Dubai: Omar Juma Bilal Al Salfa, one of the athletes who will represent the UAE at the Beijing Olympic Games which starts next Friday, said that he is determined to come up with something special when he lines up to compete in the sprint races.
"I will take part in the 200 metres sprint and also the 100 metres. But the 100 metres is not an easy race. It is very difficulty. You need to have an explosive start and make no mistake while running your fastest for about 10 second," Al Salfa told Gulf News from his training camp in Poland.
He said that he is aware that it is very difficult for him to outrun the world's best 200metre runners, but that it will not stop his from trying.
"The best sprinters in the world are taking part in the Olympics competing to win medals. I know it will be a tough test for me running against world champions. But I will do my best and I think if I succeed in qualifying for the second or third round it will be a good achievement for me in my first Olympics participation," said the UAE sprinter.
Al Salfa said that his main target is the 2012 Olympic Games in London. He hopes to gain as much experience as he can in Beijing and build on that for the London Games.
"I plan to start training soon after the Beijing Olympics. I hope that I can benefit from the strong support from the UAE Athletic Association and Al Ahli club which will help prepare me myself in four years for the Olympics in London.
"I think I can compete powerfully to win a medal."
He said that he hoped in the coming years to train in the US in a college.
"To promote my standard and compete at the world level, I hope if I can study and train in a college in the US. This will be a good chance for me to train and compete with the Americans, the kings of the sprint races in the world."
Al Salfa will return to the UAE tomorrow after finishing a six-week training camp in Poland under his Bulgarian coach Vasko Demov. He will leave with the UAE delegation to Beijing on Wednesday.
Last month Al Salfa won two gold medals in the 100m and 200m sprint in the Arab Under 19 Athletic Championships held in Tunisia. Prior to that he won the gold in the 200m in the 2008 Asian Youth Championships.
"I also took participate in the World Youth Championships held in Poland last month, I reached the final and finished seventh. I think it was a good result," he said.
The UAE sprinter revealed that he was training six hours a day in Poland in preparing for the Beijing Olympics.
"I trained every morning from 9 am to 12 and in the evening from 5 to 8 pm under my Bulgarian coach Vasko Demov. I worked hard in the training. I hope to better my own records when taking part in the Olympics, because I said it will be very difficult to win a medal among the world champions," he said.
Al Salfa said that he began his sporting career as a soccer player in Al Wasl club.
"I played in the under 13 teams in Al Wasl. The sports teacher in the school saw me sprinting in a race and he asked me to take up athletics because he said I will have a great future in sprinting. From that time I became a sprinter," he said.
He said that when he began sprinting, he used American sprinter Maurice Greene as his mentor. "But now I want to reach the standard of American sprinter Tyson Gay because he is one of the best sprinters in the world and favourite to win medals in Beijing."
Al Salfa has also called on the UAE Athletics Association to give more attention to athletics.
"I request them to continue holding training camps for us all through the year to give us opportunities to participate in international event. This will develop our standard and make us fit and ready for regional, continental and international championships," Al Salfa said.
His coach Demov said that Omar was a promising sprinter who can achieve a lot in the future.
"I think we have prepared Omar well for the Olympics, but it is very difficult for a young sprinter like him to compete against the best in the world. It will be a very good chance for him to gain experience especially as he is only 19 years old."
Al Salfa Factfile:
Name: Omar Juma Bilal Al Salfa.
Birth date: October 15, 1989.
Birth place: Dubai.
Beginning as a sprinter: 2004.
Occupation: Student, completed secondary school, looking to become a professional sprinter.
Medals and records: Asian youth Gold in 200m in the Asian youth championships. Two Gold medals in the 100 and 200m in the Arab youth championships 2008. Bronze medal 200m in the 4th Military World Games India 2007. Gold medal in the 2008 UAE championships in 100 and 200m. Gold medals in the 2008 UAE President's Cup in 100 and 200m.
