Ben Efe
15 March 2008
Lagos — Having rounded off the indoor season on a historical note, Olusoji Fasuba has his sights set on reproducing a similar run in the great outdoors.
Fresh from Valencia, Spain with gold Fasuba said he must have to change gears and galvanise himself for another glorious outing in Beijing, China.
Fasuba who is already back in Nigeria from his training base in Greece will feature in next month's Mobil track and field. And he talks about the challenge ahead better than any other person would do. "The trials are very soon, so I've got to change my gear as soon as possible and get ready for the 100. "Being a champion is even encouraging to work harder for the outdoors. It'll make me go into the next training phase with a little happiness," said Fasuba.
He said the road to his becoming a champion at Valencia was not achieved on a platter of gold. It was a path paved with sweat and blood. However, the undisputed African sprint champion proved from the start that he is hot favourite for the gold.
While contesting for gold, he did 6.51 seconds during the semi-final and in the final he did another 6.51 to proved that consistency pays. During the final in a shadow of a second he came under pressure, but he dug deep into his reserve and came out tops.
"At about 40 metres I had the lead, but I got some cramps when I missed a step about half way to the finish, but I knew I had to fight more. I said to myself 'No, this medal is yours, you've got to push." Fasuba gave kudos to his coach, Pierre-Jean Vazel, whose inspiring words spurred him to his moment of truth.
"Going into the final he told me, 'You've worked very hard this year, you've produced a lot of good times in races, you produced a lot of good times in training.' "In the middle of the race when I was a little tense, I remembered the words of my coach and I pushed harder."
Fasuba put his name on the list of world 100m big boys in 2006 when he dazzled with a new African record clocking 9.85 African record in Doha to erase Frankie Fredericks 9.87. He followed it last year with an All African Games tittle. "I don't want to think about the African record," he said. "I think about the World record more.
"But I try not to let it be a driving force to me, just let it come naturally. The African record came naturally to me. And I just need to find the rhythm, but I believe that it's very close."
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