After an outstanding season in which he set personal bests in two disciplines, Sixth-Former John Otugade is setting his sights on a Team GB place for the 2016 Rio Olympics.
John achieved notable success at the European Junior Team Championships in Slovenia in September 2012, where he was part of the Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers’ squad representing Great Britain. He won the individual 100m and 200m events and was in the 4 x 100m relay team, which secured second place. His performance helped seal a five-point win for the team over Turkish rivals Enka Spor Kulubu Denegi.
“I was a little disappointed with my time in the 100m,” said John in an interview with European Athletics. “But I was delighted with my time of 21.84 in the 200m, which was a big PB [personal best] for me. It was a quick turnaround between the 100 and 200 – only about 20 minutes – but the 100m acted as a bit of a warm-up for the 200m.”
In fact, even in the 100m his winning time 10.78 was just .05 of a second outside his personal best, set at Lee Valley in August 2012.
The Manager of Shaftesbury Harriers, Geoff Morphitis, has tipped John for future success. “John has a lot of talent. He is not going to be one of those sprinters who runs a ridiculously quick time and then disappears,” he told the North London Press. “He is a very intelligent lad and is going to get better and better.”
John himself feels there is much more to come. “At the moment I’m studying hard for my A-levels and have to balance my training with that, but I’m confident that in the future I will be able to push for times that will compete with the best. I’d like to be a professional sprinter and believe I could compete at Rio de Janeiro in 2016.”
Athletics Weekly magazine has tipped John as an athlete who could very well reach a future Olympics as a competitor.