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SINGAPORE: You could have been born to run, but don't put it all down to genes.
While Jamaican Olympic champion Veronica Campbell-Brown believes that compatriot Usain Bolt's 1.98 metres lanky frame could be an advantage, she doesn't think size plays a key role.
"Size and height doesn't really matter even though sprinters tend to be muscular and we all know Bolt is very tall but there are only three things which are important. Talent, dedication and discipline," said the Olympic champion.
The current 200 metres Olympic champion shared the point when meeting young athletes at Singapore's ITE East College together with fellow sprinter Dexter Lee during a sports clinic.
Lee who is the 100 metres World Junior Champion also puts success in sport to hard work and perseverance, more than anything else.
"It's all about focus when it comes to training," he added.
The duo were in town as part of the Friends@YOG School-twinning programme, which saw 70 students from Red Swastika Primary School, St Stephen's Primary School and Bedok View Secondary School, picking up pointers from the world-class sprinters.
It was of course not all talk, and the Jamaican stars who were given a rapturous welcome when they made their arrival at the running track, took the students through stretching exercises, a jog and short sprints.
"It was really good to host the clinic as we can provide information to the students and hope that they can achieve the results. I think they learnt a lot today," Campbell-Brown said.
The three hour long sports clinic included a live demonstration from the athletes where they taught students the preparation procedures and techniques at the starting block.
The demonstration was followed up by a sharing session which had its share of serious and light moments.
When asked by a teacher when Lee started to train intensively, the junior sprint champ quipped "I started training seriously only in 2006 after I won the championship".
But seriously, Lee officially began training at the age of 14 undergoing long distance training for a period of five months to build up his endurance and strength before progressing to the sprints workout.
What else contributes to Jamaica's success in track and field, channelnewsasia.com asked the Jamaican Manager Claude Bryan.
"In Jamaica, everybody wants to be Usain Bolt" said Bryan of the country's strong tradition in athletics and fervent passion for the sport.
"Nobody wants to be LeBron James (American basketball player). Track and field is one of the three main sports in Jamaica and kids grow up wanting to become the next Usain Bolt and they trained hard to achieve it," he said.
Bryan also added that in a developing nation like Jamaica, children have to walk miles everyday to attend school and this inadvertently helps to improve their athleticism.
"We don't have good transport system compared to developed countries and the children have to walk three, four, five miles to go to school. They might not realize but it is actually a form of training to them," he said.
For aspiring young athletes who want to emulate their success, Campbell-Brown has this golden advice for them.
"Remember, it is the combination of talent, dedication, discipline and focus that matters," said the Olympic champion.
The Jamaican athletes will be at Takashimaya Shopping Centre Basement 2, December 12, for a meet-the-public and autograph session. - CNA/fa
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