Oblique Seville: Will Usain Bolt links propel Jamaican wonderkid to Olympics glory?

Oblique Seville. Photo: Imago

Oblique Seville: Will Usain Bolt links propel Jamaican wonderkid to Olympics glory?

Joel Omotto 10:26 - 15.06.2024

Oblique Seville is slowly emerging as Jamaica’s best hope for an Olympics sprint medal and there is hope that working under Usain Bolt’s coach will do the trick in Paris.

Usain Bolt’s mother calls him ‘second son,’ he works under Bolt’s ex-coach and the legend himself has tipped him for greatness.

Will all these propel Oblique Seville to Olympics glory?

Seville is still basking in his recent victory when he stunned world 100m champion Noah Lyles to win the Racers Grand Prix in Jamaica, clocking an impressive world leading time of 9.82 seconds.

In an Olympics year, those are very good signs for Jamaica who have not been on the 100m men’s podium since Bolt retired in 2017.

The 23-year-old has been showing great progress since his emergence onto the scene but he always falls short when it matters most.

He qualified for the delayed Tokyo Olympics after a third-place finish at the Jamaica trials but could not make it to the final before finishing fourth with Team Jamaica in the 4x100m relay final.

Seville made it to the 2022 World Championships in Eugene, this time reaching the 100m final, but fell short of the podium following a fourth place finish and at the 2023 Worlds in Budapest, lighting struck twice.

Despite clocking an impressive 9.88, the same time recorded by second and third place finishers Letsile Tebogo and Zharnel Hughes, he still finished fourth in what was a bitter result to swallow, even if a bronze medal in the 4x100m wiped off the tears somewhat.

Now, heading into his second Olympics, Seville seems to be coming of age as his strategy and confidence keeps growing.

It was not just beating Lyles but the manner in which he cheekily glanced at the American to cross the finish line was Boltesque and the world record holder’s influence seems to be rubbing off positively on him.

Bolt himself has tipped Seville to be the first man to end the medal drought in sprints which might add some pressure or fuel him even further.

“I think these athletes represent our chances, but it is all about execution. I think over the past years, it (Jamaica’s male sprinting) has been struggling, but I do think that Oblique has been keeping it alive,” Bolt said, according to Sportsmax in May.

“He has made all the finals so far; it is just for him to now get in the top three. And I think it's just consistency. I think the one thing with Oblique is that he always gets injured, but hopefully, he can be consistent this season and stay on the right path and he'll be fine.”

Those are big words from the big man and Seville is lucky that he is drawing from the same tactical brain that the legend learned from for many years.

Legendary coach Glen Mills, who worked with the eight-time Olympics champion, now trains Seville and he feels the youngster has learnt from his recent mistakes and ready to right those wrongs in Paris.

“I am pleased with his development. I am pleased that he is developing in the way that I am working towards,” Mills told the Jamaica Observer.

“He is getting stronger, we continue to work on technique, but in terms of where he is, I am quite pleased with his development so far.”

On his current form and full of confidence, there is hope that the Bolt links will propel Seville to the podium at the Olympics after his recent near misses.

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