Monday, 23rd August
This update will be revised in the next 36 hours or so, but will be the final article on this blog (if you want lots of pics, then make friends with the coach on Facebook!!). We very much hope that it will round off with a second Youth Olympic medal for David in the relay.
Many many thanks go to all our readers and for the immense support shown in various ways for David in Singapore. It has been a phenomenal experience with support from all around the globe.
David remains in Singapore until Friday, but coach John Powell heads back west now, after a roller-coaster trip. He will be at the Bishan Stadium for the final relay events before making for his flight home overnight Monday / Tuesday.
Trackspeed1 is truly proud to have David Bolarinwa among its number, and hopes that the new faces to the group this winter will aspire to achieve as he has.
Sunday 22 August 2010
Saturday 21 August 2010
BRONZE MEDAL TO A TROJAN ATHLETE!
Saturday / Sunday 22nd/23rd August
David Bolarinwa remained the world's top-ranked under-18 male sprinter tonight as his Jamaican rival failed to beach his sensational 10.39s mark in London two weeks ago!
David was, however, edged into the bronze medal slot after a far from ideal start in the Youth Olympic Games 100m final, clocking 10.51s, literally thousandths of a second adrift of silver.
"I'm immensely proud of David's achievements here," said coach John Powell, "and I know he will have a sense of frustration it wasn't a different colour medal, but this will have been an absolutely massive developmental experience for him, and he enters junior and senior athletics now far better equipped than pretty much any of his predecessors!
"But it might take a few days for that side of things to sink in, and who can blame him. He was hugely motivated for this race, and told me only minutes before on the phone that he felt great, but at this level if you don't get out of the blocks you are dead in the water.
"David has spent the last two weeks adjusting to an extreme tropical climate, has been thrust into the media limelight on TV worldwide, coped with the hype of being the TeamGB flag-bearer, and has been the target of hoards of reporters and interviewers at every outing. At 16 that is huge, and he can only emerge a better sportsman for it. I have seen him grow in stature daily - he is a credit to TeamGB."
David will be back in the Bishan Stdium Sunday morning to receive his medal, and on Monday night will represent Team Europe in the medley relay where a second medal is up for grabs.
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| Bronze medalist David with coach after this morning's ceremony. |
David was, however, edged into the bronze medal slot after a far from ideal start in the Youth Olympic Games 100m final, clocking 10.51s, literally thousandths of a second adrift of silver.
"I'm immensely proud of David's achievements here," said coach John Powell, "and I know he will have a sense of frustration it wasn't a different colour medal, but this will have been an absolutely massive developmental experience for him, and he enters junior and senior athletics now far better equipped than pretty much any of his predecessors!
"But it might take a few days for that side of things to sink in, and who can blame him. He was hugely motivated for this race, and told me only minutes before on the phone that he felt great, but at this level if you don't get out of the blocks you are dead in the water.
"David has spent the last two weeks adjusting to an extreme tropical climate, has been thrust into the media limelight on TV worldwide, coped with the hype of being the TeamGB flag-bearer, and has been the target of hoards of reporters and interviewers at every outing. At 16 that is huge, and he can only emerge a better sportsman for it. I have seen him grow in stature daily - he is a credit to TeamGB."
David will be back in the Bishan Stdium Sunday morning to receive his medal, and on Monday night will represent Team Europe in the medley relay where a second medal is up for grabs.
Friday 20 August 2010
LINE-UP !
Saturday, 21st August
START LIST
START LIST
Lane PB SB
1 549 EDWARD Mateo PAN 1 MAY 1993 10.78 10.78
2 308 NAIVALU Lepani FIN 30 JAN 1993 10.85 10.92
3 661 MEENAPRA Jirapong THA 11 MAY 1993 10.51 10.51
4 438 NASHIMOTO Masaki JPN 12 DEC 1993 10.64 10.66
5 429 SKEEN Odane JAM 28 AUG 1994 10.46 10.46
6 331 BOLARINWA David GBR 20 OCT 1993 10.39 10.39
7 745 MUTANGA Tinashe Samuel ZIM 27 JAN 1993 10.68 10.68
8 114 WALSH Tahir AN 24 FEB 1994 10.76
Race time - 2110hrs local - 1410hrs UK
GOOD LUCK DAVID - IT"S SHOWTIME !!!!!!
GOING FOR GOLD!
Friday, 20th August
It's being billed across Singapore as the clash of the Titans as David Bolarinwa is due to lock horns with the top teenage sprinting talent on the planet tomorrow night, in the first ever Youth Olympic Games 100 metres final.
David is drawn in lane six, with the strongly fancied Jamaican Odene Skeene right next-door in five!
The race, which takes place at 2110hrs (1410hrs UK) will mark the pinnacle of the Games so far, which are plastered all over Singapore as the event of the century! You can't go down any street, traverse any park, or visit any commercial centre, without being surrounded by Singapore YOG 2010 logo's, banners and posters.
As the first final of its kind ever, the gold medalist will have the added credit to his CV of being the Youth Olympic record holder, and the first ever Youth Olympic Champion in one of the most keenly contested Olympic events.
"It's really exciting," said David's coach, John Powell, "and the thing is both David and I know perfectly well this race is there for the taking. We respect and do not under-estimate the opposition - the Jamaican obviously, nor the Thai or Japanese challenge, but David is more than capable of beating the lot of them on his day."
As with the heats, the Blue Peter cameras will be there to record every second. "I was mic'd up for the heats and expect I will be for the final too, so I have to be really careful what I say," joked John, "but it's going to be really difficult not to get carried away in the heat of the moment!"
Assuming all goes well, David will have a victory ceremony on Sunday morning, but isn't finished there. He runs for Europe on Monday night in the medley relay, completing the first leg of a 100-200-300-400m event.
It's being billed across Singapore as the clash of the Titans as David Bolarinwa is due to lock horns with the top teenage sprinting talent on the planet tomorrow night, in the first ever Youth Olympic Games 100 metres final.
David is drawn in lane six, with the strongly fancied Jamaican Odene Skeene right next-door in five!
The race, which takes place at 2110hrs (1410hrs UK) will mark the pinnacle of the Games so far, which are plastered all over Singapore as the event of the century! You can't go down any street, traverse any park, or visit any commercial centre, without being surrounded by Singapore YOG 2010 logo's, banners and posters.
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| David hopes to replicate his win in Moscow (above) when he struck gold in the European final in May, in Singapore tomorrow. |
"It's really exciting," said David's coach, John Powell, "and the thing is both David and I know perfectly well this race is there for the taking. We respect and do not under-estimate the opposition - the Jamaican obviously, nor the Thai or Japanese challenge, but David is more than capable of beating the lot of them on his day."
As with the heats, the Blue Peter cameras will be there to record every second. "I was mic'd up for the heats and expect I will be for the final too, so I have to be really careful what I say," joked John, "but it's going to be really difficult not to get carried away in the heat of the moment!"
Wednesday 18 August 2010
CALM IN THE STORM !
Thursday, 19th August
Back to the training track today, and a bit of a review on yesterday's event between a very calm athlete and coach, although the weather was far from calm! A violent tropical storm meant that training was suspended for a short while, and interrupted several times by extended torrential showers.
Neither coach nor athlete were too troubled by the local elements though, and the feeling of positivity around Saturday's final continued to grow. Tomorrow will be a rest away from the track, and Saturday will probably see athlete and coach hook up at the training track for half an hour in the morning to chat through the impending evening's activity before it's down to business again some hours later.
David's final on Saturday can be viewed on Singapore TV, or BBC red button in the UK. The 100m final is due off at 2110hrs local time, which is 1410hrs UK.
JOB DONE, GAME ON !
Wednesday, 18th August
The place: Bishan Stadium, Singapore, the time: 1120am local. By around 10.62 seconds later it was 'job done' by Trackspeed1's David Bolarinwa, as he cruised into Saturday evening's 100 metres final of the Youth Olympic Games as the fastest qualifier.
David was a heat winner some four tenths of a second ahead of his nearest rival, hence making it a really tough job, with qualification on times alone! As it happened, Odane Skeen from Jamaica, his closest competitor on paper, was the next fastest just one hundredth of a second slower than him with a winning 10.63s run.
There was so little difference between the two performances it will certainly be 'showtime' when the two meet in Saturday's final. Coach John Powell summed up the morning's action:
"David ran well into a 0.2 headwind, while the Jamaican had a 1.5 headwind, but was pushed all the way by Thailand's Jirapong Meenapra. But you can't underestimate just how tough it is to run solo as David had to, let alone in an event like this, so there really was no difference between the two performances at all.
David's a championship performer though, so Saturday's final represents a mouth-watering clash!"
The other heats didn't produce any other performances of real note, although the Thai athlete ran well, albeit off a 0.096s reaction time which many thought would normally attract disqualification for a false start. So it could end up a real two-horse race, although these events can always produce a surprise on the big stage!
David will be back to the training track tomorrow morning to review his efforts and make any minor adjustments to his approach that he needs to, after which Friday will be a rest day ahead of race day.
The place: Bishan Stadium, Singapore, the time: 1120am local. By around 10.62 seconds later it was 'job done' by Trackspeed1's David Bolarinwa, as he cruised into Saturday evening's 100 metres final of the Youth Olympic Games as the fastest qualifier.
David was a heat winner some four tenths of a second ahead of his nearest rival, hence making it a really tough job, with qualification on times alone! As it happened, Odane Skeen from Jamaica, his closest competitor on paper, was the next fastest just one hundredth of a second slower than him with a winning 10.63s run.
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| David warms up ahead of his heat in Singapore this morning |
"David ran well into a 0.2 headwind, while the Jamaican had a 1.5 headwind, but was pushed all the way by Thailand's Jirapong Meenapra. But you can't underestimate just how tough it is to run solo as David had to, let alone in an event like this, so there really was no difference between the two performances at all.
David's a championship performer though, so Saturday's final represents a mouth-watering clash!"
The other heats didn't produce any other performances of real note, although the Thai athlete ran well, albeit off a 0.096s reaction time which many thought would normally attract disqualification for a false start. So it could end up a real two-horse race, although these events can always produce a surprise on the big stage!
David will be back to the training track tomorrow morning to review his efforts and make any minor adjustments to his approach that he needs to, after which Friday will be a rest day ahead of race day.
 |
| Coach John Powell and David are all smiles after a successful morning's work at the Bishan Stadium, Singapore |
Tuesday 17 August 2010
MOMENT OF TRUTH...!
No more talking - tomorrow (Wednesday) will see the moment of truth as David completes his heat in the 100m. He has been drawn in lane 4 of heat one, which coach John Powell says could hardly be better.
"Its in the thick of it and it means he sets the pace for the rest, so it's hardly a bad draw," he said.
"Its in the thick of it and it means he sets the pace for the rest, so it's hardly a bad draw," he said.
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