For Ato Boldon, nothing is as nerve-wracking as not being on the track.
The Trinidadian sprinting great may have retired from the sport more than a decade ago, but even today, the rush of adrenalin and anxiety that comes from coaching the next generation surpasses anything he felt in his competitive days.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s the worst,&rdquo; says Boldon, who coaches Trinidad and Tobago&rsquo;s Khalifa St Fort, one of the leading contenders for the women&rsquo;s 100m title at this week&rsquo;s IAAF World U20 Championships Bydgoszcz 2016.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been in four Olympic finals, I do live TV to a billion people for a living, and none of that stresses me. The minute Khalifa has to run, my stomach is upset, I can&rsquo;t sleep, I&rsquo;m nervous, I&rsquo;m anxious. It&rsquo;s taken me to a place I&rsquo;m most uncomfortable with.&rdquo;
Boldon is one of the IAAF Ambassadors who has travelled to the Polish city this week for the biennial gathering of the world&rsquo;s best teenage athletes. At the pre-event press conference on Monday, he admitted that there&rsquo;s one race&nbsp;he's looking forward to above all.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m inherently biased but the women&rsquo;s 100m is going to be great,&rdquo; he said.
The event&nbsp;will pit world U18 champion Candace Hill of the United States against Poland&rsquo;s Ewa Swoboda, the world U20 indoor 60m record holder. However, it will be no surprise to Boldon if his protegee upsets the odds and takes&nbsp;the title on Thursday night. &nbsp;
&ldquo;Khalifa has been improving and is ready to run very, very well,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I know she&rsquo;s capable of winning. She&rsquo;s such a gamer and every time she&rsquo;s in a big meet she comes through.&rdquo;
<h3>Successful transition</h3>
As coaches go, few are better placed to guide St Fort through the maze&nbsp;from U20 level to senior ranks. After all, 24 years ago he was the same age as her, 18, standing on the start line in Seoul for the 1992 edition of this championships.
Boldon had just come off a disappointing Olympic debut, exiting in the heats in both the 100m and 200m at the Barcelona Games, so the World Juniors provided the perfect platform to re-establish his star credentials.
&ldquo;I got beaten pretty badly at the Olympics and people back home were like: &lsquo;is this guy any good?&rsquo;&rdquo; recalls Boldon. &ldquo;It was redemption for me.&rdquo;
Boldon claimed gold in both the 100m and 200m in Seoul, running 10.30 and 20.63, performances that catapulted his name into the spotlight as a future star of sprinting. By now he knows, better than most, how long a road must be travelled in order to&nbsp;emulate that success&nbsp;as a senior. It took&nbsp;Boldon until&nbsp;1997 to achieve it, when he took gold over 200m at the IAAF World Championships in Athens.
&ldquo;Many people get lost in between,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;I was aware even at the time that it didn&rsquo;t necessarily mean I would be successful [at senior level]. You have to start from the bottom rung again, but winning motivated me and signalled that I had the ability.&rdquo;
<h3>Spark of motivation</h3>
Boldon is quick to note, however, that there is still hope for those who don&rsquo;t come away from Bydgoszcz with a medal.
&ldquo;There are some who come here and don&rsquo;t win, and that also sparks them out be great,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;Everybody starts to lose at a certain level and that&rsquo;s the point: they&rsquo;ll figure out here if they&rsquo;re good enough, whether they need to work harder or whether they have maxed out their ability. They&rsquo;ll realise that this is the best in the world they're against and ask: do I have what it takes to be successful?&rdquo;
Boldon has been in Bydgoszcz for the past number of days and is expecting a strong showing from the hosts, both on and off the track, when action begins on Tuesday morning.
&ldquo;The fact they have two or three legitimate gold medal shots will help,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;I would really like to see the fans come out because athletes perform better when they have a bigger audience.&rdquo;
And what advice would Boldon give to the 1512 athletes who are set to take to the stage this week?
&ldquo;Enjoy it,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s important to make lasting friendships because the competition will come and go and you&rsquo;ll go back and forth your entire career. I enjoyed my World Juniors. Now that I&rsquo;m the old guy on the other side of the fence, you realise the friends you make here will still be friends when you can&rsquo;t compete any more.&rdquo;
Cathal Dennehy for the IAAF

For Ato Boldon, nothing is as nerve-wracking as not being on the track.


With adrenalin on a high, Boldon awaiting brilliance in Bydgoszcz

The latest episode in the Legends of athletics, signature edition series is now online and features 1997 world 200m champion Ato Boldon.
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The latest episode in the Legends of athletics, signature edition series is now online and features 1997 world 200m champion Ato Boldon.

Legends of athletics, signature edition – Ato Boldon

IAAF Ambassadors Ato Boldon, Frankie Fredericks and Michael Johnson were present at the traditional pre-event press conference ahead of the IAAF/BTC World Relays, Bahamas 2015 in Nassau on Friday (1).The championships take place on Saturday and Sunday (2-3) in the Thomas A Robinson National Stadium and the IAAF website will have results, reports, a live blog and streaming live radio commentary, which can be accessed <a href="http://www.iaaf.org/competitions/iaaf-world-relays">here</a>.Below are the edited highlights of the question-and-answer session which revolved mainly around the famous 1996 Olympic Games 200m final, in which all three ambassadors got medals.<h3>Michael Johnson (USA)</h3>Q: What are your memories of the 1996 Olympic Games 200m final (Johnson won in what was then a world record 19.32)?A: The memory I have is that there was a great deal of joy and relief. There was quite a few different emotions at that time because I had stated at that Games that I was going to make history and I had won the 400m and I always knew that the 200m was going to be much more difficult.I was in a competition in Lausanne, I was running the 400m, and I saw Frankie just miss the 100m world record because he did something that all of our coaches tell us not to do &ndash; don&rsquo;t celebrate too early. So I knew that Frankie was ready.I knew that for the Games I was absolutely going to have my work cut out. Q: What is your opinion on Usain Bolt&rsquo;s chances of defending all three of his titles at the IAAF World Championships in Beijing?For Usain, health is going to be his biggest issue going forward. As you get older, it&rsquo;s much more difficult to remain healthy. I think he&rsquo;s done a good job of managing the number of races he runs.I&rsquo;ve said this before that no one can beat Usain when he&rsquo;s at his best, but he has to be at his best. I marvel at his ability to remain motivated given that he is world champion, Olympic champion and world record holder in all of his events. It took me 11 years to do that but Usain did it a lot quicker. <h3>Frankie Fredericks (NAM)</h3>Q: What are your memories of the 1996 Olympic Games 200m final?A: I think Michael brought the best out of me. I&rsquo;m from a small country where not many people know where it is, and to become one of the fastest men in the world is quite an achievement.I was training hard every day because I was sure somewhere else other people were training hard.Michael was a 400m specialist, I was a 100m man so I had to find out what he was doing and that&rsquo;s why I started longer runs. I could have been content to just have been the African record holder and not work as hard so that&rsquo;s why these two (Johnson and Boldon) brought out the best in me.The other thing about Atlanta I remember is that they made us walk to whole 200m, I don&rsquo;t know why; and everybody was chanting &ldquo;Michael&rdquo;! They were killing us mentally.I was ready that day but that&rsquo;s when I realised it&rsquo;s always good to run in front of a home crowd. When I came off the bend, Michael found another gear. I don&rsquo;t know where he found that gear and I think it was probably those 80,000 people that pushed him. At that point, I knew the race was finished and just worried that Ato was going to come past me. I&rsquo;m happy to have been part of that race and to have been someone who made him think the night before that there was someone in that race that could give him some problems. I was had (Michael Johnson interrupts: &ldquo;So, the translation of what Frankie said is, if the Olympics were in Namibia, then he would have won!&rdquo; Cue much laughter.)Q: As part of the IAAF Council, you were part of the decision-making process that lead to the birth of the IAAF World Relays, so you must be proud of the event?A: The relay is something special and this was a unique chance for the IAAF to do something different, take a chance and get out of our comfort zone. We also took a chance with The Bahamas and last year was an exceptional success. I think will now it will become even better as people realise that it is serious. Perhaps we now have to take much chances like this with our sport.<h3>Ato Boldon (TRI)</h3>Q: What are your memories of the 1996 Olympic Games 200m final?A: My memories are completely different to these two (Johnson and Fredericks) as I was in my last year of university. I was also a fan of the sport even before I became a competitor and I had even been introduced to the sport watching Michael and Frankie.I went into that race intending to run the best that I can but there was a part of my brain which said, &ldquo;These two guys you are running against are two of the best ever in the history of this event.&rdquo;I had been running at a world class level in that event for all of about 11 months so I knew that I had to have something extraordinary to happen and these two had to have a very bad night just to be competitive.This is true, I came off the turn and I&rsquo;m in pretty good shape but I was in lane six, the guys on my outside didn&rsquo;t run a good first 100, and Michael and Frankie are inside me. At 90 metres I&rsquo;m like &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t see anybody, I&rsquo;m doing well.&rdquo; Then the gold shoes go past me and the rest is history.But I don&rsquo;t look back on that race with any regrets. I know there is nothing I could have done that night to change the colour of my medal. In my whole career I never ran as fast as 19.32 or 19.68.Phil Minshull for the IAAF

IAAF Ambassadors Ato Boldon, Frankie Fredericks Michael Johnson were present at the traditional pre-event press conference ahead of the IAAF/BTC World Relays, Bahamas 2015 in Nassau on Friday (1).

IAAF Ambassadors Boldon, Fredericks and Johnson meet the media in Nassau

- Read on for English and French language versions of this story - La traduction française suit le texte anglais<o:p></o:p>The IAAF has appointed Ato Boldon, Joanna Hayes and Jackie Joyner-Kersee as Ambassadors to the 2014 IAAF World Junior Championships, which will be held in Eugene, USA, between 22-27 July.The trio will be very busy while in Oregon. Among their activities, they will conduct interviews with local and international media, provide their thoughts on the championships live via various social media platforms, and be involved with the medal presentations.They will also be doing media training for the athletes attending the championships, including how best to present yourself via social media, and encouraging the competitors with motivational speeches and advice.The spectators and the general public will get a chance to meet the Ambassadors in a specially constructed Fan Zone alongside the famous Hayward Field stadium.“Being an Ambassador for this meet is the most important over all my other Ambassador duties. The World Juniors will always be a special meet for me because I won my first two world titles there, and it signalled to me that I could be a world-class sprinter,” said Boldon, the 1997 world 200m champion and now the host of IAAF Inside Athletics.“Friends that I made at the World Juniors in 1992, like the USA's Amy Acuff, Great Britain's Darren Campbell and Ethiopia's Haile Gebrselassie, are all friends to this day, so the friendships have endured. Making history as the first to ever do the sprint double at that meet is also high on my list of career accomplishments,” he added.“I am honoured to be an ambassador for the 2014 World Junior Championships. To be part of such an important event is a humbling experience for me. To witness at first hand the future stars of our sport is very exciting for me,” said Hayes, the 2004 Olympic Games 100m hurdles champion.“One of the important things that I would like to pass on to the new generation is that the legacy you leave starts now. How do you want to be remembered? Winning medals is always a goal and a huge part of our sport, it's great to be remembered as a winner but having the respect and admiration of colleagues is also very important,” she added.IAAF Hall of Fame member and three-time Olympic Games gold medallist Jackie Joyner-Kersee commented: “I take great pride being able to represent the IAAF as an Ambassador for the World Junior Championships this summer. My message to the next generation is a message of hope to continue to move our sport forward.”IAAF Les Ambassadeurs de l’IAAF aux Mondiaux Juniors à Eugene Ato Boldon, Joanna Hayes et Jackie Joyner-Kersee seront Ambassadeurs de l’IAAF lors de l’édition 2014 des Championnats du monde juniors qui se dérouleront à Eugene aux États-Unis, du 22 au 27 juillet.Le trio devrait être très occupé, pendant son séjour en Oregon. Parmi leurs multiples activités, des interviews sont prévues avec les médias locaux et internationaux mais ils seront également actifs sur les différents réseaux sociaux et seront impliqués dans les cérémonies de présentation des médailles.Ils conseilleront aussi les athlètes participant aux Championnats, notamment sur la manière de se présenter face à la presse mais également sur les réseaux sociaux. Ils apporteront leur soutien aux concurrents et dispenseront conseils et encouragements.Les spectateurs et le public auront la possibilité de rencontrer les ambassadeurs dans une zone spécialement aménagée à cet effet, à proximité du célèbre stade Hayward Field.« Etre ambassadeur de cette compétition est la plus importante de toutes mes autres responsabilités d'ambassadeur. Les Mondiaux juniors me tiennent particulièrement à cœur car j’y ai remporté mes deux premiers titres mondiaux. C’est là que j’ai compris que je pouvais être un sprinter de niveau international » a déclaré Ato Boldon, le champion du monde du 200m en 1997 qui est le présentateur d’Inside Athletics.« Les amis que je me suis fait pendant les Championnats du monde juniors 1992, Amy Acuff, l’Américaine par exemple ou Darren Campbell, le Britannique ou encore Haile Gebrselassie, l’Ethiopien, le sont toujours restés. Ce sont des amis que j’ai gardés toute ma vie. Etre le premier athlète à avoir remporté le doublé en sprint lors de cette compétition tient une place particulière dans les performances que j’ai réalisées au cours de ma carrière professionnelle,&nbsp;» a-t-il ajouté.« Je suis très honorée d’être ambassadrice de l’IAAF durant les Championnats du monde juniors. Etre impliquée dans un événement d'une telle importance est une expérience nouvelle qui rend très humble. Etre témoin des premières performances des futurs champions est très émouvant pour moi,&nbsp;» a déclaré la championne olympique 2004 du 100 m haies, Joanna Hayes. « Une des choses importantes que j’aimerais transmettre à la nouvelle génération est que l’image que vous laisserez demain commence aujourd’hui. De quelle manière voulez-vous qu’on se souvienne de vous ? Avoir pour ambition de remporter des victoires est bien sûr un objectif majeur pour un athlète, c'est génial que l’on se souvienne de vous en tant que champion, mais avoir le respect et l'admiration de ses partenaires est tout aussi important,&nbsp;» a-t-elle ajouté.Jackie Joyner-Kersee, la triple médaillée d'or olympique et également membre du Panthéon de l’athlétisme de l’IAAF, a quant à elle, déclaré: « je suis fière d’être ambassadrice de l’IAAF cet été, aux Championnats du monde juniors. Mon message à la prochaine génération est un message d'espoir pour continuer à faire avancer notre sport.&nbsp;»IAAF<o:p></o:p>

The IAAF has appointed Ato Boldon, Joanna Hayes and Jackie Joyner-Kersee as Ambassadors to the 2014 IAAF World Junior Championships, which will be held in Eugene, USA, between 22-27 July.


IAAF Ambassadors for World Juniors in Eugene

Ahead of the 2013 World Athletics Gala in Monaco, three-time World 100m champion Maurice Greene, four-time World Long Jump champion Dwight Phillips and four-time World 110m Hurdles champion Allen Johnson spoke to Ato Boldon about their careers and the 2013 World Athlete of the Year awards. Ato Boldon: Maurice, tell us a bit about your memories of your athletics career and is there anything you think the sport should be doing differently now?Maurice Greene: I have a lot of tremendous memories, especially from Monaco. I was just talking about the time when we were here for the Golden League meeting. We had just got off the bus and we were heading to our hotel when we saw a guy sitting outside with a blue Lamborghini. The dude just threw us the keys and told us to take it for a drive, so we did.This sport has given me so much and I&rsquo;ve put so much into it. Our era really had a lot of passion and really worked hard for the sport. I think the current athletes should give the people what they really want to see and that&rsquo;s personality and competition. AB: Dwight, you&rsquo;re the most recent retiree here; was it a difficult decision to retire?Dwight Phillips: Being an athlete, we do this our entire lives and we feel as though we can do this for ever. I really wanted to retire after 2012, but I tore my achilles that year which was a sour moment because I had been No.1 in the world for the two previous years. Luckily I had the opportunity to compete at the World Championships because I had the bye, so I told myself that I want to go out fighting and that&rsquo;s what I did. I came into the sport fighting and I went out fighting. AB: Allen, how do you assess the current health of the 110m Hurdles and where were you when Aries Merritt broke the World record last year?Allen Johnson: I can&rsquo;t remember where I was but I knew Aries had been running well and I knew that Brussels was his last race. He&rsquo;d been running 12.92 and 12.93. I had the meeting record for Brussels (12.92), so selfishly I was hoping he wouldn&rsquo;t break it. I thought &lsquo;it&rsquo;s the end of the year, he&rsquo;s probably tired&rsquo;.I didn&rsquo;t see the race but I got a text from Darrell Smith, saying &lsquo;wow did you see that?!&rsquo; My heart immediately started racing so I went online and saw that he ran 12.80. I just thought &lsquo;woah, that&rsquo;s amazing&rsquo;.He smashed it. To see someone break the world record by 0.07 and almost get into the 12.7s, that&rsquo;s a tremendous moment for the event and for Aries.I&rsquo;d had conversations in the past with other hurdlers like Tony Dees and Renaldo Nehemiah and we all felt that a time in the 12.7s was definitely possible. It was just a matter of time. As far as human capabilities go, 12.7 is definitely within reason; I&rsquo;ve felt that since 1996. My personal goal was to run 12.78.The event is in pretty good shape right now. There&rsquo;s Aries Merritt and David Oliver. Dayron Robles is still around, Liu Xiang may yet come back. It&rsquo;s an event where we always see head-to-head competition, which is good from a spectator&rsquo;s standpoint. AB: Now all of you are retired, what are you doing now?DP: Currently I own a production company. I also do some work for Leap of Faith Community Outreach, where I work with adults and kids who struggle with substance abuse and behavioural problems. I&rsquo;m also coaching; one of the athletes I train is Damar Forbes of Jamaica.MG: I&rsquo;ve been working for Eurosport, which is a lot of fun. I&rsquo;m also working with kids in California and I&rsquo;m still coaching.AJ: I&rsquo;m a sprint coach at the US Air Force Academy. There are 30 athletes in my group, which &ndash; as any other coach will tell you &ndash; is too many, but I enjoy it and I get to work with a bunch of hard-working classy young adults who&rsquo;ll represent the USA in the armed forces. AB: Who do you think should win the men&rsquo;s and women&rsquo;s IAAF Athlete of the Year awards?MG: When I got the email with the shortlist, I thought &lsquo;man this is tough&rsquo;. On the men&rsquo;s side, I was very excited to see what Mo Farah did. Don&rsquo;t get wrong, what Usain Bolt has done is great, but no one is shocked by what he does any more. What Mo Farah is doing is more unexpected, like when he broke the British 1500m record. The things he&rsquo;s been doing for the past two years have been phenomenal.On the women&rsquo;s side, I&rsquo;m probably biased but I think what Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce did was tremendous and her year was phenomenal, so I&rsquo;d lean towards her.DP: I think we could make an argument for Valerie Adams in the Shot Put. She has been very dominant and has won one championship after another, so at some point she should be awarded for doing that.Mo Farah had a great showing at home last year and replicated that in Moscow, so I think it will be a toss-up between him and Bolt.AJ: Bolt has been setting the world on fire since 2008. That said, he&rsquo;s so good now that whatever he does, whenever I see it, I&rsquo;m like &lsquo;oh, okay&rsquo;. Even if he runs 9.4, I&rsquo;d be like &lsquo;oh, he ran 9.4&rsquo;. So with that said, it makes me lean towards Mo Farah; it would be good to see a new face win it. But if it&rsquo;s about athlete of the year, then Usain Bolt.On the women&rsquo;s side, perhaps I&rsquo;m biased but I think it should be Brianna Rollins. I know she&rsquo;s not shortlisted, but watching her compete this year, I was extremely impressed with how she ran at the World Championships, more so than her 12.26. She is a young athlete who was competing at her first World Championships and she got left in the blocks, but she had the composure to stay focused on her race, not panic, clear each barrier and win the race.Of the people on the shortlist, I&rsquo;d go with Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce. AB: What about Bohdan Bondarenko? Have we all been overlooking a genuine contender?AJ: It&rsquo;s difficult to be a one-event athlete going up against people who can double up, like sprinters and distance runners. A lot of field event athletes only have their specialist event with no other events to complement it.None of us four athletes here have won the IAAF Athlete of the Year award, which shows how difficult it is to win. To be the single most outstanding athlete of the year is incredible. Jon Mulkeen for the IAAF

Ahead of the 2013 World Athletics Gala in Monaco, Maurice Greene, Dwight Phillips and Allen Johnson spoke to Ato Boldon about their careers and the 2013 World Athlete of the Year awards.

Monaco press points – Maurice Greene, Dwight Phillips and Allen Johnson

The IAAF Ambassadors Press Conference, marking 30 years of the IAAF World Championships, featured two IAAF Ambassadors, 1997 World 400m Hurdles champion Stephane Diagana and 1997 World 200m champion Ato Boldon. Recently-crowned World Pole Vault champion Yelena Isinbayeva was also there as a guest on Thursday (15).A montage of the 1997 edition was shown before the conference got underway, but afterwards Boldon surprisingly said that despite it being his only World title, it was not his fondest memory.“That meet was not as satisfying as you'd imagine it would be for a World title,” he said. “Really I was trying to redeem myself for having ruined the 100m in which I was fifth. It's an okay memory, just not one of my top ones. Had I not won, people back home would not have let me back into the country!”When asked what is his favourite memory, Boldon said the 1998 Commonwealth Games where he won gold in a time of 9.88.“That evening at the Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur, Frankie Fredericks and I really brought the house down,” he said. “It’s not often in my career when I’d go to a championships and I was the featured athlete. It was also my best performance in a high-pressure final.“Of course, at the end of the day, my country only has one World champion – maybe by the end of today it will be two, with Jehue Gordon in the 400m Hurdles – but for now we only have one World champion, so I’m very proud that I was the first; but my memory of that race was that it was simply more of a relief that I won.”Diagana, meanwhile, looks back on the 1997 World Championships in Athens as the highlight of his career.The Frenchman finished fourth at the 1993 edition, then third two years later but was forced to miss the 1996 Olympics through injury.“Athens is a great, great memory for me,” said Diagana, now 44. “I had great expectations for the 1996 Olympics, but I was out for the whole season with a stress fracture. 1997 was really special, and I thought it may be my last World Championships, so I had to make it better than ever. It was a really tough race with Bryan Bronson, but I’m glad I won and it’s definitely my best memory.”Diagana was asked about tonight’s women’s 400m Hurdles final and whether he thought Zuzana Hejnova could live up to expectation and win gold for the Czech Republic.“I think she can go really fast,” he said. “When you’re running so consistently at low 53s, it means you’re probably able to run 52.5, which would be close to the World record. If she doesn’t get it today, then maybe at the end of the season or next year.“I think she will win gold, but this is the hurdles, not the flat – even in the flat there are no guarantees as we saw the other night with LaShawn Merrit and Kirani James.“The other favourite maybe is Perri Shakes-Drayton; she has run really fast on the flat. There’s still a big difference between her hurdles and flat times, but if she can run better than ever then she could do a 53.2 or 53.3: those two athletes are my favourites for the final.”Isinbayeva, meanwhile, reiterated that she will soon be taking a break from the sport as she prioritises becoming a mother.“I wouldn’t say a definite yes or no about being in Rio (for the 2016 Olympic Games),” she said. “My main goal is to become a mum; the birth of a child means more than any gold medal. Every girl says the same and it’s no different for me.“Everything will depend on my maternal feelings. If I feel I can come back to the sport in Rio, then I will do it. But if I feel I’d like to stay at home with the baby, then no one would be able to force me to come back.”Jon Mulkeen for the IAAF

IAAF Ambassadors Press Conference 15 August: Ato Boldon, Stephane Diagana and Yelena Isinbayeva

Ato Boldon, the 1997 World 200m champion, was a guest at today’s press conference ahead of the 2013 IAAF World Youth Championships in Donetsk, Ukraine.Although he missed the opportunity to compete at the World Youth Championships, Boldon was a junior star before going on to enjoy a long and successful career representing Trinidad and Tobago. Based on those experiences, Boldon passed on five valuable pieces of advice for the 1500 athletes taking part in Donetsk.“The first thing, and the most important thing, is the friendships you will make,” he said. “There are people I competed with in 1992 – Kareem Streete-Thompson, Haile Gebrselassie – and these are still friends I have to this day, 21 years later. Of course it’s important to compete and to do as well as you can. But if you lock yourself in your room and refuse to socialise with your team-mates and athletes from other countries, then you’ll miss out on making lifelong friendships. One of the best things in sport is friendships.“The second thing – understand very clearly that the road to senior success is littered with a lot of young phenomenal talents. It’s not a given in this sport that being a young star or teenage champion will automatically result in being a senior star. For every Usain Bolt, Allyson Felix, Sanya Richards-Ross and Yelena Isinbayeva, there are a thousand who do not make it. Even if you’re the best now, it means nothing going forward. As all those athletes had to figure, there’s a gap between junior success and senior success. To have great career, you’ve always got to be thinking four, five, even 10 years ahead.“You only have to look around in sport to realise the temptation to cut corners and go the route of doping is always going to be there. I’m a living example of why you should resist. There are people, even ones I’ve come up against in competition, who took drugs and did it the wrong way. They’re now remembered for all the wrong reasons. As a young athlete you’re interested in being the best, but all athletes want to be remembered. It’s important to be remembered for all the right reasons. Guard your reputation ferociously.“Sometimes the best decisions aren’t going to be the easiest. Sometimes you might have to make sacrifices and move out of your comfort zone. Look at Mo Farah – he moved to the USA to train with Alberto Salazar and then became a star. I moved to California to train. Sometimes where you’re most comfortable as an athlete is not where you’ll achieve your biggest success.“The last of my five pieces of advice is you have to understand, whether or not you already know it, that you’re now a role model. Some athletes embrace that, but others don’t. But the fact remains, you’re now wearing your team’s national colours; what you do here when representing your country is going to be scrutinised. Understand from a very early age, you’re now an ambassador and a role model to young people in your country. Be aware of that when you speak, when taking pictures to put on Facebook and Instagram, and be aware of it when you’re out in public because you never know who is watching.”“World Youths is the place to see future champions”The World Youth Championships began in 1999, by which time Boldon was well into his senior career. But he was a talented teenager and won gold medals in the 100m and 200m at the 1992 World Junior Championships in Seoul.“I’d only just started to represent my country that summer, so for me the World Junior Championships that year was just another meet,” he said. “But I was aware of the fact that I wasn’t just competing against Central America and the Caribbean – I was up against the World.“I got to Korea and I had no idea of where I was ranked in the world or who was my competition. But when all was said and done I won two gold medals, which the media at the time told me hadn’t been done before.“When you look at what the World Youth Championships have produced, people who have been champions at this competition are now standing atop the podiums at World Championships and Olympic Games.<div class="quote">“That’s why it’s important to be here – if you want to see future champions of the sport, you’ve got to be at this championship.”</div> Boldon was recently made an IAAF Ambassador. “It took a while, because it felt as though I was an ambassador for the sport since I was 18,” he said. “I’m grateful to be in this position, and my passion for the sport comes out when I broadcast.“I have an online show, Inside Athletics, which I produce with the IAAF where we talk to World and Olympic champions past and present. It’s interesting to see the different personalities and you don’t realise how fantastic and successful these people are off field of play.“For me, as someone who has always considered track and field to be one of my biggest loves, being an IAAF Ambassador feels like I’ve finally arrived home.”Jon Mulkeen for the IAAF

Boldon’s advice for young athletes – IAAF World Youth Championships

- READ ON for English and French language versions of this story - La traduction française suit le texte anglaisSeven world-class athletes joined dozens of young children today for an athletics competition held in the grounds of the Nestlé headquarters in Vevey, Switzerland, situated on the banks of the picturesque Lake Geneva.It was one of the latest initiatives as part of the partnership between IAAF Kids’ Athletics and the Nestlé Healthy Kids Global Programme, the aim of which is to promote a balanced and healthy lifestyle by increasing the participation levels in school sports.And what better way to inspire a host of young children to lead an active life than to take part in an athletics competition alongside some of the world’s best athletes?Two-time Olympic Javelin champion Andreas Thorkildsen, 2005 World 400m Hurdles champion Bershawn Jackson, Olympic Discus champion Sandra Perkovic, World and Olympic Triple Jump champion Christian Taylor, three-time World Shot Put champion Werner Günthör and 1997 World bronze medallist Anita Weyermann were each captains of a team of children.The teams then competed in a series of events which covered all the core skills of athletics – running, jumping and throwing.Ato Boldon, the 1997 World 200m champion and now a respected broadcaster, was present at the event as the presenter of IAAF Inside Athletics. “For the current generation of children, there are more distractions than ever and kids are spending more time indoors,” he said. “This is what makes events like this so important, because it encourages kids to go outside and do something active.”Weyermann, who has a daughter and is currently expecting triplets, enjoyed the day almost as much as the children did. “It’s very engaging and a really fun event – that’s the key to keeping children’s enjoyment in the sport,” she said.“These are core skills on which every child can build, whatever their sport,” added Günthör.Taylor echoed that, adding: “These events replicate a lot of what I do in training today. They’re the basic elements of athletics.”Perkovic was keen to underline the importance of trying as many events as possible. “I only concentrated on the Discus when I was 15 years old, so it’s important that kids experience lots of different events before specialising, just as we’re seeing today.”Jackson, whose eight-year-old daughter is currently ranked No.1 in the US in her age group with times of 14.5 in the 100m and 30.5 in the 200m, was delighted to be involved. “I love kids, so I feel right at home here,” he said.Thorkildsen wowed the children by throwing the vortex javelin across the length of the lawn. “I think it’s really important to try to inspire children,” he said. “It’s something other countries can look at and try to replicate.”IAAF Kids’ Athletics, created in 2005, is one of the biggest grassroots development programmes in the world of sports, having been activated in more than 120 of the IAAF’s 212 national member federations.The Nestlé Healthy Kids Global Programme reached more than 5.4million children across 64 countries in 2012 and the programme is expected to be implemented in 80 countries by 2015.In January 2012, Nestlé and the IAAF announced a five-year global partnership, allowing the IAAF to reach a larger number of children while strengthening the physical activity component in the Nestlé Healthy Kids programmes. “As part of our commitment to be the recognised nutrition, health and wellness company, we are pleased to partner with the IAAF Kids’ Athletics programme,” said Chris Johnson, Executive Vice President Zone Americas, Nestlé. “It will encourage school children to participate in athletics and learn more about sport, nutrition and a healthy lifestyle.”IAAFDes stars de l'athlétisme inspirent la génération de demain de l'athlétisme à l'occasion d'une démonstration spéciale de Kids' Athletics IAAF / Nestlé en Suisse Sept athlètes du plus haut niveau mondial étaient présents aux côtés de dizaines d'enfants aujourd'hui pour une compétition d'athlétisme organisée au siège de Nestlé à Vevey, en Suisse, sur les bords du lac Léman. Il s'agissait d'une des initiatives les plus récentes issues du partenariat établi entre le programme Kids’ Athletics de l'IAAF et le programme mondial Nestlé Healthy Kids, dont l'objectif est de promouvoir un mode de vie équilibré et sain au travers d'une participation accrue aux activités sportives à l'école. Et quelle meilleure manière d'inspirer des jeunes à adopter un style de vie plus actif que de leur donner l'opportunité de prendre part à une compétition d'athlétisme en compagnie de quelques-uns des tout meilleurs athlètes mondiaux?Andreas Thorkildsen, double champion olympique du lancer de javelot, Bershawn Jackson, champion du monde du 400m haies en 2005, Sandra Perkovic, championne olympique du lancer du disque, Christian Taylor, champion olympique et du monde du triple saut, Werner Günthör, triple champion du monde du lancer du poids, et Anita Weyermann, médaillée de bronze du 1500m des Mondiaux 1997, ont chacun officié comme capitaine d'une équipe d'enfants. Ces équipes ont pris part à une série d'épreuves recouvrant les techniques de base de l'athlétisme - courir, sauter et lancer. Ato Boldon, champion du monde du 200m en 1997, et désormais un commentateur sportif respecté, était présent à la manifestation en sa qualité de présentateur de l'émission IAAF Inside Athletics. Il a déclaré: "La génération actuelle d'enfants a un choix de divertissements disponibles plus important que jamais auparavant, et les enfants passent de plus en plus de temps enfermés chez eux. C'est pour cela que des épreuves telles que celle-ci sont si importantes, parce qu'elles encouragent les jeunes à sortir de chez eux et à être plus actifs." Weyermann, qui a une fille elle-même, et attend actuellement des triplés, a pris presqu'autant de plaisir à la journée que les enfants. "C'est une manifestation qui est vraiment captivante et très ludique. C'est d'ailleurs là qu'est le secret pour maintenir l'intérêt des enfants pour le sport," a-t-elle dit. "Il s'agit des mouvements de base, sur lesquels tous les enfants peuvent bâtir, quel que soit leur sport," a ajouté Günthör.Taylor a abondé en ce sens: "Ces épreuves s'appuient sur beaucoup des gestes que j'accomplis moi-même lors de mes séances d'entraînement. Ce sont les véritables bases de l'athlétisme."&nbsp;&nbsp; Perkovic a tenu à souligner l'importance de s'essayer à autant de disciplines que possible lorsqu'on est jeune, expliquant qu'elle ne s'est vraiment concentrée sur le disque qu'à l'âge de 15 ans: "Il est crucial que les enfants cumulent autant d'expérience que possible avant de se spécialiser: ce qu'on voit ici aujourd'hui en est un excellent exemple." Jackson, dont la fille de huit ans est actuellement classée numéro 1 dans sa catégorie d'âge aux États-Unis, avec des temps de 14"5 sur 100m et de 30"5 sur 200m, s'est déclaré ravi de sa participation: "J'adore les enfants, et je me sens vraiment dans mon élément ici!" Thorkildsen a impressionné les jeunes en projetant le javelot vortex à une distance prodigieuse. "Je pense qu'il est vraiment important de tenter d'inspirer les enfants, a-t-il dit. C'est quelque chose que d'autres pays peuvent alors suivre et tenter de reproduire." Le programme Kids’ Athletics de l'IAAF, créé en 2005, est un des programmes de développement de la base les plus importants du monde sportif, activé dans plus de 120 des 212 Fédérations nationales membres de l'IAAF. Le programme mondial Nestlé Healthy Kids a atteint plus de 5,4 millions d'enfants au travers de 64 pays en 2012, et il est prévu que le programme sera étendu à 80 pays d'ici 2015.&nbsp; En janvier 2012, Nestlé et l'IAAF ont dévoilé un partenariat mondial sur cinq ans, permettant à l'IAAF d'atteindre un nombre plus important d'enfants tout en renforçant la composante activité physique des programmes Nestlé Healthy Kids."En ligne avec notre engagement à être le premier groupe alimentaire mondial spécialisé dans la nutrition, la santé et le bien-être, nous sommes ravis de ce partenariat avec le programme Kids’ Athletics de l'IAAF, a déclaré Chris Johnson, vice-président exécutif de la zone Amériques pour Nestlé SA. Cela va encourager les écoliers à participer à l'athlétisme et à en apprendre plus sur le sport, la diététique et un mode de vie plus sain." IAAF

Athletics stars inspire future generation at special demonstration of IAAF / Nestlé Kids’ Athletics in Switzerland

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) is delighted to announce that IAAF Kids’ Athletics | Nestlé Healthy Kids, the flagship development project of its School / Youth programme, will be demonstrated at the headquarters of Nestlé in Vevey, Switzerland on the morning of Friday 5 July.IAAF / Nestlé Kids’ Athletics, which is one of the biggest grassroots development programmes in the world of sports, will be formally introduced to Nestlé’s employees at a fun two-hour team event in which many of their children will take part.The event will be supported by some of the world’s top athletics stars who have generously given their time to help motivate the participants.Nestlé, which is the world’s leading Nutrition, Health and Wellness Company with 339,000 employees worldwide, became the main sponsor of Kids’ Athletics in January 2012 agreeing a five year sponsorship with the IAAF.The IAAF’s objectives for Kids’ Athletics, which has so far been activated in over 120 of the IAAF’s 212 national Member Federations worldwide, are to make Athletics the number one participation sport in schools, promoting a balanced and healthy lifestyle, and attracting the potential sports stars of tomorrow.Lending their support to the event in Vevey will be an elite group of World and Olympic medallists who between them have won over a dozen global titles during their illustrious careers.The athletes (in alphabetical order) who will be onsite to cheer on the kids include Sandra Perkovic (CRO) – reigning Olympic Discus Throw champion, Sanya Richards-Ross (USA) – reigning Olympic and 2009 World 400m champion, Christian Taylor (USA) – reigning World and Olympic Triple Jump champion, and Andreas Thorkildsen (NOR) – two-time Olympic and 2009 World Javelin Throw champion.Joining them will be Ato Boldon (TRI) – 1997 World 200m champion, and two of Switzerland’s greatest ever athletes, Werner Gϋnthӧr – three-time World Shot Put champion, and Anita Weyermann – 1997 World 1500m medallist.“Thanks to the support of our partner “Nestlé Healthy Kids”, the IAAF is organising additional courses for lecturers and coaches helping to spread the joy and excitement of IAAF / Nestlé Kids’ Athletics faster around the world,” commented IAAF President Lamine Diack. “We gratefully acknowledge the top athletes who will be helping us to motivate the children at the demonstration event in Vevey. Kids’ Athletics is about fun, engaging children at a young age to embrace our sport for life whether simply to keep fit or as an elite athlete. The associated health and social benefits which society reaps from such a successful engagement between youth and sport are manifold.”Chris Johnson, Executive Vice President Zone Americas, Nestlé SA said: “As part of our commitment to be the recognised Nutrition, Health and Wellness Company, we are pleased to partner with the IAAF Kids’ Athletics programme to encourage school children to participate in athletics and learn more about sport, nutrition and a healthy lifestyle. The programme will also strengthen our Healthy Kids programme which reached 5.4 million children in 64 countries in 2012, and our commitment is to extend the Nestlé Healthy Kids programme to 80 countries by 2015.”IAAF

Global stars to support special demonstration of IAAF / Nestlé Kids’ Athletics

The 13th episode of IAAF Inside Athletics is available to <a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10201275767562704" target="_blank">watch online now</a>.In this week's episode, Ato Boldon analyses the top early-season performances in the sprint events.<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5Lhxb7Ob4P4?rel=0&amp;showinfo=0" width="500"></iframe>Launched earlier this year, IAAF Inside Athletics is hosted by Boldon, Trinidad &amp; Tobago&rsquo;s 1997 world 200m champion, who is now a respected television broadcast analyst for ESPN and NBC.Exclusive to the IAAF, the show appears on the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/WorldAthleticsClub" target="_blank">IAAF World Athletics Club Facebook page</a>.Fans can interact and ask questions, either on Facebook or by sending an email to: <a href="mailto:insideathletics@iaaf.org" target="_blank">insideathletics@iaaf.org</a>.If you enjoyed any of the previous episodes of IAAF Inside Athletics, then click &lsquo;like&rsquo; on the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/WorldAthleticsClub" target="_blank">IAAF World Athletics Club on Facebook</a>.IAAF

IAAF Inside Athletics – episode 13 online now

IAAF Inside Athletics – sprints analysis

Maurice Greene, who shattered the world record for 100 meters earlier this month, and Ato Boldon, 200m World Champion will run in Rome's July 7 Golden Gala athletics meet, organisers said Monday. Greene, the 100 metres World Champion, shattered the old mark for the sport's glamour event by clocking 9.79 seconds at the Olympic Stadium in Athens, Greece, June 16. He won the 200 metres at the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships on Sunday. In Rome, Greene has committed to running the 100m, where he will be pitted against Canada&rsquo;s Bruny Surin who is in excellent form, clocking 9.88 at his national Championships in Winnipeg last week. The Golden Gala is the second leg in the IAAF's seven-meet Golden League series (following Oslo on 30 June), which offers a 1 million dollar jackpot to be split among the athletes who win their events at every circuit stop plus the Grand Prix Final. In addition to Greene, organisers announced Monday, the Kansas City, Kansas, native's training partner, Ato Boldon, will participate. Boldon will run the 200, for which he is the world champion. Others set to attend include women's 100m World Champion Marion Jones, who'll run the 200m, and world record holders Kim Batten in the women's 400 hurdles and Kenya's Bernard Barmasai in the 3000m steeplechase.AP for the IAAF

Preview of the IAAF Golden League Golden Gala Meeting on July 7.

Golden Boys to attend Golden Gala

American sprinter Maurice Greene, who followed up his World Championships 100m victory last year in Athens with a sensational indoor season, will be one of the attractions of the IAAF Grand Prix in Eugene (USA) on Sunday 31 May. Greene, who set a 60m world record of 6.39 this winter, will run both 100m and 200m. He has already run the fastest time in the world this year of 20.03 in the latter event but faces tremendous opposition in Michael Johnson. "Superman" Johnson had a difficult 1997 season, even though he still managed to capture the world title over 400m, and so his appearance in Eugene is eagerly awaited by track fans. Can Johnson regain the form that saw him win Olympic gold at 200m in Atlanta with the astonishing time of 19.32? Earlier this month he managed "only" 20.31 but that is modest only by his own superlative standards. But the Johnson-Greene duel will not be the only highlight of Eugene. Another sprint duel, over 100m, will see Ato Boldon (TRI), 200m World Champion and list leader over 100m with 9.86, try to end Greene&rsquo;s invincibility over the classic sprint distance. Both train at UCLA in Los Angeles under the watchful eye of famous coach John Smith. The 400m race will also be very exciting. Twin brothers Alvin and Calvin Harrison will face Tyree Washington (USA) - an individual bronze medallist in Athens - and the tall Jamaican Greg Haughton (JAM) - the World Championships bronze medallist in 1995. Kenyan star Daniel Komen and Olympic 5000m champion Venuste Niyongabo (BUR) may attack the Mile world record of Noureddine Morceli - 3:44.39 - which has stood since 1993. This will depend on the improvement of anaerobic strength that both Komen - World Champion and world record Holder at 5000m - and Niyongabo - Olympic Champion of 5000m - have acquired in gruelling winter and spring training. Last year Komen covered the distance in 3:46.38 with Niyongabo also impressing with 3:46.70. The 110m hurdles boasts the intriguing presence of the decathlete legend Dan O&rsquo;Brien, who faces World and Olympic Champion Allen Johnson (who will also compete in the 200m, an event he plans to contest in the US National Champs). In the women&rsquo;s events, two phenomenal athletes will start. The first is only 22 years-old, the second close to 40. Marion Jones, the shooting star of American athletics, will participate in the 100m, and then in the long jump while Mary Slaney - who is still a middle distance star after 27 years of competition - has asked the organisers to schedule a 5000m race in order to try and improve the US Record (14:56.04 by Amy Rudolph in 1996).

American sprinter Maurice Greene, who followed up his World Championships 100m victory last year in Athens with a sensational indoor season, will be one of the attractions of the IAAF Grand Prix in Eugene (USA) on Sunday 31 May. 