Coach happy with Amos performance
31 Jul 2021
Nijel Amos’ personal coach, Mark Rowland is happy with the way the athlete executed himself in round one heat in the 800m at the ongoing 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games on Saturday morning.
Amos crossed the finishing line first with a time of 1:45.04 and he will compete in the semi-finals on Sunday in the afternoon.
Rowland, who is at the Olympics with Amos, said in an interview after the race that he was pleased that the race went smoothly and the athlete distributed his energy efficiently.
The coach said it was never easy with the high level competitions in the morning, however it was time for Amos to loosen off.
“He has his quad a little tight but he’s having treatment now so that he can mentally focus on what will be a challenging semifinal. He needs to be in control of his emotions and execute to make sure he is in the final,” he said.
On the other hand, track and field analyst, Aobakwe Showa said going to the semi-finals Amos was likely to deploy the same tactics due to the presence of the American Isaiah Jewett who preferred front running and always went hard in the first lap taking the rest of the field with him.
He said that always produced good times as witnessed by the first heat, which was the quickest ever in the history of the Olympics.
He however said that would not be a problem for Amos who always seemed to excel with fast paced race.
Showa said Amos main challengers would be Kenyan Ferguson Rotich and Elliot Giles of Great Britain who posed first and third quickest times respectively in overall heats.
That, he said might work in Amos’s advantage because the two might not have enough time to recover and likely to pay for that come race day.
Nevertheless, he said Amos had never really struggled against Rotich, given that they had faced each other many times in the Diamond league circuits and Amos always got the better of him.
“Their last face off was in Monaco in a field that contained both Ferguson and Giles and Amos emerged victorious. So I am quite confident he will cement his place in the finals,” Showa said. Ends
Source : BOPA
Author : Anastacia Sibanda
Location : GABORONE
Event :
Date : 31 Jul 2021
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