Rupert Green

Badly affected by injuries to its two top athletes, It Dat Track Academy has decided to look past this month's National Championships.

"I am not thinking about World Champs now. Our team is just basically young athletes in the making." That's the word from Mike Ollivierre, the head coach at the club.

Ollivierre explained his main prospects for the trials were currently on the injured list, so they had been forced to switch their focus to beyond this year.

expectations

"Rupert Green, who I had a lot of expectations for in the 5000m, is down with a serious ankle injury. I don't think he will be competing at all," said Ollivierre.

"Janice Daley, who was one of my hot prospects in the 400m, damaged herself in a bathroom incident in St Maarten ... . So she is out for this season," he added.

But even before the latest spate of injuries, Ollivierre had claimed he was still in the process of rebuilding.

The coach hopes by next year, however, the club will be able to offer Jamaica a steeplechaser by the time the Common-wealth Games roll around.

"Kevin Campbell is the one I am promoting for the steeplechase ... . This is an area I am trying to put an effort into, the steeplechase, and the 1500m," the coach said. Ollivierre came to Jamaican from St Vincent in 1976 and taught economics at Wolmer's while coaching cricket, track and field and football.

A lot of juniors

"I have a lot of juniors who are not in the forefront at this point in time, so (this year) we are basically focusing on Kevin," he said.

Ollivierre has also coached national 100m hurdles record holder Brigitte Foster-Hylton and Diane Guthrie.

Ollivierre has switched his aim to promoting middle-and-long distance running, steeple-chase and the 400m hurdles, because he sees them as areas that are grossly neglected. In his early days in the country, Ollivierre focused on the 400m hurdles, but while vowing to help in that area, he will now turn his attention to middle-and-long distance running.

Winthrop Graham and Dinsdale Morgan, both former national 400m hurdles champions, were at some point in time coached by Ollivierre.

Ollivierre, who coached at St Elizabeth Technical in 1981, has an outstanding record at the Penn Relays, winning three straight 4x800m titles, which started in 1987 with a seven minutes and 36 seconds record. Owen Vassell, Kenroy Levy, Fitzroy Morrison and Anthony Wallace were his middle-distance stars in those years.

"I am one of few coaches who puts emphasis on long distance. I believe in it. I think Jamaica first came to prominence (in middle distances) through Arthur Wint first, and then Neville Myton," he said.

"I will die trying to maintain a high standard in those events," concluded Ollivierre, who added he was also willing to help out at GC Foster College.

Mike Ollivierre - File