David Oliver defeats Olympic champion Dayron Robles at the Daegu World Challenge meet (© Getty Images)
Cuba’s Olympic 110m Hurdles champion Dayron Robles is confident ahead of the 2011 season, having fully recovered from injuries and aiming at the IAAF World Championships, Daegu 2011.
The World record holder resumed training in early October in Havana after a leg injury put his 2010 campaign to an end in July.
“The physical problems sustained last summer are history now and I am training at full force, fully recovered. I look forward to the next season, which will be very extensive,” said the 23-year old after a general conditioning session at Havana’s Estadio Panamericano.
Robles, who will turn 24 years on 19 November, is focusing on building a good base for a long campaign in 2011, including uphill runs at 120m above sea level.
“We are now in the general preparation stage and the work-out volume is high,” he added.
The Cuban claimed his first World Indoor title in Doha in March and was the second fastest man in 2010 with 13.01sec, only slower than USA’s David Oliver (12.89), who came two hundredths of a second shy of the world record, set by Robles in 2008.
In Daegu, Robles aims to claim Cuba’s only missing title in the men’s sprint hurdles. He will also defend his Pan American Games title in Guadalajara, Mexico, in October.
“This year (2011) will be important with key competitions ahead. We are planning a tune-up indoor campaign to assess our training for the summer season,” he explained.
Robles and Oliver only met once outdoors in 2010, in Daegu on the 19 May (Oliver 1st 13.11 / Robles 2nd 13.26; -0.2m/s) and with the Cuban ending his season early through injury Oliver was the undisputed number one in 2010 with a world leading 12.89 and four other times under 13 seconds.
“I am not surprised by his results. He had an excellent season and I expected him to break the World record. I regret that my physical problems did not allow me to compete with him,” Robles commented.
In his coach Santiago Antúnez’s words, “this is the third year of the Olympic cycle and training will be very intense.”
Antúnez, who believes Cuba could field three sprint hurdlers for the 2012 Olympic Games, laid out a plan of five to six indoor races, plus 9-10 outdoors in 2011. “His racing calendar and training volume will be more spared out,” he elaborated.
The world outdoor gold is the only title missing from Cuba’s sprint hurdles pedigree, which includes two Olympic gold and three world indoor crowns. Robles finished fourth in Osaka 2007 and could not finish his semi-final race in Berlin due to a cramp.
Javier Clavelo Robinson for the IAAF
