Dumping Nigeria Pays Off For Makinde

As a standout sprinter and hurdler in his final year of high school, Segun Makinde was well known in track and field circles.

Ottawa Citizen reports that athletes and coaches across the country heard about his record, and barrier-breaking runs, which led to a hefty collection of ribbons and medals at various high school meets, including the prestigious Ontario Federation of School Athletics Associations` championships.

News of his achievements even reached the Athletics Federation of Nigeria, which had a keen interest in wooing the teenager to join their national track and field program.

Makinde, a third-year University of Ottawa marketing student who was born in Maiduguri, Nigeria in 1991, listened to a federation representative`s offer of free this and free that, if he elected to change track and field allegiances.

After pondering the enticing contract offer, Makinde couldn`t agree to such a radical change at this stage in his athletic career.

Makinde decided to be true to his current country, Canada and declined Nigeria`s tempting gift to bring him back to his native land.

He had invested so much time learning about sprinting in the nation`s capital and attended international meets through Athletics Canada that he couldn`t turn his back on Canada.

Three years after having to confront that situation, Athletics Canada and the Canadian Olympic Committee rewarded the up-and-coming sprinter for his hard work and results with one of its greatest honours _ a berth on the 2012 Summer Olympic Games team.

A member of the national senior men`s track and field team`s 4×100-metre relay pool for three years, Makinde was one of six athletes selected to the Olympic team for that uber-fast encounter. National sprint and relay coach Glenroy Gilbert will select the top four sprinters for the Olympic semifinals and possibly final.

Subdued and thoughtful, the upbeat and smiling Makinde will take full advantage of helping the Canadian men`s relay team shine at the Games as well as enjoying his first Olympic experience.

Makinde has a similar personality and athletic skill set to Gilbert, who attended four Summer and one Winter Olympics. Gilbert represented Canada in the men`s 4×100-metre relay at the 1992, 1996 and 2000 Olympics. He ran the second relay leg in 1996 when Canada won the gold medal.

Already having experienced the 2011 World University Games in Shenzhen, China, which was like an Olympic multi-sport dress rehearsal, Makinde has a safe plan to approach the awe-inspiring Summer Games.

“I`ll talk to my coach a lot,’’ Makinde said during a recent interview. “He has been to five Games and he knows how the Games go.

“I`ll take pictures and take in the Games, but I won`t go crazy. I plan to be quiet. Then, I`ll go out, run and make the experience my own and maybe win a medal.’’

The fast and furious men`s 4×100-metre relay, which takes the elite nations a little more than 37 seconds to cover the track, is so unpredictable.

Coming out of the start blocks too soon and a country is disqualified for a false start. During one of the three exchanges, the baton could be dropped and that team`s race is done. The baton exchange could be made outside the 20-metre passing zone and that country would be flagged and disqualified. Travelling at high speeds around the corners or down the backstretch or toward the finish, a sprinter suddenly could pull a hamstring muscle and shatter their medal hopes.

“We`re all confident we can win a medal,’’ said Makinde, 21. “It`s like a blind confidence.

“A six-year-old thinks he can fly off a couch. We know he can`t fly, but we have that blind confidence.’’

Competing in his first Summer Olympics won`t be as scary as Makinde might think. At the 2011 World University Games, he ran in all four rounds of the men`s 200 metres in front of a stadium of 30,000, finished fifth in the final and set a personal best of 20.72 into a headwind in the quarter-finals.

“That was an Olympic Games in itself,’’ he said.

At the Canadian championships and Olympic trials in Calgary, Makinde was definitely in fast mode. In the semifinals, he set a personal-best time of 20.71 into a 1.0 metre-a-second headwind. In the 200-metre final, he finished second to secure his Olympic spot in 20.75 into a 1.6-metre-a-second headwind.

The next day, he was named to the Olympic team.

“It was a crazy culmination, but I hope it doesn`t end there,’’ he said.

For Makinde, the storybook ending would be running the second leg in the Olympic final and finishing in the top three.

He wants to show Gilbert he can run the backstretch leg faster than his coach, who posted the fastest time for the second leg at the 1996 Olympic final and second fastest 100-metre split overall.

“I like the relay and I won`t complain whatever leg I run,’’ Makinde said. “But I like the backstretch because my coach ran that and at the time he had one of the fastest splits. But I can run a faster split.’’

Makinde has set himself up for a huge challenge. In the 1996 Olympic relay final, Gilbert ran his 100-metre leg in 9.02 seconds with a running start. Canadian anchor Donovan Bailey was the only other runner in that race with a faster time, 8.95, as Canada seized the gold medal.