Athletics: Focus on sprinter Dylan Sicobo ‘My sight is on gaining a straight Summer Games slot’ |27 April 2020

Sicobo proudly show off the Seychelles’ colours after winning the 100m gold medal at the Jeux de la Francophonie 2017

 Top sprinter and national 100m record holder Dylan Sicobo is seeking a straight Summer Games slot to make it to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games postponed for next year.

In an exclusive interview with Sports NATION this week, Jeux de la Francophonie 2017 100m sprint gold medallist Sicobo says that he has taken a short break from training due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic which has been gripping the world over for the last three months but he has set his sights on gaining Olympic qualification in the coming year.

“I have taken a short time out from training as I’m abiding by the directives of the department of health regarding social distancing and staying at home but will get going once the movement restrictions are relaxed in June when I plan to get back into full swing with my training,” Sicobo told Sports NATION.

Sicobo adds that sportsmen should not be discouraged by the current coronavirus regulations which forbid public gathering but advises people to stay safe until things get back to normal.

“Athletes should not drop their guard and let their morale be affected by the lockdown but should be patient, especially those who are yet to qualify for the Olympics and they should maintain their spirit high,” Sicobo suggested to his colleagues.

In fact Sicobo also has been set back in his plan for the year as he was going all out to meet the required standard for the Olympics and about to move to experience training in a new environment, but all his target has been put on hold but he remains optimistic about the future.

“I felt I was getting back to my top form and I was in the process of finalising a move to a college in Miami in the United States of America after seeking advice from one of my compatriots who is attending a College in Miami. I was supposed to get a feedback on my request to entry in March but all has been suspended for the meantime,” explains the 23-year-old athlete.

The Anse Aux Pins resident further explained that he had been given the choice of six colleges and had preferred one in Miami since, he noted, the state has a similar climate to our country where he was going to enroll for a three-year degree in Sports and Business.

“After this crisis, I don’t think it will be possible to move to the States but I will have to wait until June to see if this next phase in my development will materialise, but whatever happens it will not sway my determination from aiming for a straight qualification to the Olympics as I would not like to get there through the back door via the wild card entry,” claimed Sicobo, who added that he is still benefitting from training programmes from his former Mauritian coach Stephen Buckland who raced at the top level in the world and won titles in many international competitions.

Our top sprinter was based for three years in Mauritius at the Centre d’Excellence in Réduit where he attested that it has helped him a lot in his development.

“I joined the International Athletics Federation’s centre in 2016 and it brought instant success and it proved a very worthy experience where within three months, I qualified for the World Junior Championships in Poland with a new national junior record and this boosted my confidence,” Sicobo stated.

It surely was the springboard for the up and coming sprinter who was following in the footsteps of the likes of former top local sprinters Cyril Brioche and Maurice Camille and he made his mark in an explosive manner the following year at the Jeux de la Francophonie in Côte d’Ivoire where he shocked everyone including himself.

“When I went to the Jeux de la Francophonie, I never thought of winning a medal as I was conscious that there would be very good sprinters at this competition, but after the first round I had the second best time going into the 100m final and so then I fancied my chance and went all out in the decisive race to win which was an incredible feeling and I also managed to smash the national record four times at these games,” reflects Sicobo whose national record stands at 10.33 seconds.

As a result Sicobo became an instant star then and this culminated in him being crowned Sportsman of the Year 2017, but his career took a slump the following season where he suffered a torn hamstring and had to abandon all competitions and allow the injury to heal.

“I also had a very complicated 2019 season where my preparation for the Indian Ocean Islands Games was going fine but just before the games, I suffered a knee tendon injury and was advised by the doctors to take a two-month rest or face an aggravation of the injury. But I felt obliged to compete for my country and I decided to proceed with my training and competed despite being overweight and far from my best in a competition where I knew I was good enough to win the gold medal if I was in top form as I was used to competing against these opponents and I was always superior to them,” Sicobo said.

After the disappointment of the Indian Ocean Islands Games, Sicobo now has a new target where he says he was on track to make the qualifying standard of 10.05 seconds for the Olympics but is still happy he will have more time to achieve this mark after the postponement of these games.

“I had started to get back to my best form as I trained on my own here and felt stronger but now I will build up my preparation for the December 2020 to June 2021 period where I can attempt qualification in any international competitions. If I achieve my dream, I will not only be content to be at the games to make up the numbers but want to reach at least the semifinal as I want to rub shoulders with the very best and show my true ability in this event without allowing myself to be overawed by the quality of the world class opponents,” the Top Racer Athletics club athlete related to Sports NATION.

R. J-L.