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A number of sprinters switched coaches late last year in a bid to achieve Olympics success but the moves turned out to be a risky gamble that failed to achieve the desired results.
Before the Paris Olympics, a number of sprinters changed coaches in a bid to achieve success at the Games but for nearly all of them, it did not work out.
Kenya’s Ferdinand Omanyala, Italy’s Marcell Jacobs and Great Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith were among the sprinters who changed coaches but still did not reap the benefits at the Olympics.
The athletes had already been warned by legendary American sprinter Michael Johnson against expecting too much from the changes and as it turned out, he was right.
“Several track athlete coaching changes 10 months ahead of Paris ‘24. Most are smart moves. Smart reasons: Relationship isn’t working. Disagreement on training and competing strategies. Athlete needs a new training environment or partners,” the former 200m and 400m world and Olympic world record holder posted on X last October.
“Not so smart reasons: Poor results and athlete doesn’t know why. Grass looks greener with another coach. Looking for new coach to perform miracles.
“A coach is important to an athlete’s success, but they cannot help athletes produce results beyond their potential, their work ethic and commitment, or their ability to execute on race day,” he added.
So, what did the coaching changes yield at the Paris Olympics?
Ferdinand Omanyala
Africa’s fastest man Ferdinand Omanyala parted ways with his long-time coach Duncan Ayiemba in late 2023 following his disappointing seventh place finish at the World Championships.
Omanyala and Ayiemba had worked together for a long time, but the sprinter saw the need for a change ahead of the Olympics.
He started working with Geoffrey Kimani and part of the new strategy was to promise less and run fewer races with the aim of peaking just before the Olympics.
It did not start well for Omanyala who was fifth at the Kip Keino Classic in 10.03 but he improved as time went on, recording 9.98 at the Prefontaine Classic in May, before a season’s best 9.79 at the Olympics trials in June, then the world’s fastest time.
From there, he did not dip under 10 seconds, managing 10.01 at the BFK Games in Hangelo, his final race before the Olympics.
At the Olympics, Omanyala recorded 10.08 in the first round to sail through to the semi-final where his mettle was put to great test.
A race that had Jamaican Kishane Thompson, the world’s fastest man this year, American Fred Kerley, Canadian Andre De Grasse and Briton Zharnel Hughes proved too difficult for Omanyala who finished eighth, in another 10.08, to miss out on the final.
Marcell Jacobs
Italian Marcell Jacobs struggled with form and injuries since winning his Olympics gold in 100m at the Tokyo 2020 Games and there were fears that he could fail to defend his title.
A late improvement in form saw him clock 9.92 in Finland in mid-June to make it to Paris. This had come after Jacobs moved from his Rome base to Florida, USA to work under coach Rana Reider in Jacksonville.
Having been training in Rome under Paolo Camossi for several years, Jacobs felt a new environment could provide good returns and at the Olympics, he managed 10.05 in the first round, 9.92 in the semi-finals and in the final, he clocked 9.85 to finish fifth.
Any hopes of making amends in the 4x100m relay went up in smoke as Italy finished fourth.
Dina Asher-Smith
For Great Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith, it was a case of so near yet so far again despite switching coaches late last year.
Asher-Smith split with her long-time coach John Blackie, nine months before the Paris 2024 Olympics, ending a 19-year relationship following her disappointing results at last year's World Championships where she finished eighth in the 100m final and seventh in the 200m.
She also relocated to the United States to work with Edrick Floreal in Austin, Texas. However, at the Olympics, she missed out on an individual medal again, coming fourth in the 200m and fifth in 100m. Her saving grace was 4x100m relay silver with Team GB.
Andre De Grasse
Canadian sprinter Andre De Grasse was another one who had a woeful Olympics despite changing coaches in a bid for success.
Like Jacobs, De Grasse also moved to Florida to work with Rana Reider but failed to defend his Olympics 200m title as he missed out on the final while in the 100m, he also exited at the semis.
He was, however, part of the Canadian team that won gold in 4x100m relays after capitalising on a mix-up amongst the Americans to storm to an unlikely win.
Alana Reid
Jamaican sprinter Alana Reid also switched coaches when she linked up with Dennis Mitchell at the Florida-based Star Athletics Track Club, to become one of Sha’Carri Richardson’s training partners.
The World U20 bronze medallist, however, failed to get a spot in Team Jamaica for the 100m after finishing sixth at the Olympics trials.
She was selected in Jamaica’s 4x100m relay team but they could only manage fifth place as USA, Great Britain and Germany won gold, silver and bronze respectively.
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