08 Jul 2021

All eyes will be on Botswana’s 800 metres Olympic medal hopeful, Nijel Amos who will  take part in the Wanda Monaco Diamond League today.

The race’s startling line up include crème de la crème of 800 metres in the world and some of track and field pundits are of the view that Monaco meet will be the finals before the Olympics final, as it will give spectators what to expect at the Olympics.

Amos will be up against Canadia’s Marco Arop, Polish athletes Patryk Dobek and Patryk Sieradzki, English middle-distance runners Giles Elliott and Dustin Oliver, America’s Bryce Hoppel and Clayton Murphy, Kenya’s Emmanuel Korir and Ferguson Rotich and Amel Tuka from Bosnia.

Amos said in an interview that he was cognizant of the fact that the field would be made up of very strong athletes.

He said throughout his career, he registered fast times in Monaco, adding this time, he would not be chasing fast time, but he would be racing to feel his body.

Amos recently, competed in South Africa, where he clocked 1:45.20 in 800 metres and 46.69 in 400 metres.

Asked why he had not been in action, he said the last time he was supposed to compete was in the Wanda Doha Diamond League but had to pull out due to a minor calf injury.

“The most important thing is to be careful and avoid body stress, the ultimate goal is reaching the Olympics very healthy,” he said.

Track and field analyst, Omogolo Ramoroba said Amos has had so much success in Diamond League competitions with three diamond titles in his cabinet and 16 diamond league meeting victories.

He said in 2019 in Monaco, Amos ran his fastest 800m since the 2012 London Olympics final, when he stopped the clock in 1:41.89, taking down his own Meeting Record in the process.

Ramoroba observed that when the athlete was healthy, he never shied away from running fast times, adding hat today, he would face a formidable field against four athletes who broke 1:44 this season.

He said the meeting would be a good test to help Amos gauge his progress, adding that he recorded a good time racing in South Africa, where he ran 1:45.26 in his first 800m race in 2021, the race showed that Amos was slowly but surely getting the balance for 800m.

Ramoroba said the fact that Amos had not been engaged in races showed that he wanted to avoid any mishaps prior to the Olympics, because his career had been dulled by a combination of injuries and mental lapses on the sport’s biggest stage.

“Remember Amos has not won a medal since 2012. His best finish at a global championship since London Olympic final was a fifth place in the 2017 World Championships.

But, clearly he has all the talent he needs to finish in the podium at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. But, Amos’ biggest enemy was his mental strength, once he get his mental game right, he will be good,” he said.

The analyst said the meeting was therefore critical because it would also help Amos see how far he had progressed in terms of identifying areas that needed corrections before going into the Tokyo Olympics.

“Winning races is substantial for athletes because it is a confidence booster, but the most valuable thing is to finish the race healthy,” he said. ENDS