Despite Covid-19 shutting down all athletics competition, 100 and 200-metre sprinter, Kore Samuel has continuously trained throughout the lockdown period, with major competitions in mind ahead of the new year.
Rising East had the chance to catch up with Samuel to discuss his current training routines during the lockdown period.
Commitment
Samuel said: “I still train. As an elite athlete, you must really find a way to train.
“I am training just to better myself. I aim to be in as much competition as I can but I just need to do what I need to do in training before that could happen.
“I train every day Monday through to Saturday but what I do depends on what my coaches feel like need to be addressed, such as long runs for endurance or acceleration for speed,” said Samuel.
No rest for the athlete
2020 has been very hard for all athletes. However, the restrictions put in place by the government haven’t stopped Samuel from keeping up with his training.
Due to the restrictions, it has meant that Samuel hasn’t been able to go to the gym to get stronger and work on aspects he would like to.
However, despite the recent upheaval, Samuel has found a way to maintain his training, saying:
“Well, as an individual athlete it hasn’t really affected me in the team aspects as I am already used to performing alone in races so training is no problem for me.
“Since us athletes are unable to train in gyms and on the track, some of us use other facilities such as grass, roads or sand and with gym just bodyweight exercises.
“Training is still going on as if there’s no restrictions, lockdown or not: training must go on,” he said.
Unique Experience
2020 was meant to be a big year for athletics, but Covid had other plans. The Olympics was postponed and it’s yet to be announced whether it will go ahead next year. The sprinter talked about how Covid has changed the way the world functions but feels “optimistic” that competitions such as the Olympics that will continue soon.
However, the sprinter is more focused on British competitions to restart to better his personal best.
The experience that this pandemic has brought is unique to everyone. For Samuel, it has made him stronger as a person and an athlete:
“The Covid experience has shown me how dedicated I am as an athlete and I’m sure I can speak for others when I say the psychology aspect of an athlete is tough and frustrating but knowing after going through all this pandemic I’m sure nothing will stop me from achieving what I need to achieve.”
