KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 15 (Bernama) -- Absolute focus on just three things - training, recovery and eating— is what national sprint head coach Thabo Matebedi is aiming for as he takes the national athletics squad to the Final Training Camp - Sprint/Jump in Sendai, Japan ahead of the upcoming Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games 2026.
The high-stakes training camp designed to whip the contingent into peak condition before competition begins on Sept 19 is strategically structured to strip away distractions and lock the athletes completely into their performance mindset.
Matebedi stressed that stepping foot outside familiar domestic territory is the vital first step toward achieving total athletic immersion and conditioning the mind for elite international competition.
"At the training camp first thing is get the athlete focused. So when we are out of Malaysia, there's less trips you can do. You can have three things to do. You have training, recover and eat," he said when met at Bukit Jalil here before heading to Kuala Lumpur International Airport today.
Beyond individual conditioning, the coach placed profound emphasis on the collective dynamics of the relay squad by pointing out that baton-passing excellence extends far beyond raw foot speed on the track.
Matebedi emphasised that building an unshakeable bond among team members is critical and noting that synchronising a relay unit requires deliberate effort to bridge gaps between athletes originating from diverse backgrounds.
"Then also relay for me, it's not all about how fast can you run. It's also to create a trust amongst the athlete themselves," he said.
He highlighted that immersion in a shared environment over several consecutive days acts as a catalyst for deeper interpersonal connections and turns individual competitors into a unified unit.
“Because remember, these athletes are national athletes, so they are much more individualized based on the states where they come from. But we need to create certain chemistry of the athlete to be together.
"So if they spend a week, five days together, same place, they start building that trust from each other," he added.
-- BERNAMA