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News12 Mar 2002


‘The Righteous Seven’, book Jackson’s Passage beyond Birmingham 2003!

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‘The Righteous Seven’, book Jackson’s Passage beyond Birmingham 2003!
Chris Turner for the IAAF
12 March 2003 - Much has been written this indoor season about the successful longevity of the career of Britain’s Colin Jackson, who at 35 years of age, currently holds both the indoor 60m and outdoor 110m hurdles World records, and who only just over a week ago beat Europe’s next generation of hurdlers, to take his third European indoor sprint hurdles title.

However, even Jackson is now contemplating an end to his illustrious career. After challenging this summer for a third Commonwealth and a fourth European 110m hurdles title, he will extend his competitive career for a few more months, finally retiring after the 2003 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Birmingham.

Beyond Birmingham, Jackson initially hopes to use the knowledge he has gained during his career to assist aspiring athletes, and the venture into a new career has already got underway in the shape of a book.

The first announcement was to a large crowd of British journalists in the Mixed Zone after his victory in Vienna, where Jackson waved away questions, as to how he had managed to stay for so long at the top of his sport, with the reply, “you’ll have to wait for the book!”

However, in Glasgow last weekend, having run his last domestic indoor meeting of the season, Jackson was a little more forthcoming –

“There are certain factors which have allowed me to stay so long and successfully in the sport and once sports people read the basic manuscript of the book they will understand, and kids who aspire to have a longer career in athletics can learn a lot from the book. There will be many new talking points that will emerge.”

“There is no working title yet but the company we have set up to write and promote the book is called ‘The Righteous Seven’, simply because there are seven of us involved and that’s the basis of it. We have a lot of information, which is tried and tested. A lot of things about how the athlete has to change and develop with the course of his or her competitive career. We go into the bogus sides of some training advice, because as athletes we have been there, and so we will take the lid off some established theories.”

“It’s a book, which will go far beyond just the full time athlete. It will give fitness assistance for everybody, including your average gym user or to someone who just sits in front of the television most of the time. The one thing we are trying to do is to get people into the “healthy body, healthy mind” situation, the benefits that occur due to better basic nutrition, and the stimulation this in turn gives to the mind. Mark Mckoy (1992 Olympic 110m hurdles champion) is a co-author but we are just two of The Righteous Seven and you wouldn’t know the names of the other authors.”  

Amazingly, even before the book is published there is already one world class athlete who is prepared to offer a glowing testimonial to Jackson’s training knowledge and advice. In fact, Austria’s Elmar Lichtenegger has learned so much from Jackson that in Vienna he very nearly stole Jackson's thunder. In the European final, only a desperate dash for the finish line allowed Jackson to edge out the 27 year old Austrian, with the Welsh maestro just 0.04sec ahead of Lichtenegger. Jackson’s winning time of 7.40sec, was the fastest time in the world this year.

"I can't believe I've won a medal here," said Lichtenegger, "and I have to thank Colin for that. I have put into practice what I learned from him, when he invited me to train with him. And now it seems I am getting everything right."

Can any book ever have received such an early and more glowing recommendation?

Lichtenegger, has spent part of this winter training with Jackson in Bath and Cardiff, and is now also travelling with his mentor on a training trip to Melbourne to prepare for the summer season. But the question which now occurs is, has Jackson taught his pupil too much, too soon?

Jackson is determined to end his outdoor championship career on a high note in the European Championships this summer, but if Lichtenegger extends his indoor improvement into the outdoor season, perhaps Jackson has endangered his own dream?

Jackson’s magnanimous answer to this question in Glasgow, last weekend, perhaps indicates his true stature as a champion, even more plainly than the stack of 12 international championship gold medals, which he has accrued in his career - "It makes no difference to me. It's great to see Elmar doing so well."

 

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