With a trip to the World Championships in Doha firmly etched in her plans for this season, Trinidad and Tobago’s sprint star Khalifa St. Fort plans to open her season with a 200m run at a meet at UCLA on April 13.
St. Fort was the silver medallist in the 100m at the CAC Games in Colombia in 2018 and is hoping for greater rewards this season including a few Diamond League meetings and at least one meeting in Jamaica.
Her confidence has been buoyed by the fact that her training under the watchful eye of Ato Boldon, has been going extremely well.
“I am looking forward to a great season. I feel like these training sessions I have had are the best I have had in a couple of years so I feel like I am looking forward to a good season,” she said.
“I feel like my technique is coming together very nicely. Due to injuries I sustained last season and the season before my technique wasn’t really up to par so I feel like now we are more technique focused which has allowed me to run faster and to prevent further injuries.”
Now 21, St. Fort believes that her body has matured enough to handle the demands she plans to place on it for what will be a long season as the World Championships are set for the end of September this year.
“I wouldn’t say that I am stronger, in terms of lifting more or anything like that, but I feel like since I have gotten older my body is stronger, my sprinting is a little bit better and I am able to handle the workouts better, which in turn will show up in my running.”
She revealed that she plans to focus more on the 200m this season in a bid to improve her times and develop the endurance for her 100m sprinting.
“I am more 200-focussed this year to improve my 200 times because there is no reason why I should still be running 23s. So, I am really focused on fixing that and my 100 should improve from there.”
Of course, it helps that she trains with the fastest 17-year-old in the world, Briana Williams, who last season, at age 16 won the sprint double at the IAAF World U20 Championships in Tampere, Finland.
“We push each other in training extremely hard. We also work together. We push each other to make sure we make our target times or faster,” said St. Fort who is no slouch having a personal best of 11.06s and was a bronze medallist at the U20 World Championships in Poland in 2016.
She also revealed that the relationship she shares with Briana extends beyond the training ground.
“I am also happy that I am able to be like a big sister to her where I can tell her certain things that I have been through like the Diamond League, Worlds, Olympics,” she said.
“So, I am there for her when she questions, be there to support her because at the end of the day we are one Caribbean and a win for one is a win for us all.”
Source: Leighton Levy
www.sports24ghana.com
