The previous UK Athletics head coach and hurdles guru talks to George Mallett a few life in athletics that’s inconceivable to mimic within the twenty first century.
For over 55 years, the previously nationally ranked triple jumper Malcolm Arnold coached a number of the best hurdlers the world has ever seen – from serving to John Akii-Bua win Uganda’s first ever Olympic gold in 1972, to masterminding the world-beating exploits of Colin Jackson, Mark McKoy and Dai Greene. Throughout his different profession, he was additionally director of teaching and improvement, in addition to the pinnacle coach, at UK Athletics.
While you had been a younger coach, you discovered your method to the put up of Uganda’s nationwide coach within the late Nineteen Sixties. How did that come about?
I used to be a PE instructor. I’d finished three years at Marple Corridor College [in Cheshire] after which I did three-and-a-half years in Bristol as head of division at a college which had its personal observe, so I needed to organise athletics at all the pieces as much as county stage.
The Uganda nationwide coach job was marketed in Athletics Weekly. On the time I used to be nonetheless competing myself to a level and I used to be working with Dave Kay, who was the nationwide coach for the South West.
In addition to teaching myself, Dave was teaching different athletes and surprisingly sufficient he was teaching the then British primary 400m hurdler, Colin O’Neill. I earwigged on Dave. This was my training.
I utilized for the job, went right down to the Ugandan embassy in Trafalgar Sq. and was interviewed by the Chief Government Officer of the Uganda Sports activities council who was went to Loughborough College, like me, and one other man by the title of Aggrey Awori, who was an excellent dash hurdler. I imagine the one different individual they interviewed was an previous lag who’d been a sports activities officer in colonial Uganda.
Had been there any key athletes you had been conscious of on the time?
My first Olympic finalist, Amos Omolo, a 400m runner. Amos was 4 years older than me. He was 32, I used to be 28 and once I began serving to him I used to be warned off him instantly by the powers that be within the Sports activities Council. [I was told] “He is lazy, he is a waster, he is ineffective,” and so forth.
It isn’t what I noticed in any respect, so I ignored what they stated, obtained on with teaching him and noticed he was fairly gifted. He had a superb historical past behind him however then he had a poor two or three years earlier than I got here.
I realized a lot from that man – the place he obtained his coaching concepts I do not know. Primarily I used to be a jumps coach once I went there. I knew fairly a bit about operating however not at worldwide stage. That man taught me rather a lot. It stood me in good stead with John Akii-Bua.
We picked Amos for the 1968 Olympics in Mexico. They did not need him within the crew actually however I insisted, and he made the ultimate and ran an African document, 45.3. He ran an African document first spherical and second spherical after which he made a balls of it within the closing as a result of he was in lane eight, with Lee Evans inside him who gained it with 43.83 – the world document that stood for ages.
Amos ran like he’d been shot out of a gun for 300m and died a dying for the final 100m, in order that was one other large lesson to me on the ways of the 400m. I obtained maintain of footage of the race and from that I may extrapolate what the break up instances had been. Amos was via 200 in 20.8, I believe it was, whereas Evans was via in 21.2 and ate him alive within the dwelling straight.
Being such the same age it’s essential to have nearly been buddies?
I wish to suppose that each athlete I coached – or nearly each athlete I coached – we had been buddies. That is an essential a part of all of it. With a number of the athletes I nonetheless have a relationship these days. So many coaches cock it up by the authoritarian method.
While you first start with an athlete it tends to be an authoritarian method – “do that, do this. That is your coaching schedule, get on with it”.
However I at all times used to say to athletes: “While you become older and as you enhance and as your expertise improves so that you get to the stage the place you recognize greater than I do, as a result of I’ve advised you all the pieces I do know and you’ve got gone on the market and finished it.”
If an athlete filters in concepts from their very own expertise and the coach is such that they do not like being questioned, then it results in catastrophe. When you’re authoritarian with a world that is been there and finished it and possibly is aware of greater than you and nonetheless you insist on pontificating, that is the place relationships blow up.
You developed a famed relationship with John Akii-Bua, the fruits of which was his world-record breaking 400m hurdles triumph on the Olympics Video games in Munich. What are your recollections of that day, I’ve heard he had fairly an uncommon race day?
I keep in mind that athletes obtained paid by shoe firms nevertheless it was all brown envelope stuff in these days. John was paid in them by Puma, who had been sorted by [former mile world record-holder] Derek Ibbotson. I knew him very nicely and Derek had obtained data of the truth that Adidas had tried to faucet John up, promising to pay him and do the soiled on Puma.
You’ll be able to at all times inform whether or not it is the primary spherical or the semi-final [of those Games] in line with what sneakers John is sporting. Puma within the first spherical, Adidas within the semi-final. After all, Puma went spare as a result of they’d paid him cash already and had been on account of pay him earlier than the ultimate.
Derek got here to me and stated: “Right here, put this in your pocket and I need you to vow that you will give it again to me if he wears Adidas or you’ll be able to go it on to John if he wears Puma.” For the ultimate, John was going to put on Puma – he’d had the speaking to – however the Adidas folks had already put a couple of cash his method. And Adidas had been fuming as nicely. There have been two Adidas guys following John round his warm-up.
He went out carrying Adidas sneakers however he had Puma in his bag and wore Puma, so I handed over $5000 to John in a brown envelope. That’s about $50,000 these days and that is what I keep in mind in regards to the closing. Whether or not it was a superb factor that they had been chasing him round, which took his thoughts off the unhealthy issues, I do not know!
John was notorious on the time for his work ethic. Did you ever coach anybody related?
All of them! Any athlete who succeeds has an unimaginable work ethic. In actual fact, for Dai Greene, his work ethic was his downfall as a result of he did not know when to cease.
He was residing together with his girlfriend, Sian, fairly close to to us in Bathtub. He would practice within the morning with me and it would not be a straightforward session after which Sian advised me, finally, that he would exit and do extra stuff within the afternoon. I could not work out why he was completely knackered the next morning! He did not know the place to cease and he could not be advised.
Dai was certainly one of 4 world or Olympic champions you coached alongside Mark McKoy, Colin Jackson and the aforementioned Akii-Bua. Had been there any non medal- profitable stars that created some totally different sorts of highs?
Lawrence Clarke was completely sensible. Sir Lawrence now [Sir Charles Lawrence Somerset Clarke to be precise]! Lawrence was an previous Etonian, who got here to Bristol Uni and he was an honest type of English Faculties athlete, however nothing particular. His mom, who’s a dominant pressure in his life, stated: “We should discover him a coach.” She introduced him by the ear to the College of Bathtub and stated: “This is my son, I would love you to educate him.”
So I stated: “I am going to take into account it. Let him do a few coaching periods with us to start with after which I am going to determine as a result of it is not truthful on me, you giving me anyone who’s not receptive to teaching and so forth.”
There’s nothing worse than a useless duck in a superb coaching group so off he goes and he warms up and does this, that and the opposite and after a few minute I stated to his mom: “He can keep”. He had such fast limb movement, which is an absolute should for a dash hurdler and his large downside on the finish of the day was that he wasn’t quick over the bottom like Jackson was, or McKoy.
On the 2012 Olympic closing I used to be sitting together with his mom, Woman Clarke, and two sisters, simply adjoining to the beginning of the race. They insisted I come and sit with them on this extremely costly seat they purchased and I noticed the race from the again. I stated: “Bloody hell, he is come fourth!”
That was an unimaginable second often because he should not have come fourth within the Olympic Video games, however he did! He was nowhere close to a bronze medal however for him to do what he did, obtain what he achieved, European junior champion and so forth, was unimaginable. Actually sensible.
