SPORTS

Athens 2004: Kareem comes full circle and shows best focus since 99

Friday, December 5, 2003

Kareem Streete-Thompson spent more time watching than competing at the 2004 IAAF Paris World Championships

Visualising future personal performance at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games will loom large with all world-class athletes tonight, tomorrow night and for the next 260 odd nights as they lay their heads down before sleep.

The refrain remains, “Will it be Olympic glory or dreams unfulfilled?”

Cayman’s Kareem Streete-Thompson is currently training for Athens in Raleigh, North Carolina, under Coach Dan Pfaff.

Kareem turned conventional wisdom on its head when he left his long-time coach last month and returned to train under former coach Pfaff. However, he didn’t just resume training under a former coach, he moved his primary competition focus from the long jump to the 100m sprint.

The 49-year-old Pfaff is known as an outstanding technician in both sprint and field events. Best-known internationally for his work with Canada’s 1996 Olympic 100m champion and former world record holder Donovan Bailey of Canada, Pfaff has tutored international sprinters and field events performers while also serving as an assistant coach at the University of Texas.

He was recently hand-picked by the current fastest woman and man in the world, Marion Jones and Tim Montgomery, to be their personal coach leading up to Athens.

Pfaff’s athletes have included Olympic 100m bronze medalist Obadele Thompson of Barbados, 1999 world high jump silver medalist Mark Boswell of Canada, top American women’s high jumper Amy Acuff, as well as Kareem.

“My forte over the years has been taking older athletes who come with a suitcase load of injuries, and maybe some confidence issues, and resurrect them,” Pfaff said.

Rather than ask a psychologist to analyse Kareem’s change of heart, Coach Pfaff was directly asked some pretty tough questions by Joe Stasiuk regarding Kareem’s training and prospects.

While it is way too early to predict outcomes, the insight Coach Dan provides certainly helps to frame what could be a very special year for a very special athlete.

What do you think of Kareem’s choice to refocus on the 100m sprint?
I am pleased and very surprised with his training results thus far. I haven’t seen this type of focus and commitment from him since 99.

Does he have a legitimate chance to excel in the sprint?
Anyone who can run 9.96 in a legal wind and make a World Champs final is a serious contender in my experience.

Will he perform better in the 60m indoors or 100m outdoors?
That is dependent on health, his progression in training, meet opportunities, and the ability to trust his tactics and strategies.

Could he final in the 100m in Athens?
I see no reason why he can’t, provided we avoid any serious injury setbacks. I think with all of the scandals of late it could be an interesting year in that event.

Could he medal in the 100m in Athens?
Once one is in a final all sorts of things can happen, momentum and health are the two keys on this issue.

Where would Kareem be today if he had continued to sprint rather than jump?
It is hard for me to look back as I believe we march down roads that teach us many lessons, perhaps this is the route that he needed to take in order to come back to sprinting.

Could Kareem have continued to do both?
Others have, and Kareem’s talent pool is huge.

What’s happening to his long jump training?
We are doing a lot of progression/rehab work to help alleviate the forces that have been contributing to his injury chain. We have also done a lot of specific plyometric work to keep his biochemistry and elastic parameters at a keen level so that when we do resume some sort of long jump training, the body will be ready for the impact forces.

Will he continue to do both?
That is a decision that he will have to make based on training and my input combined with what the medical crew in Canada suggests.

How does his sprint training affect his long jump positively?
I train all of my sprinters on an elastic/power speed model so there are no gaps in this schematic for doing both.

Can Kareem effectively do both disciplines today?
Continued good health and the ability to stay focused on tasks will decide this question.

What do you think of Kareem’s mental game?
In the past he had a tendency to get lost at the big meets from a mental standpoint. We had a couple of years whereby he was torn between sprinting and jumping, and several years whereby family deaths and issues derailed many of our plans. He appears to have done serious work on these issues and is currently at peace here in his training.

Does he have that killer instinct to come out on top?
I would not classify Kareem as a killer type, he is about skill, finesse, and execution. Several athletes reach the pinnacle without this “killer” attitude, although it does help in the 100m world.

How many more years can Kareem effectively compete on the world stage?
With proper attention by his medical crew and continued motivation I think he could make it to 2008, if he so desired.

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