Rhoden ready to run

When Tarees Rhoden burst into the lead at the Atlantic Coast Conference indoor 800m final on February 26, the move was part of a plan hatched by the tall Clemson University athlete and his Jamaican coach, Mark Elliott. The plan worked as Rhoden strode to victory on a tight Virginia Tech track in 1:48.62 minute.

The 21 year-old didn't think his bold move was risky.

"I wasn't worried at 600 because they can't outsprint me. I'm the fastest at 400 so it was a good race," the 2019 Kingston College captain told reporters afterwards.

"Actually the strategy was to take charge even earlier than that, but the race went out faster than we anticipated so he did the smart thing but just sitting with the leader but then by 500, he knew he had to be leading because if he's ahead at 500, it would be a difficult task for his competitors within the conference to, we've been watching him all year, to outsprint him."

Elliott, who coaches Jamaica's 2018 Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Natoya Goule, says speed is now the key to the 800. "Our mentality in Jamaica, I don't know why it is, we don't think we can run the 800 so I'm getting him to understand he can."

The coach is working on Rhoden's approach to the race.

"It's just more about him getting out of being afraid to run it and be aggressive like how Natoya is, how all the other guys I've coached over the years are, so being aggressive and understanding that speed is the plus," Elliott said.

Rhoden was second at halfway in 52.9 seconds and took command after that. He also ran a 47.3 leg to help Clemson win the 4x400m relay.

American Brandon Miller ran 1:45.24 minutes in Texas during the same week, with the first lap covered in 50.17 seconds, and Elliott said, "He was at 50 point. If you can run 46 in the quarter, coming through at 50 point should not be a tall task."

Rhoden's outdoor 400m metre best is 46.65.

OLYMPIC FINAL

Elliott, who guided Kenyan David Kiptoo to the 1996 Olympic final, says Virginia Tech has lanes which are 38 inches wide while those at Clemson are four inches wider.

"On Virginia Tech's track, it's such a tight turn that most tall people literally stop within the turn just to make the turn," he said. "It is a good track, don't get me wrong, Virginia Tech it is, but just from the physics side of it, it just doesn't work for tall sprinters, and, for him to run 1:48.6, he's ready and he will be a surprising guy outdoors because then none of those things apply outdoors."

Rhoden set a personal best 1:48.05 minutes on his home track at Clemson early in February. That time makes the youngster the eighth fastest Jamaican in history.