OLYMPIC DREAMS BY JOHN PLUMMER Darren Campbell has his sights set on a second chance of sprinting immortality in Greece at this year’s Olympic Games. Athens, August 22, 2004, 11pm. Eight men will line up for the most compelling and explosive sporting event of the year: the Olympic 100m final. The difference between gold and fourth may be as little as 0.1 second. One slip, one bad start and the chance to be the fastest man in the world could be lost forever. That careers hang on such fractions has broken many a man. Darren Campbell admits it spooked him four years ago at the Sydney Olympics, when he finished sixth before bouncing back to take silver in the 200m. “I was terrified,” he says. “Being there was the biggest thing I had ever dreamed about, and I got caught up in all these emotions. I raced like a fan: I was just happy to be there.” Darren now has his sights set on a second chance of sprinting immortality in Greece, where he hopes to be among the final eight once again. Britain has a fine pedigree in the event: Alan Wells took gold in Russia in 1980, when the Americans boycotted the Games and Linford Christie left everyone trailing in 1992. Christie now coaches Darren, who has learned to smile thinly when asked whether he can maintain the 12-year sequence of British glory. “I have to believe I can win gold,” he says. “I’ve got Olympic silver so there’s only one stage to go.” With history staring him in the face, and so much potential for failure, you wonder how he manages to sleep at night. He does suffer a recurring nightmare about running in his underpants in the Olympic final, with his body trapped in slow motion, while a grinning Maurice Greene breezes by. “Everyone expects me to feel the pressure but I don’t,” says Darren, who claims he doesn’t even know when the Olympic final takes place. “I don’t know the date but I know the people who will get me there,” he says. “The only time I think about the Olympics is when I’m training and I need something to lift me. I could burn all my nervous energy going to the track and thinking about it. There’s too much else going on in life.” It may sound like typical sportsman’s flam but Darren discovered there really is more to life than pumping your arms and legs when his girlfriend, Clair, walked out on him with their son, Aaryn, three years ago. Forced to face Christmas alone, he contemplated suicide. Eventually he decided the solution was to become less obsessed with athletics. The couple reunited and this year celebrated the birth of their second son, Dillan. “I was a disgrace,” he says. “I was concentrating only on myself. Now I go home and don’t think about training because that’s unfair. For me to go to the track for three, four or five hours a day and then come home and talk about it would not be right.” He talks frequently about ‘the new me’ and insists even the prospect of running in the shadows of Olympic heroes like Jesse Owens, Carl Lewis and Christie, not to mention Olympic villains like Ben Johnson, won’t stress him out. After all, the Sydney experience proved; a more chilled Darren is a more successful Darren. “I realised in the 200m I had made it, so I could go out and enjoy it,” he says. “This year I’ll have the same attitude. I’ll be there to have fun and I shall try to portray that on my face.” ‘Fun’ is an unlikely word in the bad- ass world of sprinting, where competitors, mindful of how the most minute edge matters, never miss the chance to indulge in a few mind games. The psychological war builds to a crescendo at the wait for the start, when the athletes flex and strut like puffed up peacocks in well rehearsed rituals designed to give the impression that they are the Alpha male. Darren is something of an exception. He isn’t built like a tank and seems almost too Tim Henman-nice to be a winner. His gentlemanly streak shone through on TV programmes such as Superstars, Celebrity Weakest Link, Test the Nation, A Question of Sport and They Think It’s All Over. But his record proves otherwise. This is a man famed for his ability to perform under pressure and when he talks about how he’s trained his body to fast so it can cope if he can’t get decent food at major championships, you begin to get a glimpse of his inner strength. “Everyone leaves me alone at the start of races,” he says. “People know I’ve got that cool, calm nature but that it’s best not to mess.” He gives a fascinating insight into the moments leading up a race. “Everyone goes into a room where they check your spikes,” he says. “This is when you weigh up everyone else and whether they think they can win. You can write some people off here. I’m a big reader of body language and I’ve learned to study the other guys over the years. I can tell when Jason Gardener is nervous.” How? “I can’t give away my secrets!” he says. But he does blab about the highly charged histrionics of defending Olympic 100m champion Maurice Greene. “Greene hypes himself,” says Darren. “He rolls his head and his tongue but he’s trying to hide the fact that he’s not that confident. If you know him, you realise he’s too quiet to really be that way. People come up to me and say ‘I hate Maurice Greene, he’s really arrogant’ but he’s one of the nicest people I’ve met. What you see is all a front: he’s trying to deal with his demons.” Having dealt with his own demons, Darren, who is from Manchester and runs for Sale Harriers, was set to start the 2004 season in the best shape of his life. If he can stay clear of injury, a date with destiny on a balmy night in Athens awaits in what is likely to be one of the more open Olympic finals, his experience and mental strength could be telling. “I have that never-say-die attitude,” he says. “When you come from the background I’m from you realise hurdles are there in life and it’s up to you whether you keep fighting to overcome them or give up.” What makes Darren’s success all the more remarkable is his 100m personal best time of 10.04, which in the sub-10 second era is relatively pedestrian. But PBs count for little when medals are up for grabs. “It’s almost like someone hypnotises me when the major championships come around,” he says. “As soon as I get on the plane I’m in the zone. When I walk into the stadium I hear everybody but once the starter says ‘tracksuits off’ I just flip out. I don’t hear anything.” Dwain Chambers’ drugs demise has shifted national expectations onto Darren. What did he think about his former rival’s charge? “The new me doesn’t worry about it,” he says. “The old me would but it’s something I can’t control. For me they’re not an option. It would kill my mum because she’s put so much belief in me.” Even with Chambers off the scene, merely qualifying for the Olympics will be no formality. Britain has a talented stable of sprinters, such as Mark Lewis-Francis, Jason Gardener and Christian Malcolm, although none come near Darren in terms of major championships success. His tally of 10 medals include gold in the 100m and 100m relay at the 1998 European Championships, gold in the 100m relay at the 2002 Commonweath Games, gold in the 100m relay at the 2002 European Championships, and that incredible Olympic silver. Darren shrugs off such parochial matters. “I’m not bothered about being British number one,” he says. “I want to be the best in the world.” At 100m or 200m? He has yet to decide. “I do the 200m for fun,” he says. “But when you win an Olympic silver you can hardly call it doing it for fun.” At 31, is this his last shot at the biggest sports event on the planet? “I can’t answer that one,” he says. “It’s in the hands of the big man upstairs.” If he pulls it off in Athens, there will be few more popular British champions. He’s an engaging mix of matey humour and understated intensity, and refreshingly free of the cynicism that dogs many elite sportsmen. It’s easy to underestimate his desire but it’s never far below the surface. He looks incredulous when I ask whether he’d swap Olympic gold for scoring the winning goal for Manchester United, his favourite team, in the FA Cup final. “No way,” he says. “When I do what I do, I do it on my own. That’s always been the attraction. It’s the one thing in my life that I’m totally in control of.” DARREN’S GYM WORK If you were asked to picture someone who never runs farther than 500m and has to watch their weight you would probably think of Naomi Campbell before Darren Campbell. But even Olympic sprinters have to be careful about what they eat. “As a kid I was skinny, now I have to watch my weight,” he says. And in a sport that’s all about explosive power, there isn’t much need for a high aerobic capacity. “I’ve got no endurance,” he confesses. “I struggle to run around for 90 minutes playing football.” Darren describes sprinting as ‘using power in the most relaxed way possible’. “Think of cheetahs and leopards: they aren’t tense,” he says. “You can see the muscles rippling.” Rippling muscles aren’t possible without heavy weight training, which is a fundamental part of any sprinting regime. Darren hits the gym three times a week to lift. “Bodybuilders tend to train a certain muscle each day,” he explains. “I have to work on all of them in one session. Running is just as important as weight training for me so there are not enough hours in the day to train a bodypart every day.” He concentrates on basic lifts - cleans, bench press and squat. “They are fundamental to what we need,” says Darren. “Cleans give you explosive power. That’s the most important exercise.” The Monday session begins with three sets of five repetitions of cleans. He pyramids the sets, working up to 80 per cent of his maximum weight so it’s challenging but in a functional way. “I lift as fast and as explosively as I can lift,” he says. He repeats the same formula - three sets of five reps working to 80 per cent of his maximum weight - on his other two lifts: bench press and squat. Being long legged, Darren admits it’s taken him a long time to perfect the squat and only recently learned how to go deep on the exercise. He has performed 200kg squats, which shows how strong he is, although brute strength isn’t the name of the game. “It’s about power more than weight,” he says. “And with power comes responsibility. I don’t get caught up in trying to be bulky. There’s no point if you can’t control it. I’m probably the least bulky out of all the sprinters.” An upper body circuit follows weights. “This year has been the most intense I’ve ever done,” he says. “I’ve been doing a lot more shoulders and arms: these are where your power is propelled from.” The circuit consists of eight to 10 constantly changing exercises, such as shoulder press, dumbbell flyes, curls, triceps dips and press ups. He performs 10 reps at each station before moving straight on to the next. At the end of the circuit he rests for two to three minutes then repeats twice. It takes about 30 minutes to complete in total. He also practises moves such as step-ups on to a bench and bunny hops to increase the explosiveness in his legs. “You don’t want to be spending time on the ground when you are running,” he explains. “As soon as you touch the ground you want to leave it.” The Wednesday weights session involves the same exercises but with heavier weights and lower reps for strength. Darren does just three sets of three repetitions. The upper body workout is the same as Monday. Lighter weights are used on Friday. “It’s the same exercises but we do three sets of 10 using 50 or 60 per cent max,” he says. “It’s pretty boring, pretty tedious: it’s just got to be done.” He usually trains alone. “Linford has taken me through the weights but I know what I’m doing,” he says. Christie’s input is mental as well as physical. “He gave me the belief that I could be good,” says Darren. “My mum used to say it but when it comes from him it carries a bit more weight.” DARREN’S NUTRITION Jon Williams BSc (Hons), Rnutr, of Optimum Sports Nutrition, has been advising Darren for the last five years. Here he outlines his approach. “My main focus with Darren has been on improving his eating patterns; food choices and ensuring his nutrient needs are met. “Darren’s macronutrient needs vary throughout out the year and coincide with the purpose of his training programme. This could involve an increased intake of protein and carbohydrates to aid gains in bodyweight and strength during off-season training, or a close monitoring of food intake and, therefore, energy intake to ensure bodyfat levels are at their optimum during a build-up phase to competitions. “Darren’s eating plan has been devised to provide him with the correct amount of carbohydrates and proteins per kg per day while maintaining a low saturated fat intake but ensuring an adequate intake of essential fatty acids. “We pay particular focus on the pre-training period to optimize energy levels for the forthcoming sessions. Delaying fatigue and preventing dehydration with hypotonic formulas during training allows for more productive training sessions. The post-training recovery period is probably the area which can be most difficult for athletes like Darren, who following gruelling training schedules, may have a hectic day of events to rush off to. “Therefore, the use of recovery drinks, anti-catabolic supplements and recovery bars have proved an invaluable addition to Darren’s nutritional plan and in aiding recovery before the next training session. “Darren will not use supplements all year round, his belief is that he would rather use them during periods of intense training or competition, this way he will get the maximum benefit.” M&F

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