‘I can see why Amusan is the world record holder’: Usain Bolt coach, Glen Mills says Nigerian is a ‘true professional’ he enjoys working with
Glen Mills, renowned worldwide as the man who coached Usain Bolt to the 100m and 200m world records as well as eight Olympic gold medals and 11 World Championship titles has not only confirmed Nigeria’s 100m hurdles world record holder, Tobi Amusan is indeed training with him, but also that he enjoys working with the 27-year-old who she calls a ‘true professional.
Mills told SportsMax that coaching the 2022 World Athletics Championships 100m hurdles record holder and champion has been very refreshing and can now see why the Nigerian ran 12.12 seconds to set the word record enroute to claiming the world title in Oregon.
‘It has been a joy working with her because she is a true professional. She brings to the table an approach that is really refreshing. People believe that I don’t coach women, but I have had experience with quite a few.
‘I had (Olympic gold medalist) Aleen [Bailey] for a year back in the day, and also people like [Olympian] Cathy Rattray and Olympic medalist Kerron Stewart.
‘She works very hard, she is very conscientious, and I can see why she is the world record holder. She brings that to the table in how she approaches her training, and she is easy to get along with. We discuss our strategies from time to time.
‘It’s been a nice experience; she is into it and enjoying it. Already, I have seen improvement, and she is excited about it because she feels like she is making more progress,’ Mills told the magazine and revealed Amusan had specific aspects of her technique she wanted to address, and their collaboration has been fruitful.
‘There were certain things she wanted us to work on, and it’s going well,’ Mills said.
In an event 12 people ran inside 12.40 this year and two of them breaking 12.30, the Nigerian actually needed a fine turning to fulfil Colin Jackson, the former World 110m record holder’s prediction that the reigning Commonwealth Games champion can run 12 seconds flat.
