocks anymore.
“I feel that within the next two seasons he is going to become one of the fastest starters you’ve ever seen at 6ft 5in,” Mills said earlier this year.
[b]“We have identified three major things with his starting that we feel we can correct this coming season.
“We can certainly guarantee that nobody is going to leave him in the blocks anymore,” he added. [/b]
Despite taking the gas off the pedal at 90 metres, Bolt still cruised to an easy world record of 9.69 seconds to win the Olympic title in Beijing, and many are now predicting how fast he can actually go should he ever decide to run flat out.
However, Mills was not prepared to put a set time on how fast the Jamaican can go, but pledged that he knows the sprint marvel can go much faster than he has gone before.
“I don’t know how fast Bolt can go, but I know he can go faster,” the veteran sprint coach said. “I know he can much faster because we’re just beginning.”
Mills, who guided St Kitts and Nevis’ Kim Collins to a world title in 2003, is hoping that Bolt can add the sprint crown to his collection at the worlds in Berlin, Germany next summer.
Bolt, who collected several accolades this season, including the IAAF World Athlete of the Year award, holds both the 100m and 200m world records. He is also joint second fastest ever in the 100m along with Powell with a time of 9.72.