Kipketer: Ja must mould distance runners

JAMAICAN track and field administrators and coaches need to take a more positive approach to get more athletes to take on the challenge of middle-distance running, says three-time 800m world champion Wilson Kipketer.

Jamaica is known as the 'sprint capital of the world', but the Jamaica Amateur Athletic Association (JAAA) has been making a concerted effort in the last few years to improve the country's stead in middle-distance events.

"Right now, we see the problem and many coaches... escape now because the 100m is the easy thing to do because everybody concentrates on that," the Kenyan-born star, who was in the island as a guest at the Gibson Relays, told the Sunday Observer.

Kipketer, the world record-holder over 800m, won successive gold medals at the World Championships in Gothenburg 1995, Athens 1997, and Seville 1999.

He was also a silver medallist at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and claimed bronze in Athens four years later.

"There's a philosophy the coaches have to learn, how you can teach somebody to learn something that they don't like, break it into pieces and then put it together," he stated.

"It's about moulding your athletes, about the way you teach people; it's not about coaching or about a programme... it's about growing up with them, trying new things."

JAAA President Howard Aris admitted there is an obvious preference coaches have towards the sprint events.

"We're trying to find a way to get some of those coaches to try to get involved and specialise in the middle and long distances."

"The difficulty is that the athletes now are in the culture where they excel in the 100m, 200m, and 400m and it is therefore difficult for youngsters to see beyond the 400m, but we invite coaches like Kipketer to see how we can best encourage the coaches to get involved in the middle and longer distance events," he told the Sunday Observer.

Meanwhile Kipketer, who works with the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) as a consultant with the High Performance Training Centre, was also the speaker in the 'Technical Corner at GC Foster College last Thursday.

"The IAAF now provides more opportunities with the young kids to go to the training centre or to get some help so they can really show their talent."

Double world record-holder Usain Bolt is a product of the High Performance Training Centre.

"There is where he got the chances to prove himself and enjoy himself," Kipketer said. "This is what we have to show the other kids also that they have to enjoy themselves and that talent can come as long as they do not lose their focus."

So what's the secret of the success of African runners at middle and long distances?

"I think there is no secret," Kipketer told the Sunday Observer. "These people, they can tolerate running long distances; they can tolerate the hardship of working so for them it's something easy, compared to their lives, no money so they can go out there and run for an hour and it's a way to have a good life."

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