Coach of new athletic club, Running Brave, Sham Johnny is convinced that one of his athletes, Rawle Greene, can run faster after the sprinter recorded a new, personal best hand-time on grass in the 100m on Sunday at the national senior track and field championships.
Greene raced to the finish line in a blistering 10:40 seconds ahead of long-time rivals Keith Roberts and Carlton Bobb, leaving both athletes some 20 split seconds behind.
Johnny told Stabroek Sport yesterday that he was convinced on Sunday that Greene could run faster, since he competed at the senior championships with a hamstring injury which was not fully healed and clocked his personal best time over the 100m distance.
“I project a faster time for Rawle because I know his capability. Rawle could have done better on Sunday but he is recovering slowly from a minor hamstring injury which has been there for quite sometime,” Johnny said.
The Running Brave coach indicated that he was currently working with Greene to overcome the injury fully for the next Athletic Association of Guyana (AAG) meet.
According to Johnny, Greene would be better prepared for his next competition. “He will be better prepared. We had some hiccups in terms of the training programme, the track and the weather conditions. He is coping with it and I hope by next month he should be much more prepared,” the coach explained confidently. Johnny said he observed that many of the Running Brave club athletes including Tai Payne, Lionel D’Andrade and Jemel Fields face a psychological problem in terms of preparation and competition.
He said that Fields, a former junior national sprinter, had proved to be an excellent training partner for Greene in the past but had not been training recently.
“Jemel was coming very good but Jemel is out temporarily, at least I would hope so, (but) I have some concerns with Tai and Lionel.” Payne and D’Andrade compete in the middle and long-distance levels. He said that he would be intensifying the training programme to prepare the athletes for meets locally and internationally. He expressed his gratitude to the AAG for maintaining the calendar of events for 2007.
“I must give credit to the AAG because they had promised us competition and they have lived up to that expectation so far this year. They have been working to the calendar of events for the year,” he said.
