RABAT, 1 April 2008 — The middle and long distance coach of Saudi athletics team Saad Shadad is focused on training his boys for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Despite the tall odds Shadad is ready to take on the challenge and show the world how much the standard of Saudi athletics has improved.
Mohamed Al-Salihi, who will see action in the 1,500 meters event along with Mohammed Shaween, Ali Al-Amri, entered in the 3,000 steeplechase, and Hussain Al-Yami, who will compete in both the 5,000 and 10,00 meters, are training in earnest at the Mawlay Rashid Stadium in Rabat.
After the Rabat training camp the team will travel to Ifrane north of Morocco to continue their training.
“Ifrane is one of the best and almost perfect places for high altitude training due to the cool weather, and most of the international athletes will be there which makes it a good opportunity for our team to mingle with them and benefit via the exchange of experiences,” said Shadad.
His passion in athletics and credentials made Shadad the most qualified among local coaches to guide the team in a high profile campaign in Beijing.
The first to win a silver medal for Saudi Arabia in the Asian Championship in the 3, 000 meters steeplechase in 1994, Shadad broke his personal best record 16 times and qualified four times for the Olympics until 2004.
“It is a dream (to win an Olympic medal) and we will work hard to make it a reality,” Shadad said during a break in training.
“I could not make it in the Olympics because I was injured a month ahead of the big event during my four times qualification, but I’ll try my best these athletes make it this year. I am trying to prevent them not to repeat the mistakes I did in and provide them with the best atmosphere,” said Shadad.
The coach said he used to train in rain and snow and overdid it, a thing, which caused him injuries in all four times he qualified. “Going to the extreme was wrong and this is what I am trying to teach them now.”
More than 10 competitions abroad, not to mention the local ones, took their toll on Saudi athletes last year. However, “we flipped the page of last year and opened a new book this year with a total dedication to training in order to bring the best in us during the Olympics,” said Al-Salihi who became a father with the birth of his first baby 40 days ago.
Like Al-Salihi the rest of the Saudi track quartet are 23 and each expressed no fear of Beijing.
Their previous competition proved they could do it and compete with the best of the best, “it just depends on each team’s training and we have big faith on our training with our veteran coach Saad,” said Al-Amri.
Al-Yami said the atmosphere here has been helping them fast-track their progress.
Shaween whose best time is 3.38 minutes in the 1, 500 said he looks forward to Beijing but said he first has to think about the Super Grand Prize taking place in Doha, Qatar in May.
The team train thrice a week at Mawlay Rasheed Stadium and lift weights daily in addition to running in the mountains to strengthen their endurance.
Shadad said it was a good gesture from the Moroccans to allow us to train here freely in the stadium.
Besides leaving home, leaving work was not a problem for these athletes who are all enlisted in the military, the coach said. “The Youth Welfare had been cooperating very well with the Military Forces’ Sports Welfare regarding giving them training leaves,” said Shadad.
He also said that for the first time this team managed to win four gold medals during the Military Olympics in November 2007 in India. From there they traveled to Egypt to participate in the 11th Pan Arab Games in Egypt in the same month.
Of the athletes being trained by Shadad Al-Salihi, 23, looks to have the best shot for a medal based on his performances, an impression also shared by international coaches.
Shadad, in motivating his wards, emphasized the Olympics is a huge thing and a life-changing experience.
They compete with themselves now and must become better, because people expect it, and these athletes owe it to themselves,” said Shadad.
