Boldon wants gold in the Atlanta 100 (and 200)

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     In a searing sprint season, during which six men have already
     clocked under 10 seconds in the 100-meter race, Ato Boldon of
     Trinidad has posted the second-fastest time. His 9.92-second race
     was fast enough to win the NCAA 100-meter title, and now the UCLA
     student is a legitimate prospect, despite his relative youth, to
     win gold at the Atlanta Olympics.

     Only one other athlete from Trinidad, speedster Haseley Crawford
     in 1976, has ever won an Olympic medal for that country. Boldon
     says he is determined to follow in Crawford's footsteps.

     On Friday, July 12, Boldon spent a moment away from his training
     at UCLA to chat with Zone users about the upcoming Games. Here is
     his transcript:

          Manuel Mangani: Is Michael Johnson beatable (without a flying
          start, as in Oslo) in the 200m?

          Ato Boldon: Michael can be beat. However, it is dependent on
          how far ahead of him one can possibly be coming off the turn.
          Frankie did not get a flyer. He simply ran a superior turn.

          Brian Edwards: Is Haseley Crawford one of your heroes?

          Boldon: Hasely is one of my heroes, and the easiest way to
          explain why is to say that he is the only person from my
          country who has ever done what I am now attempting to do.

          Chris Tucker: What is the fastest time you have ever run?

          Boldon: The fastest time I've ever run in the 100 is 9.92 in
          1996 at the NCAA championships. The fastest I've run in the
          200 is 19.85 and that was two weeks ago when I won the race
          in Lausanne, Switzerland.

          Trini man!: Ato - I am a big fan of yours since Sweden last
          year! How do you like Donovan Bailey's chances?

          Boldon: Donovan has as good a chance as any. His race is
          going to be as good as his start. His advantage is his long
          legs, which allow him to pass a struggling sprinter in the
          last 30 meters. The disadvantage is that if he does not start
          well, he may never close the gap that a smaller sprinter
          could produce.

          TY: What type training do you do to increase speed?

          Boldon: To improve your speed, you train at slightly over
          distance at flat out speeds. Usually with three sets. Plus
          you get a coach who has the golden touch -- like John Smith.
          Smith, the sprint coach at UCLA, is special because anyone
          can coach the physical side of the athlete; John can coach
          the mental aspect of an athlete better than anybody.
          Sprinters are very tempermental and have unique psyches. He
          will coach Jon Drummond -- US Olympic team sprinter --
          totally different from me, because Jon responds to negative
          pressure, whereas I respond to positive pressure. In the last
          Olympics, he had Quincy Watts in the quarter and he won. In
          the Olympics before that, he had Steve Lewis, all of 19 years
          old, and he also won in the 400. We want to keep the streak
          going and give John a gold medalist in the 100 this year.

          Ori Ben Moshe: Hi! I like your running very much! What place
          do you think you'll archive in Atlanta? And do you think that
          M.J. will break the 200m. record again?

          Boldon: I think I am going to win. I wouldn't go if I didn't
          think that. But then again, 1,100 sprinters are going there
          with the same idea. Michael Johnson will have to break the
          record again to win. Frankie and I are very close to that
          time. The tracks in Europe on which Frankie and I have run
          19.82 and 19.85, respectively, are not anywhere near as fast
          as the one in Atlanta is.

          Nick: What do you think your odds are at getting gold?

          Boldon: My odds are one in 1,100 in the first round. Were I
          to make the final, then my chances become one in eight, which
          I like. It sure beats the lottery. My pick for the finals is
          Dennis Mitchell, Michael Marsh, Jon Drummond, Donovan Bailey,
          Linford Christie, Frankie Fredericks, Bruny Surin and myself.

          The youngest person after me -- I'm 22 years old -- is
          Drummond, who is 28 years old. Until I came around, along
          with a few other guys, it was always thought that it was a 25
          to 35 year old dominant event. Because the body and the mind
          are fully matured for sprinting at that age -- in terms of
          your muscle strength. I'm not that strong. I just happen to
          have the right genetics, and very long legs even though I'm
          only 5-9.

          Larry Maddox: What kind of pizza do you like?

          Boldon: My favorite type of pizza, well, I have a few, I like
          M-Frame or E-wire and sometimes I like frog-skin. But right
          now I'm eating Canadian bacon and pineapple.

          Ginola: Do you think Christie is taking Atlanta seriously
          enough to have a realistic chance of a medal, or is he just
          on some kind of farewell tour?

          Boldon: Linford runs his best races in major championships;
          He's never run under 10 seconds outside of a major
          championship. That gives him an edge. An edge which he thinks
          he can cash in on at Atlanta.

          TY: What does long legs have to do with sprinting fast?
          Michael Johnson is the fastest sprinter and has short legs?

          Boldon: The reason why Michael looks funny is that he has
          short legs. His form utilizes those short legs. I'm fast
          because my form utilizes my long legs, which is what the
          connection is.

          Manuel Mangani: That 19.85 in Lausanne surprised a lot of
          people. Were you expecting it?

          Boldon: Yeah. It surprised a lot of people. Because I beat
          Linford Chrstie by half a second and threw my hands up ten
          meters from the finish. I've always felt like my 200s got no
          respect. The fact is that I ran a 20.00 at Drake Stadium, not
          a fast track, in only my second 200 meter race for the entire
          year. The 19.85 was my third 200 this year. In Atlanta, that
          track will immediately make a race like 19.85-19.75. I like
          that prospect. And no hands up with 10 meters to go in
          Atlanta -- not with Michael in the race.

          Ivan Wilson, Eugene, Ore. (Saw you in NCAA!): The sprint
          performances this year have been short of being outstanding,
          with so many possibilities of having a world record broken in
          each of them. My question is that considering what happened
          in Gotenberg (1995), we have seen that the talent has been
          spread out all over the world. We may not see (or this maybe
          the final time) that any one country will be dominant. Is
          this due to updating training in areas not previous know for
          sprint (or running)? Or in your case, college recruitment?

          Boldon: The world has always had the talent. Remember, before
          Carl Lewis, Olympic champions dominated from Jamaica and
          Russia and Haseley Crawford from Trinidad. Then, the US took
          a giant leap in technology and training, a giant leap
          forward; now the rest of the world has come here, trained
          with the Americans and adopted their technology and now the
          gap is no more.

          This has been fun. I spend time on the Internet -- a lot of
          time -- at home. I'll join you all again sometime shortly
          after the races in Atlanta. Hopefully as a double-gold
          medalist.