Saturday 17 August, 2013




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I'd love to run for Nigeria - Dasaolu

2013-08-16 23:00:45



Britain's Nigerian-born sprinter, James Dasaolu, believes he is on a perfect curve to his peak, KAZEEM BUSARI writes

He is currently the fastest man in Europe this year and Britain's second fastest man of all time with a personal best of 9.91 seconds in the 100 metres, a feat achieved at the British Championships in Birmingham in July. James Dasaolu became only the fourth British sprinter to beat 10 seconds as he clocked a time that is just 0.04 seconds slower than Linford Christie's British record of 9.87.

He opened his 2013 calendar by winning silver in the 60 metres at the European Athletics Indoor Championships, running a personal best of 6.48 seconds in the final.

The Nigerian-born 25-year-old was tipped to win the Birmingham event with a better performance but a late withdrawal from the competition meant Dwain Chambers had to lead the pack in 10.04 sec to claim a seventh British crown.

It would have been Dasaolu's first national crown, but he preferred to pull out of the 100m final (due to cramp) in order to be in perfect shape for the IAAF World Championships in Moscow.

His plan worked. It was almost perfect in Moscow, until exhaustion took its toll with about 40 metres to go in the final.

In the semi-finals, Dasaolu had posted his second sub-10 seconds performance, finishing third in 9.97.

Dasaolu ran the final with the "big boys" - featuring Usain Bolt, Justin Gatlin and Nester Carter - but fell short of the expectation. His 10.21 seconds was only good enough for the eighth and last position. But that would not dampen his spirit as he is already looking ahead to the 2014 Commonwealth Games and the 2016 Olympics.

"Had I not picked up an injury in the build-up, I would sure have finished with a medal at these championships. I picked up an injury three weeks prior to these championships which did not enable me to train so my build-up was impaired," Dasaolu, who had set twin targets of running sub-10 seconds and reaching the final, told SATURDAY PUNCH.

"I gave it my best and that was all I could do in the final," he had told the press after the race. "I was with the field up to 50 or 60 metres and then they started to run away from me, so the semi-final must have taken a lot out of me.

"But I made it through three rounds here and I'm just happy that I'm injury-free and I can continue with the rest of the season.

"Now, I've made the World Championships final, the next in my career would now be to win a global medal at any championship I feature."

The absence of 2011 world champion, Yohan Blake, Asafa Powell and Tyson Gay did not make the championships any easier for Dasaolu. To him, the best men competed.

He said, "Tyson (Gay) and (Asafa) Powell are serving drug bans so that cast doubts if they were ever clean. The competition was still tough as 10.00 made the final. That's the fastest time ever needed to make the final in history so the standard was high.

"I believe I can contest with top guys in the world regardless who turns up. I'm still developing and expect to run faster."

Dasaolu, whose father is from Abeokuta and mother from Ibadan, hopes to run for Nigeria one day, but not before the Rio 2016 Olympics.

"After the next Olympics I will maybe consider changing (and running for Nigeria)," he said.

"I've been on many family holidays to Nigeria, and I still have the memory of visiting Olumo Rock in Abeokuta. Yes, I would love to compete for Nigeria one day."

Injuries had never been kind to Dasaolu since taking up athletics in 2005 at the age of 18. But since training under the watchful eyes of coach Steve Fudge, he has managed to avoid injuries just as his performance improved.

"Fudge has a different approach from many coaches. His programmes are tailored and specific to athletes he coaches," he said.

Fudge had convinced the sprinter that his injuries were down to over-training and technical errors. The coach adjusted Dasaolu's training load and made technical changes to the way he runs.

"He had adapted my training to knowing what my body needs," Dasaolu admitted.

Dasaolu's choice of athletics came on the heels of London successful bid for the 2012 Olympics back in 2005. He had played as a winger in a football team, but he decided to switch to athletics when he discovered how fast he could run.

"I was always the quickest in my secondary school while growing up. I always won sports day so I knew I was quick. I thought to myself: why not give the sport which I am good at a go?"

Next stop for Dasaolu are the IAAF Diamond League races. He said his experience in Moscow would not be in vain when next he lines to challenge for honours.