Jaysuma Saidy Ndure denies being a showman – Samsung Diamond League
It is usually a cause of infuriation for athletes when the media tries to find out similarities and common points between them and their archrivals, and that too on their face. Feeling as if their own individuality is being questioned, the responses of athletes
to such queries are usually emphatic.
The demonstration of this phenomenon was observed today when Jaysuma Saidy Ndure, the 26-year-old Gambian-Norwegian sprinter, who holds national records of 100m and 200m meets both for Gambia and Norway, while replying to a query of a reporter said that
he was not a showman like Usain Bolt, rather, he was a businessman as he always stayed calm.
Ndure, the bronze medallist of the African championships, who is expected to encounter Usain Bolt in a 200m run at the ExxonMobil Bislett Games, which is the fifth leg of the ongoing year’s Samsung Diamond League series, was addressing a press conference
in the Oslo City Hall when a sudden question posed by a reporter got him infuriated and compelled him to say, “I’m not a showman. I’m a businessman. I stay calm.”
The statement given by the young athlete speaks loud about his courage and potential to overcome hurdles that may arise on his way to successfully do the ‘business’ of emerging as a leading sprinter of the world. Ndure, the young athlete, who was born in
Bakau, a city of the western Gambia, was raised over there until her mother decided to bring him to Norway, the country he presently represents at the sports arena.
After his migration to Norway, his father’s homeland, it was not less than a task to get clearance from authorities for representing an altogether new country in Athletics. However, amid his sustained efforts, he managed to do it.
As the year 2011 lingers on and observes the emergence of the formidable talent in 100m and 200m sprints, it will also be remembered by him for the death of his mother. Commenting upon the incident which had left him emotionally vulnerable and which had
also culminated in affecting his performance, Ndure said, “I was progressing really well this year, but then my mother died and I was really down, I couldn’t concentrate on running. It has been a very hard time for me.”
Another major step that marked a crucial change in the life of the Norwegian player is his participation in the training group which is being run by John Smith, the former winner of the Olympic 400m event. Having a chance for getting trained under such an
experienced player will certainly add up to the performance of the emerging star.
The results for him while participating in the training group have started to become visible as he has observed an improved time of 6.69 seconds for the 60m race. In order to decide upon how much this training will be beneficial for him to prepare him for
the battle against Bolt, his fans and Ndure himself will be waiting for tomorrow’s contest.
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