Glen Mills ..."If he gets stronger, his stride frequency will improve and when we achieve that in perhaps the next two years, he is going to run even faster." - LeVaughn Flynn
BEIJING, China (CMC)
Glen Mills, coach of triple Olympic champion Usain Bolt of Jamaica, believes there are greater things to come from his pupil over the next few years.
Mills thinks that Bolt, though running the fastest times ever seen from a human being, is still in the developing stages of his career, and he feels the sprint phenomenon will delight track and field fans once he gets stronger and develops the right striding technique.
"He is still not as strong as he should be," Mills said on the Spikes Magazine website.
"If he gets stronger, his stride frequency will improve and when we achieve that in perhaps the next two years, he is going to run even faster."
Jamaica is known for developing world-class juniors, but for one reason or another, they have rarely transferred those gifts to the senior level.
Great sprinterMills noted four years ago, it seemed that Bolt, on his way out of high school and with all the junior titles already wrapped up, was perhaps destined for the same route.
But the noted track and field coach took Bolt under his wings and, after some trying times at getting him to stay focussed, succeeded in creating a great sprinter.
"Our emphasis was to get him as technically correct as possible and that took us over two seasons," said Mills.
"Last year, we concentrated on correcting his running the bend, making him more efficient around the curve.
"I felt that I could significantly improve his 200 metres. He was leaning inside on the turn and was unbalanced. We got him to lean forward and that contributed to him developing a good first 100 metres."
Huge turn aroundStill buzzing from his historic Olympic feat where he landed three gold medals with three world records from three races, Bolt also admits to making a huge turn around under the guidance of Mills.
"Things changed dramatically when I joined up with Glen," he said. "[Glen] is like a father figure to me. He has never done me any wrong and he has always made the right decisions.
"He is a guiding light in my career and he has shown me the way to improve myself both as a person and as an athlete."
The praises did not stop there, as even coach Stephen Francis, head coach of the MVP track club which has produced some of the island's top athletes including Asafa Powell, Sherone Simpson, and Shelly-Ann Fraser, took the time to acknowledge Bolt's greatness.
He said: "You have Einstein. You have Isaac Newton. You have Beethoven. You have Usain Bolt. You have people who are exceptions. It's not explainable how and what they do."
Francis also said he was happy to see Bolt, who became the youngest ever world junior champion at the age of 15, finally delivering what he had promised.
"I think that he [Bolt] has finally fulfilled the promise that he showed when he ran 20.5 at 15 years old.
"He has done what it has taken, to make the transition to where he is now, which is probably the greatest sprinter in Olympic history."
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