O’Brian McFarlane and DaeShawn Green had the world’s biggest star advising and motivating them just before they left for Dubai for the athletics events of the Special Olympics World Games.
The two Jamaican sprinters got a few tips from the great Usain Bolt on how to handle the big stage.
“He told me, ‘soak in the experience, this is your first time, enjoy yourself and all your races’. I’m doing just that,” said Green at the Dubai Police Stadium here on Monday evening.
And the two youngsters had golden results to show too, for they won the 200m titles in different men’s categories.
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McFarlane lives at Trelawny, the same parish as Bolt, and often watches videos of the legendary sprinter.
“I’m disappointed that he is no longer running and I don’t know who the next Bolt will be but right now I have videos of him, I watch them so that I get inspired every time. I also have a big photo of him at home,” said the 24-year-old.
“I like the confidence in whatever he does and he taught us to be like him. The more he talks to me, the more I feel inspired.”
Home has always been close to Bolt’s heart and once he donated $1.3 million to the William Knibb Memorial School, his alma mater, apart from many pairs of Puma shoes.
“Sometimes, I go to the William School to train and I’m grateful for all the good he has done for us. And as a 100m and 200m runner, I wish to be like him,” said McFarlane.
200m WORLD RECORD TOUGH TO BEAT
He thinks it will be a long time before another Bolt shows up and that the Jamaican superstar’s 200m world record will stay a lot longer than his 100m mark.
“I think it’s going to be a long time because the records that he set are real world records. And in Jamaica, I think someone can break his 100m record soon but not the 200. The 200m record is very hard because you have to take a lot of speed to come out of the turn and maintain it. It’s going to stay for long.”
GOLD FOR JITENDRA AND HEROJIT
India’s 19-year-old Jitendra Singh (M5 category) and 16-year-old Herojit Singh (M28) had won 200m gold in two different men’s divisions on Sunday.
The writer is in Dubai at the invitation of the UAE Government
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