Daniel Bailey of Antigua cruises into 1st during 100m at the Berlin Golden League (© Getty Images)
Still celebrating his break out year, which saw him placing fourth in 100m final at the World championship in Berlin, Daniel Bailey of Antigua & Barbuda is hoping to dominate at the 13th World Indoor Championships in Doha, Qatar, 12-14 March 2010.
“I know that the next year coming is going to be a different Daniel Bailey because I know that I’m going to train real hard and with a different mentality,” Bailey said.
“I’m really looking forward to that 60m to at least win a medal. I’ve started training already, so I’m looking to get ready for the world indoors in Doha,” he beamed, noting that the Commonwealth Games set for New Delhi, India in October is also on his radar.
The two-time Olympian shot to prominence in 2009, clocking six sub-10 times over the 100m in his seventh year in the Sport.
“This was my best season ever in track and field having started out with 9.93 seconds, the same time as my training partner Usain Bolt; then going to the (World) Indoor Championships in Birmingham and running 6.54secs to break Antigua’s national 60-metre record and also becoming the first person to go below 10 seconds on Brazilian soil,” Bailey said. His personal best of 9.91secs was achieved at the Golden League meet in Paris on July 17.
The only Caribbean athletes to go below the 10 second barrier more than Bailey are: Jamaican Asafa Powell with a record 60, world 100m and 200m record holder Bolt with 16, as well as the Trinidad and Tobago pair of Ato Boldon with 43 and Richard Thompson with seven, have gone below 10 seconds more times than the Antiguan.
Bailey, who won the 200m bronze at the 2005 Pan American Junior Championships in Windsor, Canada, noted that placing fourth in the Berlin world championship final, won by Bolt in 9.58secs, was icing on the cake having made history by becoming the first Antiguan to make final of the blue ribband event at that level.
Bailey was accorded the status of Ambassador on 9 September, for his exploits on the track in 2009 by Antigua, a nation better known in the sporting arena for producing Cricket legend Sir Vivian Richards. Antigua, which has a population of approximately 68,000, is about 14 miles long and 11 miles wide, encompassing 108 square miles.
Bailey himself played cricket and had to be convinced by one of Antigua’s top athletic coaches Carl Casey, to give up cricket and seriously focus on track and field at age 16.
“I was playing cricket at the time, so I wasn’t thinking about track and field (but) he (Casey) was able to convince me to return and now I am glad that I did and that he didn’t give up on me,” Bailey reasoned.
The sprinter is affectionately known as “Bakka” in Antigua, subsequently won back-to-back under-20 100m titles at the Carifta Games in 2004 and 2005.
He also finished second behind Bolt in the 200m at the Carifta Games in 2003 when the Jamaica set the World junior record of 19.93secs in Bermuda and 2004, before winning the half-lap event in 2005.
Bailey, who competed at the 28th Olympiad in Athens 2004 at the tender age of 17, then the 2008 Beijing Olympics, is proud of his national honour.
“It (ambassadorship) means a lot to me and I really appreciate it and I think I deserve it,” said Bailey. “I’m just hoping that the young kids will want to be like Daniel Bailey and get involved in track and field, so we can have more athletes performing at a higher level for Antigua,” the 22-year-old reasoned.
The jovial sprinter, who has been training with sprint coach Glen Mills since 2006, credits his successes on the international stage to the professional climate that exist at the Racers Track Club in Jamaica.
“The stuff that I was doing in Antigua is totally different from what I’m doing in Jamaica. First of all, I wasn’t doing any gym work in Antigua; I was only training three days per week; and I wasn’t taking any supplements, so by coming to Jamaica and training six times a week, taking my supplements and having a solid gym programme, that has changed everything completely,” Bailey posited.
“The training in Jamaica is solid. Ever since I got there I’ve been learning a lot of things from coach Mills and I think he’s a fantastic coach. I will stay with Coach Mills until whenever my career is finished,” added Bailey, who indicated that training with Bolt has aided his development as an elite athlete.
“It’s good for me because I know to myself that Usain Bolt is the world’s fastest man and I know he can help me in certain ways so I try to use that in training and in competition and I’m doing a fantastic job so far,” he added.
Kayon Raynor for the IAAF
“I know that the next year coming is going to be a different Daniel Bailey because I know that I’m going to train real hard and with a different mentality,” Bailey said.
“I’m really looking forward to that 60m to at least win a medal. I’ve started training already, so I’m looking to get ready for the world indoors in Doha,” he beamed, noting that the Commonwealth Games set for New Delhi, India in October is also on his radar.
The two-time Olympian shot to prominence in 2009, clocking six sub-10 times over the 100m in his seventh year in the Sport.
“This was my best season ever in track and field having started out with 9.93 seconds, the same time as my training partner Usain Bolt; then going to the (World) Indoor Championships in Birmingham and running 6.54secs to break Antigua’s national 60-metre record and also becoming the first person to go below 10 seconds on Brazilian soil,” Bailey said. His personal best of 9.91secs was achieved at the Golden League meet in Paris on July 17.
The only Caribbean athletes to go below the 10 second barrier more than Bailey are: Jamaican Asafa Powell with a record 60, world 100m and 200m record holder Bolt with 16, as well as the Trinidad and Tobago pair of Ato Boldon with 43 and Richard Thompson with seven, have gone below 10 seconds more times than the Antiguan.
Bailey, who won the 200m bronze at the 2005 Pan American Junior Championships in Windsor, Canada, noted that placing fourth in the Berlin world championship final, won by Bolt in 9.58secs, was icing on the cake having made history by becoming the first Antiguan to make final of the blue ribband event at that level.
Bailey was accorded the status of Ambassador on 9 September, for his exploits on the track in 2009 by Antigua, a nation better known in the sporting arena for producing Cricket legend Sir Vivian Richards. Antigua, which has a population of approximately 68,000, is about 14 miles long and 11 miles wide, encompassing 108 square miles.
Bailey himself played cricket and had to be convinced by one of Antigua’s top athletic coaches Carl Casey, to give up cricket and seriously focus on track and field at age 16.
“I was playing cricket at the time, so I wasn’t thinking about track and field (but) he (Casey) was able to convince me to return and now I am glad that I did and that he didn’t give up on me,” Bailey reasoned.
The sprinter is affectionately known as “Bakka” in Antigua, subsequently won back-to-back under-20 100m titles at the Carifta Games in 2004 and 2005.
He also finished second behind Bolt in the 200m at the Carifta Games in 2003 when the Jamaica set the World junior record of 19.93secs in Bermuda and 2004, before winning the half-lap event in 2005.
Bailey, who competed at the 28th Olympiad in Athens 2004 at the tender age of 17, then the 2008 Beijing Olympics, is proud of his national honour.
“It (ambassadorship) means a lot to me and I really appreciate it and I think I deserve it,” said Bailey. “I’m just hoping that the young kids will want to be like Daniel Bailey and get involved in track and field, so we can have more athletes performing at a higher level for Antigua,” the 22-year-old reasoned.
The jovial sprinter, who has been training with sprint coach Glen Mills since 2006, credits his successes on the international stage to the professional climate that exist at the Racers Track Club in Jamaica.
“The stuff that I was doing in Antigua is totally different from what I’m doing in Jamaica. First of all, I wasn’t doing any gym work in Antigua; I was only training three days per week; and I wasn’t taking any supplements, so by coming to Jamaica and training six times a week, taking my supplements and having a solid gym programme, that has changed everything completely,” Bailey posited.
“The training in Jamaica is solid. Ever since I got there I’ve been learning a lot of things from coach Mills and I think he’s a fantastic coach. I will stay with Coach Mills until whenever my career is finished,” added Bailey, who indicated that training with Bolt has aided his development as an elite athlete.
“It’s good for me because I know to myself that Usain Bolt is the world’s fastest man and I know he can help me in certain ways so I try to use that in training and in competition and I’m doing a fantastic job so far,” he added.
Kayon Raynor for the IAAF
