News22 May 2021


Van Niekerk, Miller-Uibo and Lyles ready to use Boston as Tokyo tune-up

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Wayde van Niekerk talks to the press (© Giancarlo Colombo)


Street meets may be seen as the fun and care-free cousin of top-flight athletics, but dozens of the world’s best athletes will be using Sunday’s adidas Boost Boston Games – a World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting – as a key stepping stone leading up to the Olympic Games.

Wayde van Niekerk has had quite the journey since winning Olympic gold in Rio. The South African sprinter successfully defended his world title in 2017 but then sustained a serious injury in 2018 which put him out of action for the best part of two years.

He has now returned to full health and recently started training under Lance Brauman – a move that required relocating to Florida.

“It’s been a very good last two weeks in the US, being welcomed by the Pure Athletics group,” said the 400m world record-holder, who has won all of his races over 200m this year. “I’m very excited.

“There have definitely been positive steps, especially the race in Gauteng (which he won in a marginally wind-assisted 20.10) because that had a great line-up. It gave me a massive boost. It’s been a good start to the year and I’m looking forward to seeing what I can do this weekend, taking it step by step until the Olympic Games.”

He admitted that the road back to full health was a difficult one – mentally more than anything.

“Physically, I never really questioned myself,” said Van Niekerk, who will be racing the 200m straight on Sunday. “I always backed myself and I knew I had to work ethic to help me get back to where I should be. It was really just about trying to get my mental outlook to the same level as the physical. When I finally achieved that, things started falling into place.”

Van Niekerk is now a training partner of fellow Olympic 400m gold medallist Shaunae Miller-Uibo. After just two weeks of training together, Miller-Uibo has thoroughly enjoyed having Van Niekerk as part of the group.

“It’s a blessing having Wayde in the group,” she said. “When I first heard he was coming, I was very excited. It’s not every day you train with a world record-holder. He’s so humble and he trains so well. We all look up to him and I’m going to try to learn as much as I can from him.

Like Van Niekerk, Miller-Uibo will also be contesting the 200m straight this weekend – a discipline for which she holds the unofficial world best of 21.76.

The Bahamian hopes to get close to that time on Sunday, though she knows it will be a tough ask. Either way, she knows she’ll have fun.

“I like running 200m on a straight,” said the three-time world medallist. “I struggle a bit with running the bends on a regular track. A straight 200m looks longer, but once you get past that, it’s fine.”

Though she currently leads the 400m world list with 49.08 – and sits at sixth on the world all-time list with 48.37 – Miller-Uibo confirmed she intends to contest the 200m at the Tokyo Olympics.

“The 200m and 400m go hand in hand,” she said. “I want a new title – I’ve already won Olympic gold at 400m, so now we’re going after the 200m. I hope I’ll be able to show the progress we’ve made in the 200m.”

 
 
 
 
 
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A post shared by Noah Lyles (@nojo18)


World 110m hurdles champion Grant Holloway will be fulfilling a long-held dream this weekend.

“This is one of the meets I’ve always dreamed of going to,” he said.

Since breaking the world indoor 60m hurdles record earlier this year, Holloway hasn’t dwelled too much on his record-breaking 7.29 run in Madrid.

“We’ve not spent too much time focusing on the world indoor record,” he said. “We enjoyed it, we took notes from it, and we moved on. We needed to keep pushing and to get ready for the last five hurdles (for the 110m hurdles).

“I think I’m in great shape,” added Holloway, who has won all three of his outdoor races so far and currently tops the world list with 13.07. “I’m satisfied with everything both on and off track. I’m satisfied but not content; I know I can be better and faster. The main thing now is fine tuning and getting better. I know the Olympic Trials, the Diamond League and the Olympic Games aren’t going to be easy. I just have to focus on my lane and my space.”

And while he has been able to adapt to performing in empty stadiums, Holloway can’t wait for crowds to return to athletics meetings.

“When we’re able to welcome fans back to competitions, I think it will make a huge difference to all athletes,” he said. “You’ll get those pre-competition nerves, which is what we all need to produce even faster times. We just need to take care of the small things first: vaccinations, social distancing, all that good stuff. Then hopefully next year we can do all of this in person.”

Fellow sprint hurdles world record-holder Kendra Harrison will also be racing this weekend. The world indoor champion leads a high-quality women’s 100m hurdles line-up and she can’t wait to test herself against the world’s best.

“I’m really excited to run the hurdles here,” said Harrison, who has competed previously at the adidas Boost Boston Games, but only in the 100m flat. “From my hotel room I can see the track being built – it’s very exciting.”

Harrison competed just once during the 2020 outdoor season, running 16.92 in a 150m race. And in the first few months of this year, she produced some impressive times in flat sprints before turning her attention back to the hurdles.

“The transition from 2020 to 2021 has been kind of smooth,” said the world silver medallist. “Luckily last year I was able to access a track and train as normal, so I was ready for when the opportunities to return to competition presented itself.

“Over the past year I’ve been working a lot more on my flat sprints, and trying to run flat races like a sprinter,” she added. “Training alongside Jenna Prandini and Teahna Daniels has definitely helped.”

World 200m champion Noah Lyles is also working on sharpening his speed.

Originally slated to contest the 150m in Boston, he recently changed his plan and switched to the 100m instead.

“This week I said to my coach that I feel like I need to do more 100s,” he said. “My race at Mt SAC reassured me that I can jump right into a 200m and I’m ready, but I want to have more 100m races under my belt before the trials. I need to be more race-sharp.

“That race at Mt SAC (where he came through in the closing stages to win in 19.90) was probably my most raw 200m in a long time,” he said. “There were a few doubts, but that’s all part of being an athlete. Being able to show up and run to best of abilities – that’s really what being a champion is all about.”

At this early stage of the season, Lyles is yet to approach the kind of speed that carried him to PBs of 9.86 and 19.50 in 2019, but he’s confident it will come when it matters.

“This has been the hardest training year I’ve ever had in my career, especially when it comes to conditioning and speed endurance,” he said. “I’m stronger and leaner than before. We haven’t seen the fruits of my labour just yet, but I see them growing in front of me. It’s exciting to see it coming to fruition. I’m really going to be ready by the time of the Olympics.”

Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics