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CCNTV6
  • 1 year ago
The month of September is expected to feature the return of two competitive distance races. Namely the Chinese Friendship 7K and Ventures Credit Union 5k. Some of the top athletes are expected to be there namely Nicholas Romany and Tafari Waldron. Waldron will be aiming to pull-off the upset. Here's his backstory in distance running.
Transcript
00:00What does Great Britain runner Mo Farah and TNT's runner Tafarai Waldron have in common?
00:06That's easy. They both like endurance racing.
00:09The latter also wants to reach the competitive heights of Mo Farah on the track.
00:14My idol is Mo Farah. People just call me Mo Farai.
00:19He doesn't have any world records, but I like him because of his style and his vibes.
00:26I always name the songs similar to mine.
00:29If I can get to world record standards, of course I want to get there,
00:36but at least become a world champion, Olympic champion.
00:40Just to be like him.
00:43He has aspirations of reaching the Olympics. 2028 is possibly in sight.
00:48I want to make the Olympics. I want to be the best I can be,
00:51even if it's at the world class level, even if it's just below the world class level.
00:55I want to keep progressing to see how far I can reach.
00:58So all I want to do is stay consistent with the correct training,
01:03the correct nutrition, diet and so on.
01:07And have faith in God, keep God on my side and just trust in my coach's program
01:15and just see where it takes me.
01:19He has done his part so far climbing the competitive ladder
01:22as a two-time Karivta Games 5000m champion.
01:25His mother, Stacey Andrews, is proud of his achievements
01:28and so too is his brother, Jah Michael.
01:31I started off as a sprinter. I was following him.
01:33I got on the track and I was following my older brother's footsteps,
01:36seeing him competing, seeing him winning and so on.
01:39So that's what gets me to love the sport.
01:41And eventually I realized that I am not a sprinter.
01:45I don't have the fast twitch fibers in me like that.
01:49And my club coach, Mr Namco, he started to give me more training
01:54specific for longer races.
01:56And as I get older and stronger, I realize that the higher the distance I go,
02:02the better I perform.
02:04And that's what I saw here today.
02:07To be the best, he has to beat the best.
02:09He trains with one of them, Nicolas Romani.
02:12It's not easy to train with them.
02:14As you know, they are the top people right now.
02:16I find it fun to train with them because you know when you train with them,
02:22you're going to improve.
02:24And he is that person. He wants to stay at the top.
02:27And I want to eventually reach up to him and pass him.
02:31So we're just pushing each other, iron sharpening iron.
02:34He's trying to keep me off. I'm trying to get closer to him.
02:37And training, we're just going back and forth,
02:40and we're just improving each other at times.
02:43So training with him, it's tough, the training that we had.
02:48But at the end of the day, we're getting better.
02:51100 meters to run, and Mo Farah is busting her gut to get there.
02:55Time and again, he's won big races on the track
02:57with this great sprint speed of his.
02:59But can he get past Kennedy and Bekele at the finish line?
03:03It's going to be inches and it's at the line.
03:05Bekele's holding on. The smile is there.
03:08He's got it by two meters, surely.
03:10And look at the clock, just outside the hour.
03:12Mo Farah unable to catch Kenenisa Bekele
03:15in one of the most memorable road races, the Great North Run 2013.
03:20Waldron is similarly chasing Romany,
03:22and the day he catches him on the road,
03:24it will likely be a national road running classic.
03:27Sergio Dufour, TV6 Sport.
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