Fidelis Ebu
14 October 2008
Abuja — Sprint sensation, Olusoji Fasuba, who failed to click at the Beijing Olympics has declared that he was not yet finished and can do better.
Fasuba during a reception organised by the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps for the organisation's athletes to the games said he could still do better expressing that he was still young to improve on the lapses that denied him laurel in Beijing.
"My time will still come, I'm not finished. Mobil Track and Field Championship was not my target. Great things will happen next year," said Olusoji Fasuba.
He said that he did not want to feature in the Mobil Track and Field Championship to focus on the Olympics that was more important. "I wanted to peak at the Olympics.
"Some times if you're not lucky, injury can knock one out for a very long time, but in my case I'm very lucky because my injury healed very fast. During the Mobil Track and Field I wasn't ready to compete then because I know that the Olympics was more important. So, my aim was to peak more at the Olympics and competing at the national championship was to make the national team.
"At the national trial, winning would have been nice but since I didn't win I was happy I was still able to make the team," he said.
The Greece-based sprinter bemoaning his plight said, "My problem was that I got injured on the day of the relay and God was so kind I was able to go to Germany where I got treated for 6,000 US dollars and was promised by the Government for a refund, which I pray I would get back.
"At the Olympics I was fully recovered, and the training I had was equivalent to what I had done in Doha but the unfortunate thing for the team was that emphasis was much on the relay and I was training on the relays, which was not ideal as it was barely two days to the games.
"Unfortunately for me I sprained my ankle; the second time I would sustain such injury at major outing. I ran the 100 metres in pains and people won't understand this and it was unfortunate that I crashed out in the second round. If you follow my history I might not do well in meetings but in champion-ships I don't chicken out."
He said he also had problem with his coach's accreditation and accommodation at the games. "At about 2am we were out searching for accommodation for him, which we could not get until after two days and it was outside the Games Village.
"So, I missed him greatly as he is my psychologist, coach and everything. We were getting gate pass for him to see me, which was not the best."
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