World Championships 2009 Berlin

It has been a long time since I last blogged about our training. After a long trip for the World Champs, I've got heaps of work to settle and had no time to blog about my experience in Germany. It has been 2 weeks since I got back and at last I've completed my top priority stuff.
I'm sure everyone has watched the World Record being broken by Usain Bolt in the 100m and the 200m. It was phenomenal! Everything was so fast I couldn’t even analyse what was going on. But I’m sure you can check it out on Youtube. If you have been reading our training blog, you would have seen the training videos we did during our stay in Bremen. Coach Hosni, Hakeem and Balpreet went to Berlin and started their stay in the Team hotel arranged by the Berlin World Champs committee. After lots of hassle, they finally managed to check in to a hotel where most star athletes were staying in. You can view their Facebook account for the photos posted!

I went to Germany for a separate mission. I was with the team for the training camp, after which we went our separate ways. I was involved in the World Class Coaches Club organised by Dr Frank Dick, President of EACA, and member of IAAF Coaches Commission. It was a wonderful experience I met close to 40 coaches all over the world, from Canada, Poland, UK, Chile, Greece, Australia, Norway, and Finland. I think I was the only Asian representative. The Head coaches and elite coaches from different disciplines were always ready to share their ideas and experiences. I’ve learnt so much from them… it’s truly a blessing…

We went to the stadium to watch the championships everyday from the 1st event till the last event. It was one of the biggest events I’ve ever been to. The crowd was fantastic, security was tight, and the atmosphere was awesome. My accreditation pass allows me to be in the VIP area, where free flow of food and drinks were served. I was even rubbing shoulders with track stars like Maurice Greene, Donovan Bailey, Linford Christie, Wilson Kipketer, Kim Collins, Michael Johnson etc…

Ralph Mouchbahani, in charge of the BOC culture stadium and local co-ordination, was the man running the whole show, and entertaining our requests. He was indispensable throughout the championships and his cell phone was constantly ringing. Without him, most things could not have been done; like arranging for a meeting room to conduct mini seminars, for discussion with guest speakers.

Interestingly, I met this big guy and he was the one who introduced the BionicBand to me, Andy Miller. Miller, in case you don’t know, is known as the best ‘Mr Fixit’ in the track and field business. He has worked with a host of the world’s top athletes including the likes of former and current Olympic champions – Maurice Greene, Jeremy Wariner, Haile Gebrselassie, Shawn Crawford, Veronica Campbell-Brown and Hicham El Guerrouj, just to name a few. In the next blog post I will explain more about the BionicBand. Several top athletes are wearing this now. Meanwhile, if you are interested, please visit http://www.bionicband.com/ or http://mybionicsports.com/

You can email me for more information as well!