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Training break
TOKYO TARGET: 2013 400m hurdles world champion Jehue Gordon.

Training break

Jehue hopeful ahead of 2021 season

Go Back : Express : Kwame Laurence : 11.09.2020

My expectation is that we can have access to a vaccine for things to get back to some form of normalcy. And my goal is to get back into high competitive races that will allow me to qualify for the Olympics and make my country proud.

The challenges created by the Covid-19 pandemic are many. Jehue Gordon, however, remains optimistic ahead of the 2021 track and field season. The 2013 IAAF World Championship men's 400 metres hurdles gold medallist is currently on a training break.

"We were able to train when the limit for gatherings was at 15 persons," Gordon told the Express. "Since the new restrictions have been implemented, training has been suspended until further notice. I'm not fully confident, but I'm hopeful we can still have a 2021 season and Olympic Games."

The Memphis Pioneers athlete said the closure of gyms had necessitated an adjustment to the club's training programme.

"We weren't able to train in the gym since the initial lockdown. Because of this, our coach would send us body weight circuits to do on our own at home."

The law mandating the use of face masks in public is a further deterrent to training.

"Generally, wearing masks on a casual basis is challenging. However, I don't see it fit to wear for training because it affects my normal flow of breathing."

While Gordon is hopeful about his prospects of representing Trinidad and Tobago at next year's Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, he admitted to some doubts about his readiness for the 2021 season.

"With limited access to races or even international passage, it makes qualification a lot more difficult, especially with the early closure and uncertainty of the local track and field meets.

"Currently," the 28-year-old athlete continued, "there isn't much to put in place due to restrictions and things being out of my control. However, thanks to Dr Anyl Gopeesingh and massage therapist Ian Sharpe, I am able to stay as healthy as I possibly can, and that is the biggest thing for me heading into 2021, please God."

Training challenges and no opportunities to compete have been Gordon's reality since the coronavirus outbreak.

Meanwhile, two-time world champion Karsten Warholm has been blazing tracks in Europe. In Stockholm, Sweden, last month, the Norwegian clocked a personal best 46.87 seconds - just nine-hundredths of a second outside American Kevin Young's 28-year-old world record. Turkey's Yasmani Copello (49.04), Frenchmen Wilfried Happio (49.11) and Ludvy Vaillant (49.14), and Estonia's Rasmus Magi (49.23) have also been active on the European circuit.

"It does concern me," said Gordon, "because you see your competitors gaining race fitness. However, my club, when permitted, tries to hold internal assessments for its athletes."

Gordon is mindful of the need to "stay in the game" mentally.

"With so much uncertainty, I try not to focus on what's happening around me and occupy my mind on other things aside from track and field. Currently, I am assisting my local manager with the sale of non-pharmaceutical products - masks and infrared thermometers. I am also reading and cooking a lot more than I usually have the time to do."