Usain Bolt's Former Coach Glen Mills Reveals the One Weakness That Could Have Denied Oblique Seville Gold

Usain Bolt’s former coach, Glen Mills, who also coaches Oblique Seville, has revealed one aspect of his race that was the poorest as the youngster won the men’s 100m final at the World Championships in Tokyo, Japan.

Oblique Seville stormed to a personal best time of 9.77 seconds ahead of Olympic silver medallist Kishane Thompson, who clocked 9.82 seconds.

Olympic 100m champion Noah Lyles, having battled with an injury earlier this season, was forced to round up the podium in 9.89 seconds.

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Oblique Seville started his campaign with a third-place finish in the first heat, with Gift Leotlela and Kayinsola Ajayi finishing first and second. He then went ahead to win his semifinal ahead of Olympic 200m champion Letsile Tebogo.

Speaking to Television Jamaica after Oblique Seville’s dominant victory, Glen Mills expressed excitement, noting that the Jamaican deserves it after years of making the final and not making the podium.

Despite having one of the poorest starts, as Glen Mills puts it, he insisted that were it not for his determination, someone else would have been crowned.

Oblique Seville made the final of the 2022 World Championships in Eugene, Oregon, but finished fourth in the men’s 100m, with the same happening at the 2023 edition of the event in Budapest, Hungary.

At the Paris Olympic Games, Oblique Seville made the final, and as rival Noah Lyles claimed the win in 9.79 seconds, he ended up finishing eighth and with an injury.

“I’m extremely elated that finally he has been rewarded with his effort…he has been to the final on several occasions of the Olympics and World Championships, and he has narrowly missed getting the reward in terms of medals,” Glen Mills said.

“However, that has never deterred me because it’s amazing watching him in the finish. After all, his first half of the race was one of the poorest I’ve seen. But with his determination, he would not be denied.”

Glen Mills recalled that when he started working with Oblique Seville, he told him that he would not be mature until around 24, based on what they were working with.

Mills noted that over the years, Oblique Seville has faced numerous health challenges, but his abilities have remained world-class, adding that they have had a tremendous amount of work to do to get him to this level.

Glen Mills noted that he was unfazed by the style of running of Oblique Seville in the heats, something that scared a series of fans who believed he should have done better.

“He has been struggling with a medical problem. Every now and then, especially after he warms up, a similar problem occurs to what happened at the trials. So, he decided that he was not going to push off the block in fear that his calf might grab him,” Glen Mills added.

“Those were his words. And so, he came out gentle and then ran to qualify. I wasn't worried. When I minus his reaction time and add his normal reaction time, it comes out to a 977 effort.

“So I told him, look, don't worry about the condition. You know it's going to happen. Put it behind you and you know, put your best foot forward and concentrate on performing to your best level.”

Glen Mills remains one of the greatest coaches, having worked with the fastest and second-fastest men alive, Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake. He is currently working with Oblique Seville, Zharnel Hughes and Tobi Amusan among others.