Noah Lyles leading drills at a Rising Stars Clinic in London (© organisers)
Several young aspiring athletes from the London area began their week with a training clinic led by some of the athletics world's finest rising stars.
The aptly named TDK Rising Stars Clinic, sponsored by the IAAF parter and moderated by two-time 110m hurdles world champion and former world record holder Colin Jackson, took place at the Stoke Newington School & Sixth Form in London's northeast borough of Hackney on Monday (10), where Noah Lyles of the US, South African Dominique Scott, and Great Britain's Jake Wightman and Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake joined coach Toni Minichiello in conducting the session.
The students were split into four groups, each led by one of the athletes, who then focused on various training and technical drills. The morning concluded with a relay race and the ultimate prize: IAAF World Championships London 2017 tickets for each of the participating students and a parent.
Here's Lyles, the 2016 world U20 100m champion --who this year clocked 19.90 to win the 200m at the Shanghai Diamond League meeting-- addressing the group:
Top advice from @LylesNoah: whenever you meet someone you look up to, don't just approach them as a fan, find out "what makes them tick." pic.twitter.com/PO61Cfn0eY
— IAAF (@iaaforg) July 10, 2017
And here's Scott, the 2016 NCAA champion at 5000m and 10,000m:
Meeting professional athletes face to face helps young athletes and fans to realise those people "aren't superhumans", says @domscottrunSA. pic.twitter.com/1ucyae5ouF
— IAAF (@iaaforg) July 10, 2017
Wightman, the winner of this year's 1500m in the Oslo leg of the Diamond League:
Today he was one of the stars giving advice to young fans, but @JakeSWightman still remembers moments that helped inspire him in his career. pic.twitter.com/oExLJY44v4
— IAAF (@iaaforg) July 10, 2017
And Mitchell-Blake, the 2013 European junior 200m champion who earlier this year joined the 100m sub-10 club with 9.99, sharing how a career on the track benefits athletes when they're off the track:
"You form bonds with people from all over the world"@NethaneelMB explains why life as an athlete isn't all about what happens on the track pic.twitter.com/GetTS1yUO3
— IAAF (@iaaforg) July 10, 2017
And finally, host Jackson on why events like this are a win-win situation for both the young fan's and the sport's rising generation of stars:
.@ColinJackson hosted TDK's Rising Stars Clinic in London today.
— IAAF (@iaaforg) July 10, 2017
He says bringing athletes and young fans together is a "win-win situation" pic.twitter.com/rtNIl8KGhZ
Bob Ramsak and Michelle Sammet for the IAAF
