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Dan · Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2008 7:42 am Post subject: Asafa Powell interview

http://www.runblogrun.com/2008/09/asafa_powell_maybe_i_am_not_ju.html

Then he goes and runs 9.72 (ties the 2nd fastest ever) in nearly windless conditions...

Dan
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Kishan Gill · Posted: Tue Sep 09, 2008 11:54 am Post subject:

Unless they try some extreme hypnosis on the guy he is destined to fail at major champs.

It's a shame because he seems a really nice guy with amazing talent. Most would agree that if powell ran as he does on the circuit he would have been world champion and would have run bolt close in beijing.

What might have been?

Dan · Posted: Tue Sep 09, 2008 10:04 pm Post subject:

He might want to seriously consider skipping out on championship racing and just save himself for what he's good at. It's not like he has many individual medals to show for the trouble, and it certainly isn't helping his reputation.

Dan
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Kishan Gill · Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 2:44 am Post subject:

Maybe now that everyone expects him to choke at major championships he might finally deliver without the weight of expectation on him.

He did say that it might be ruuning rounds that causes him to tighten up inthe final but as we have seen in rieti on two consecutive years that he can run very fast for two rounds so he shouldn't have a problem if he holds back in the early rounds and giving it his all for the semi and final.

No, it's definitely an issue of mental preperation. it's hard to change who you are, Bolt is by his very nature laid back and self confident because that is what makes up his psyce.

Unless powell gets a brain transplant nothing will change. I can't ever see him skipping the big champs because he will always feel he might just do it on the day.

Dan · Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 9:37 am Post subject:

I think most everyone expected him to choke this year, and I know I expected it last year...

I don't think it's the rounds. One, you can see it on his face before a final that he's going to do poorly. Two, he showed in the relay that fatigue was not the issue. Outside of the pressure cooker of an individual event, he was able to shine like in his one-off races on the circuit.

Dan
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Angelo Z · Posted: Thu Sep 11, 2008 2:41 am Post subject:

He had the same look on his face during the Olympics, even the reporters mentioned that. Why would anyone think about doing poorly on such a big event? I mean I'd be pumped up like Usain Bolt and fry everyone else. I certainly doubt that it could be because Asafa thought that he didn't work hard enough-who doesn't work hard enough on such an event? It could also be that Usain put a lot of stress on him. Asafa mentioned that he has been rid of a burden after Usain broke the 100m WR with 9.72, but I think that's not true at all. He should be incredibly disappointed about his WR being taken away-that he's just not the best anymore.

And Kishan, Usain is so confident of himself because he simply knows he's better than everyone else. After running 9.72 and saying that he could go faster, and then running a 9.69 and saying he could go faster that he only "worked for the medal" simply just makes up his confidence. I saw the look on Asafa's face when Bolt was running an extra 100m after he won in Beijing just like he did on his first WR break. I don't think Asafa was just aiming for a silver or bronze...
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Dan · Posted: Thu Sep 11, 2008 7:14 am Post subject:

That's oversimplifying things. One, trying to understand why someone crumbles under pressure is generally fruitless. It happens to lots of people, and it's not something intentional or particularly logical. Two, your reasoning of why Bolt is so confident could also be applied to Powell, as he also should have known that he was better than everyone else in previous championships. No, Bolt's brain is simply wired differently in that regard. He deals with the pressure much better.

Dan
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Angelo Z · Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2008 10:07 am Post subject:

But in fact what pressure is there? You go out there to win for yourself, no one else.
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My favorite all time race: Hicham El Guerrouj - Prefontaine Classic Mile 2002 http://youtube.com/watch?v=4YykUTHzOL8
¥London 2012 XXX Olympiad¥

Dan · Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2008 10:30 am Post subject:

Easier said than done... You've yet to run a race. Wink

Dan
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Angelo Z · Posted: Sat Sep 13, 2008 1:54 am Post subject:

It's so odd though, all that pressure is just useless because at the end of the race, everything else is gone. All that pressure takes one's ability away to think the tactical way "what to do at 10m, what to do at 50m, and finally what to do at 80m." But then again, I wouldn't say Usain was that focused either, he was more curious on how close the other sprinters were to him. As for Tyson and Asafa, I have no idea what was going through there heads. Instead, the other sprinters from Trinidad and that other American sprinter with an "x" somewhere in his name won, and they don't have that famous title behind them like Tyson and Asafa. It could then again, just be overreacting under the pressure. Sometimes great marks and records are set without thinking-just like Usain did in the 100m, and the Polish guy who won the shot put.
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My favorite all time race: Hicham El Guerrouj - Prefontaine Classic Mile 2002 http://youtube.com/watch?v=4YykUTHzOL8
¥London 2012 XXX Olympiad¥

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