Times don't mean a thing, says Ndure | 21.07.2012
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| Jaysuma Ndure is approaching top form ahead of the London Games. |
Fifty men have run the 100m faster than Ndure this year and 25 have run faster in the 200m, but he remains unfazed: “It doesn't mean a thing.
“You can't keep your form from May until August, so many will not get as far as I will,” Ndure told Norway's VG.
The ultrasound of his thigh shows that he is uninjured and that he is approaching top form with the Olympics just round the corner: “I don't want to talk about times, but I'm going to surprise both you [the press] and myself.
“You can be sure of that,” said Ndure.
He took European 100m bronze in Helsinki three weeks ago in 10.17, though this season he has run 0.4 faster, but 10.13 only makes him the world's 51st fastest man this year.
With 20.34 over 200m, he's 26th fastest in 2012, but fourth place in last year’s world championships makes him so sure of himself that he scorns these statistics: “I didn't have the fourth best time when I went to the world championships last year.
“There are so many factors that affect times. Normally I would've run 10 dead or 9.98 or thereabouts earlier in the season, but I've been training hard so that I can be at my optimum for the Olympics.”
Indeed, at his best he is capable of times that could make him a threat in London. He holds the Norwegian national record over 100m with 9.99, and the national record over 200m at 19.89, times that place him firmly at the forefront of Norwegian sprinting.
However, Ndure maintains that he does not want to be in the limelight: “Just write about Usain Bolt. I would rather go unnoticed and do my own thing, I actually don't like attention.”
Like Frenchman Christophe Lemaitre, Ndure is considering dropping the 100m so that he can concentrate on the 200m. “I will definitely run the 200m in London, but I'm not so sure about the 100m. The reason for dropping the 100m is not that I feel my chances are better at 200m, but that I'm afraid of injuring myself if I do both.”
A cautious approach may be justified: after winning bronze in the 100m in Helsinki he limped off the track, leading to two weeks of intensive treatment in Oslo and the worrying prospect that he could have missed the Games through injury.
“I've had ultrasound today (Tuesday) but I don't want to risk injuring myself again over the 100m. That's why I won't decide what I'm going to run in the Olympics before it's absolutely necessary, just a few days before the 100m heats.”
Ndure should have run in Paris and Monaco after the European Championships, but pulled out of both events: “The fact that I pulled out of two Diamond League meetings has no bearing on how I'll perform in London. I feel confident that everything is under control now.”
