Elite coaching special - Marathon world record holder Paul Tergat

Tergat on athletics in Africa
Paul told us about his heritage and the mentality of Kenyan athletes: "I come from a small community. I was probably one of the first athletes from the area about 100K east of Eldoret. It is arid but beautiful countryside.

"If you follow the topography between Morocco, Kenyan and into South Africa this is where the good athletes in the long distances come from. If you go to the western part of Africa that is where the good soccer players or sprinters come from.

“Naturally we work very, very hard. The sport is individual but also we train as a team. When you train as a group the strong get stronger and the middle become strong also and even the weaker become stronger and stronger. Even if you are not very strong you gain a lot of experience in terms of training and competitions.

Tergat’s attitude to success
Paul told us: "I believe in taking one thing at a go. You take one goal at a time. Any success that I have achieved in my career you can never put that as the last. When you have achieved one thing you know this - there will be a challenge from the left and right. People will be anxious to unseat you. To be able to stay there you have got to sit down and not squat [he was quoting a Kenyan saying meaning you have got to make yourself hard to move from a position of success]. When you are sat down people look for a way of moving you out. Don't squat or people will push you out.”

However being too hung up on not being beaten can be counter productive: "Putting pressure on yourself does not help. It means that you become anxious and get distracted. Whatever you are looking to achieve as a goal - you lose that [if you over-pressurise yourself]. Anything I have done has been done with a lot of commitment and patience. It has never been easy. In running you must be very committed and ready to sacrifice a lot.

"I come from a very close community. We are able to do things in a communal way. It makes me appreciate what I have done and what I have achieved more than ever before. Whatever I can do, or you can do, part of your roots is where you came from. Whatever point of the ladder you are on you are always able to look back on where you came from. This is a plus. Some of the people I was at school with may not have the opportunity to come close to where I am. I look at what I have achieved as a person, I have a simple life, and look at what I have achieved and it keeps you humble.

"The marathon is the mother of all running. Of any marathon I have finished there's none I have finished with anything left. It humbles you. Sometimes you need someone to unlace your shoes after the race because it is very difficult.

"The primary thing is once you have been lucky yourself, as an individual or a group, it is very important that you should try to give back to the less fortunate people among us or in your community.

"In so far as I have been able to do what I have been doing my focus is ‘Will there be someone after me to fill my shoes?’ I am trying very hard to make sure that, even if they are from my own pack and trying to unseat me, the athletes are coming through.”

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