Kenya's hurdler to train in Spain, South Africa for Rio Olympics
Xinhua, January 7, 2016 Adjust font size:
World 400m hurdles champion Nicholas Bett of Kenya has sobered up since his surprise victory at the Beijing World Championships and now dreams of extending his grip to the Olympics in Rio.
Speaking from Eldoret, Bett says he will be the most watched athlete at the Rio Olympic Games and he will not crack under pressure from fans or his rivals.
"I am training hard already and I want to go on and win in Rio. But it will be harder and to make the finals will be the target and then we will see what happens," he said on Wednesday.
Indeed the world is yet to come to terms with Bett's steep rise to stardom. Barely a year ago, has Bett risen from finishing fifth in the opening heat of the Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh, Scotland in a time of more than 51 seconds, to winning gold in Beijing in 47.49.
He attributes his success to hard work, YouTube and the skills he got from his South African coach Hennie Koetze, whom he started working with in 2014.
Now Bett plans to move to Barcelona, Spain to intensify his training before shifting camp to South Africa.
"I will be leaving for Barcelona to start training from Jan. 29. It will last one month before I move to South Africa in March," he said.
The training is also expected to put him in shape ahead of the start of the 2016 IAAF Diamond League.
But he has yet to decide on which meetings to compete in as he seeks to test his speed and endurance against strong challenge.
However, unlike other athletes who have the big task of seeking qualification through trials for the Olympics, the hurdler has his ticket ready in hand as the world champion and relishes the prospect of adding on an Olympic medal. Enditem