Ato Boldon: A Passion for Flying

Ato Boldon was one of the most successful sprinters we have ever seen. And when you consider that he was a part of the Linford Christie, Frankie Fredericks, and Carl Lewis generation, that's saying something. Along with Fredericks and Lewis, he has won more individual Olympic sprint medals than any other male sprinter in history, having claimed a bronze in the 100m and 200m in Atlanta, and a bronze in the 200m and silver in the 100m in Sydney. He was also the 1997 200m World Champion, and boasts personal bests of 9.86 and 19.77. Boldon was an ever present force at major championships, and as such became an instantly recognisable face on the track. Runner's Tribe caught up with Boldon to get his opinion on his career, the current generation of sprinters, and what he's been up to lately.

Runnerstribe: You've had an incredible career. Can you run us through a few of the highlights?

Ato Boldon: For me its being the first to double 100/200 at the World Juniors in 1992, joining the sub 10/sub 20 club at 100/200m in 1996 , my world title in 1997 and getting a silver medal with a bunch of young kids (anchor, Darrel Brown, was 16 years old at the time, lead off Marc Burns was 17, 3rd leg Jacey Harper was 19 years old) at worlds in the 4x100 in 2001.

RT: You were so close to winning gold in the Olympics - how much more would that have meant to you?

AB: I would love to have a gold medal but track was never going to define me as a person so it hasn't changed anything about my life post career.

RT: But you've got a host of Olympic medals! More male individual sprint medals than anyone else, in fact. What's it like to hold that title?

AB: Well I'm tied with Carl Lewis and Frankie Fredericks so that's great company, but when your career is over as mine is, it's good to have something like that to look back on and say I did things that few others in history did.

RT: What are your thoughts on the current crop of sprinters?

AB: I think the current crop at the top is actually the best ever, but overall, both my generation and several before were better. There is a huge gap between the top 2 or 3 and everyone else now - that isn't really great for the sport or the event.

RT: What went through your head when you saw Usain Bolt run that 100m and 200m in Beijing?

AB: "Thank God I retired before this guy started to run like this"

RT: What was your training like? Can you give us a typical training week?

AB: I never ran more than 400m in practice, and any day could consist of any combination of 30s, 60s, 150s, 300s or 400s

RT: What are your thoughts on the current spate of revelations of performance enhancing drug taking in athletics?

AB: I am more confident now with the blood testing going on and with Olympic Champions being busted (Gatlin, Ramzi) but it will never stop. Someone will always try to cut corners, which is why I root continuously for the drug testers.

RT: How big or widespread a problem are PEDs in the sport?

AB: Track used to get a bad rep because we didn't discriminate, and busted our top athletes. Well, now that other sports are doing the same thing, you realise that PEDs are a problem in all sports, and track certainly is no worse than any other sport.

RT: Off the track, you've been pretty busy! What's your passion now?

AB: My passion is flying, which I have been doing for 4 years now - getting my pilot's licence was the best thing I ever did. Being a broadcaster is great too, because I get to educate and share my passion for the sport - can't beat that.

"Thank God I retired before this guy started to run like this"
Ato Boldon on Usain Bolt