STUTTGART, Germany — Mark Elliot, coach of Jamaican middle distance runner Natoya Goule-Toppin, is backing his charge to finally deliver a medal for the country in the women’s 800m at the Olympic Games in Paris, France.

Goule-Toppin, 33, will be competing at the Olympic Games for the third-consecutive time for Jamaica. The vastly experienced athlete, who finished eighth in the women’s 800m final at the last Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, in 2021, will enter the event in Paris with a season’s best effort of 1:56.83 from placing fourth during the London Diamond League on Saturday. That time has made her the fifth-fastest woman in the world over the distance this year, behind Great Britain’s Keely Hodgkinson who is the global leader with her time of 1:54.61.

Elliot, who has been coaching Goule-Toppin for over a decade, noted that a medal in Paris is well within Goule-Toppin’s sights. According to him, once she makes the final then a podium finish will definitely be on the cards.

“Deliver a medal for herself, yes, and for the country, yes, she can do it,” said Elliot. “The plan is to go [to] the final, and hopefully it is a medal this time around.”

“Her preparation has been going well because in her last race, which was a few days ago in London, she ran 1:56.83. That’s a good indicator that we are on the right track,” Elliot pointed out.

However the veteran coach mentioned that it is not going to be easy for Goule-Toppin because all the other runners in the event have been performing very well this season.

“The defending champion [Athing Mu] not being there is unfortunate but, as you can see this past weekend, one country [Great Britain] had three young ladies running 1:54 to 1:56 so it is not an easy task. But, she is one of those persons that I think is running at the level that will be able to do it,” Elliot stated.

“She is very confident, and in sports a lot of times people would say 90 per cent of it is mental. I know [for] the physical side, she has [that] down and it is just getting that mental piece and being ready — and it seems as if, so far, that is going pretty well,” he underscored.

Elliot, whose training base is situated in the United States, said that Goule-Toppin, who has a personal best time of 1:55.96, is among the best 800m runners in the world and therefore he is expecting some great runs from her in Paris.

“Like any athlete, and this is my 13th year coaching her, she understands opportunities as they relate to the Olympics and she is still running at that level. I think that there is more to come so her goal is definitely to be on the medal stand, like any other athlete who is running,” he said.