Since November 2020, there have been a large number of GB athletes and Olympic hopefuls (alongside all of those reality TV stars) arriving in Dubai and making the most of the warm weather here in the Middle East. Due to lockdown in the UK and the subsequent closure of gyms, along with the re-arranged Tokyo 2020 Olympic games (yes, they are still calling it that) taking place in July this year, there is no doubt this is the best option for any potential medal winner.
So just before Christmas and after making contact with a friend whose passion for Athletics has led him to develop some very invaluable contacts and friendships in the world of track and field, I was presented with another unreal opportunity as a part of A Sandpit Full of Sporting Dreams.
Making the short journey across Dubai, I visited the amazing facilities at the Dubai Club for People of Determination, which boasts a very serious set up: an athletics track, grass football field ( carpet like) , spectator stadium with stands, fully equipped gym and outdoor spaces for a range of disability sports. The venue is truly impressive.
Inside the fully equipped gym, I was greeted by Ricardo Dos Santos, a Portugese 400m sprinter, Bianca Williams, a GB 100m athlete and none other than Linford Christie OBE, the most successful male athlete in GB history.
It wouldn’t have been a chat about Athletics if the topic of Tokyo 2020 wasn’t mentioned first, with both athletes fully focussed on getting there but taking it one step at a time ‘You can’t even think that far ahead yet really, we have to perform in the qualification races first, wherever and whenever they may be, everyone missed out on that opportunity this year and you just have to keep fit, train hard and be ready for when it happens’ said Williams. With both sprinters having until the 29th June 2021 to secure their seat on the plane to Japan with their respective nations.
With the theme of instant gratification and generation ‘Z’, I wondered how the sport of athletics would still attract young athletes when it is apparent there is so much hard work behind the races we see on TV and huge sacrifices made to reach the very top, thus being in comparison to those sports where professional contracts are handed out at a young age alongside large sums of money and millions of Instagram followers. In addition to this, will young people choose to be out on the tracks in all weathers rather than in front of their screen. Dos Santos, the current no.2 in the 400m race category for Portugal added ‘You really have to surround yourself with the right people, I might be at a party and my friends will be saying ok you need to head home now as it’s getting late and you best not be drinking, I think as long as you have a real passion for athletics like we do, it’s not a sacrifice, we love what we do’.
On choosing sprinting over other sports as a younger athlete, Dos Santos claimed it was an easy decision ‘I was put as a winger in my football team, I’d get the ball, sprint past a defender and get to the goal line ready to cross the ball but none of my team mates were able to keep up with me, so I just ended up crossing the ball into an empty 18 yard box every time!’.
There have been many reports of Olympic sports having their funding cut by Sport England or athletes missing out on funding following the Rio 2016 games. For a lot of athletes their training and preparation for their sport or event is wholly self funded, with some cases of sponsors assisting with costs or equipment. When asking how this affects the image of the sport and if this is unfair in comparison to other professional athletes in other sports, both athletes agreed on a sticking point in athletics ‘as soon as athletes receive the funding, they think they have made it, they don’t work as hard, their focus shifts to social media rather than training, it just makes those who are not funded, even more hungry and focussed on getting to where we want to be’.
A question which had to be asked to Linford was the one of ‘who and when’ will beat his 100m record which is still held with GB athletics, ‘ To be honest this is where I think GB athletics haven’t progressed as much as they would have liked to, I don’t know how I still hold the record, even now after 27 years, I want someone to beat it!’. The athletes who are hoping to get onto the podium in the summer and beat the record held currently include Zharnel Hughes, Reece Prescod and Adam Gemili, the latter of whom is a regular visitor to Dubai for training camps.
On choosing Dubai as their venue for their training camp, it really seemed like a no brainer, Christie said ‘just look at the facilities here, you can train properly, recover, get some sun and be in an amazing city, it is great for the athletes mentally as well as physically’. Of course, I would have to concur with this view, the facilities (sporting or for leisure purposes) and weather here really are unmatched and it is what makes it a hot spot for athletes from across a number of different sports, alongside expats in your every day jobs.
It was an absolute pleasure to talk to the two athletes and their coach and I’m very appreciative of them giving up their time after a training session. I really cannot wait to see them at the games in the Land of the Rising Sun, hopefully each with a medal around their necks. One thing is for sure, after the long wait, it is going to be one heck of an Olympic games.
