Former 110m hurdle world champion Colin Jackson believes Indian athletes have the potential to go faster regardless of the fact that they may be smaller in size and structure when compared to international athletes
Colin Jackson
New Delhi: Former 110m hurdle world champion Colin Jackson believes Indian athletes have the potential to go faster regardless of the fact that they may be smaller in size and structure when compared to international athletes.
Colin Jackson
The two-time world championships (1993 Stuttgart & 1999 Seville) gold-medal winning British hurdler in fact, felt that size does not matter in the world of athletics. "It is not entirely a subject of great physical structure. You can look at me.
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I am not a man of great height and I am not exactly a big fellow, " the 5-foot-11, 1988 Seoul Olympics' silver medalist told mid-day here yesterday on the sidelines of the launch of the 'Wings For Life World Run' aimed at raising funds for spinal cord research.
Former India opening batsman Gautam Gambhir and shuttler Ashwini Ponnappa were also part of the initiative. Jackson is the global race director for the event that will take place on May 4 at Sonepat, Haryana besides 34 more countries.
Key aspects
The 47-year-old said that coaching and training are key aspects for success in athletics. "As I told you, the coaching and training parts are very important. I think Indian athletes have the potential. They certainly can. But this is not an easy job.
"It cannot be achieved in one day. To produce world level athletes, the training part has to be great... there should also be great coaches," added Jackson, who also advised proper selection as a pre-requisite for this.
"Ahletes can be from different walks of life, different races. But you have to look at their bone structure, muscles, their ability to run, their metal strength, etc.
"A champion can come from anywhere, but you have to look at these things first. It is a combination of talent and training. You can do it but it has to be blessed with lots of things together," said Jackson, who remained undefeated at the European Championship for 12 years.
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