On Sunday night, Oblique Seville became the first Jamaican to win the men’s 100m world title since Usain Bolt. But it turns out the 24-year-old’s mind is just as quick as his blistering leg speed.
In an interview to celebrate his victory, Seville was asked if he were to design a sprinter what would he look like. The questioner expected a long answer. Perhaps Justin Gatlin’s start, Michael Johnson’s mentality, and Bolt’s leg speed. But one word came back from Seville’s mouth almost instantaneously. “Usain.”
When the questioner suggested that “there’s never been anyone like” the Jamaican sprinting great, Seville replied: “No. But I would take his last part of his race and my start. Then you would have the perfect sprinter.”
However, there is one issue about which Seville disagrees with his hero. On Monday, Bolt insisted the current generation of sprinters did not have the talent to run the 100m in 9.6sec, like he, Yohan Blake and Tyson Gay once did. Seville, who ran a personal best of 9.77sec to win gold in Tokyo, disagreed. “In my opinion, it’s just only a matter of time before someone is going to run 9.6,” he said.
“I don’t think we are far off in this generation. It just takes us time. Because you have to understand, it was the same back then.
“No one was running 9.6 until Usain Bolt put his foot in Beijing. So it’s for us now, as a new generation, for us to just meet that step – to prove that we can actually do the same thing that Usain did.”
The difference between Seville and Bolt could barely be more pronounced. Both hail from Jamaica but Bolt was 6ft 5in and weighed about 14st, and Seville is 5ft 6in and just 11st 6lb. Seville loves going to church and said he prepared for the 100m final by reading the Bible “which gave me a lot of peace of mind”. Bolt, it is fair to say, had a rather different approach.
However, the men share the same coach: Glen Mills. And it was Mills who always believed that Seville could emulate Bolt by becoming the fastest man on the planet. “I realised that I was a fast kid when I was six,” said Seville. “I was running against kids that were bigger than me and I was very competitive. So I showed it at a very early age.
“When I just started out with my coach, he said it’s going to take me a few years to get to the podium. And whatever he says, that is what’s going to happen. His words manifested upon me and here I am right now, a gold medallist.
“He can be tough at times and he’s a good guy because he’s a very intelligent guy. And I learn a lot from him in and out of sport. He guides me mentally and shows me my career, physically.”
Since Bolt left the sport in 2017, the crown of the world champion has slipped through the hands of Gatlin, Christian Coleman, Fred Kerley and Noah Lyles. Could Seville, who was one of the favourites for gold in Paris, be the one who holds on to the crown? He hopes so. But he knows it will be difficult.
“I have the mentality. But you know that injuries are a part of the sport,” Seville said. “And because of my height and size I cannot make any mistakes. I have to ensure that everything that I do is on point.”
That mentality was also strong when the American Lyles tried to play mind games on the Jamaicans before the final. “It doesn’t have any effect on me,” said Seville. “Because over the years I realised that Noah is going to be Noah. And he’s going to talk.
“I respect that. It’s good for the sport. It might have worked on other athletes but not me. I came to the world championship for one purpose. To win the gold.” And he did that, all right.
Usain Bolt says the current generation do not have the same talent as his era to run 9.6sec. Photograph: David J Phillip/AP
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