Glen Mills

Glen Mills C.D is a sprinting athletics coach from Jamaica. He is currently the head coach of the Jamaican Olympics athletics team and has received diplomas from both the International Olympic Committee and the International Association of Athletics Federations. cite web |last=Raynor |first=Kayon |title=In the Jamaican camp |publisher=BBC Caribbean |date=2008-08-11 |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/caribbean/news/story/2008/08/080811_jamaica_track_field.shtml |accessdate=2008-08-25 ] He is also currently coaching world and Olympic record holder Usain Bolt. Other athletes that he has coached in the past include Kim Collins, Dwain Chambers and Raymond Stewart.

Early years

Mills enjoyed athletics from an early age and, after moving to Clamperdown High School, promptly joined the sprinting team at at age 13. After his first year he was dissatisfied with his performances and gave up on the idea of becoming a professional sprinter. Despite this setback Mills was still enamoured with athletics and frequently attended the practice meetings to watch the others run. The high school coach, Henry McDonald Messam, noticed his interest and reluctance to participate and so assigned him various tasks and chores to keep him busy. Two years after, Mills had learnt well from the head coach and was given the job of coaching a class of younger athletes. He retained the job after graduation, progressing to form an official part of the Clamperdown High School coaching staff. The arrival of a new head of the sports department threatened Mills coaching opportunities and he was sacked in favour of a more experienced coach. The move backfired as many of the school's better athletes chose to stand by Mills, training with him at his new, unofficial training ground. Mills was quickly reinstated at the school and went on to train many successful sprinters, including Olympic silver medallist Raymond Stewart. cite web |title=GLEANER EDITORS' FORUM - Top-class coaches making the difference |publisher="Jamaica Gleaner" |date=2006-12-19 |url=http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20061219/news/news1.html |accessdate=2008-08-25 ]

By the early 1970's Mills had trained a significant number of male sprinters in the national junior team. The Jamaica Amateur Athletic Association (JAAA) called on him to work on the team for the CARIFTA Games. Following this appointment Mills became a prominent coach in the Jamaican athletics scene. He continued to work on his coaching style and earned a diploma from the International Olympic Committee training centre in Mexico and a qualification in High-Level Sprint Tech training at the IAAF Training Centre in Puerto Rico. During his time as a coach in Jamaica he has worked with a number of Caribbean athletes including Aleen Bailey, Xavier Brown, Leroy Reid and Kim Collins. In addition, Mills also coached British sprinter Dwain Chambers when his athletics ban expired. cite web |last=Fordyce |first=Tom |title=I was in gutter, admits Chambers |publisher=BBC Sport |date=2005-12-10 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/athletics/4512862.stm |accessdate=2008-08-25 ]

Training Bolt

Mills was approached by Usain Bolt shortly after the Athens Olympics and he became the sprinter's coach in late 2004. Bolt was initially a 200 metres specialist but Mills suggested that his young charge should improve his stamina to run over 400 metres. Bolt was more keen on running the 100 metres instead and Mills promised him that he could run in the event on the condition that he beat the 200 metres National Record first. cite web |last=Flynn |first=LeVaughan |title= Usain Bolt and Glen Mills: Long, winding journey to a world record |publisher=Sports Jamaica |date=2008-06-03 |url=http://www.sportsjamaica.com/read_article.php?id=12721 |accessdate=2008-08-25 ] At the 2007 Jamaican Championships in June, Bolt broke Donald Quarrie's 36-year-old record by 0.11 seconds, running 19.75 seconds. cite web |last=Layden |first=Tim |title=The Phenom |publisher="Sports Illustrated" |date=2008-08-16 |url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/tim_layden/07/23/usain.bolt0728/ |accessdate=2008-08-25 ] Incidentally, Don Quarrie is also from Camperdown High School.

Mills agreed to Bolt's demands and let him run the 100 m event. The acceptance of the request paid dividends for both sprinter and coach as Mills was impressed with Bolt's new drive and focus in training. By the end of 2007 Mills was pleased with Bolt's performances and the coaching had improved his technique, particularly with a more efficient stride frequency and better balancing. cite web |last=Rowbottom|first=Mike|title=Bolt from the blue |publisher="The Independent" |date=2008-08-04 |url=http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/olympics/athletics/bolt-from-the-blue-883180.html |accessdate=2008-08-18 ] In a trade-off the two agreed to a two part training programme in preparation for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Mills would help Bolt work on his speed for the 100 m initially then turn his focus to the stamina needed for the 200 m. The programme paid off as Bolt set three world records and took gold in both 100 m and 200 m events in Beijing. [ cite web |title= Bolt grabs third gold and record |publisher=BBC Sport |date=2008-08-22 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympics/athletics/7576737.stm |accessdate=2008-08-25 ] Bolt praised Mills, saying it was his coaching which made him improve, not only as an athlete, but also as a person. Despite Bolt's unprecedented achievements in Beijing, Mills still felt he could improve if his stride frequency was further reduced and his technique perfected. [ cite web |title=Technique tweaks bolt Usain into history |publisher="Jamaica Gleaner" |date=2008-08-25 |url=http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20080825/lead/lead2.html |accessdate=2008-08-25 ]

References