Bayern Leverkussen pole vaulters at Aspire
The ASPIRE Academy makes full use of Bayer Leverkusen pole vaulters' visit by arranging a combined training session, writes N Ganesh.
BAYER Leverkusen, who possess a rich sports tradition, have been one of the favourite destinations of the world's cream of pole vaulters over the years, thanks to the presence of their Polish coach Leszek Klima.
A former pole vaulter, who finished fourth at the European Championships at Prague in 1978, Klima took up coaching in the early '80s after an Achilles heel injury forced him out of big-time competitions.
He then produced many champion vaulters, including Germans Tim Lobinger, Danny Ecker (both in 6M clubs), Silke Spiegelburg and reigning women's world champion Anna Rogowskva, who incidentally is Klima's compatriot.
It was the turn of a few Qatari youngsters to learn from the ace coach as he descended on Doha last week with five of his Leverkusen wards - Ecker, Tobias Scherbarth, Hendrik Gruber, Michel Frauen and Matei Tzvetanov. With the freezing cold in Germany forcing them indoors, it was basically a search for sunny conditions that brought them to the ASPIRE Academy, for the first time.
The contingent was impressed with the training facilities at the academy and expressed their wish to make the Doha tour a regular affair during this time of the year.
"Pole vault needs track and field as well as gymnastics facilities, but at Leverkusen and many other places, you need to travel a lot to get access to these facilities. At ASPIRE, everything lies within a touching distance and that makes training more easy and productive. And the facilities are the best in the world," said the 53-year-old.
The ASPIRE Academy made full use of their trip by arranging a combined training session of the Leverkusen athletes and five local pole vaulters. While Odai Fawaz, Abdulrahman Hussam, Moa'th Al Masri and Xavier van Poelvoorde represented the academy, Badr Hashim, one of the promising athletes of the country, attended the session, proudly wearing the Qatar colours.
Badr, a former ASPIRE student, is part of the Qatar Association of Athletics Federation and currently trains under Ahmed Ali Jassim. Badr is earnestly trying to qualify for the next World Championships in Canada.
"It was great to be the guests of the ASPIRE Academy. We made full use of the facilities, and offered some advices and tips to the academy's youngsters about how we could become successful in the sport, during our week-long stay," said 32-year-old Ecker, who won a bronze at the 2007 World Championships in Osaka and finished fourth at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
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Inspiring to the core!
THE two-hour joint training session presented the ASPIRE Academy students with a chance to learn valuable lessons from Leszek Klima and his Bayer Leverkusen wards.
"It was inspiring to the core. To train alongside champion performers is something every athlete looks forward to in our academy. It was great to watch the way they warm up and jump. Moreover, we also learnt about their overall approach to a training session in general. It'll surely help us when we train next," said Moa'th Al Masri, a pole vaulter at ASPIRE.
ASPIRE's Uzbek coach Ramil Ganiev believes efforts like this offer the athletes as well as coaches a chance to learn something new.
"Our youngsters would've surely felt many things new while training along with German athletes. It gives all a chance to think out of the box. We should always try to learn something new and it's also an opportunity for us, coaches, to acquire many new lessons from ace trainers like Klima," said Ramil.
ASPIRE Sports Director Wayde Clews described it as a productive initiative.
"The idea of a joint training session was an initiative by the ASPIRE Academy. It provided our student athletes and the Qatar Association of Athletics Federation boys with an opportunity to practise alongside world-class German athletes, who visited the academy's state-of-the-art facilities. I think our athletes gained a lot from it," he said.
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Crazy, thy name is pole vault
ASPIRING to become a pole vaulter? You need to be crazy!
That was a common observation shared by Bayer Leverkusen coach Leszek Klima and his wards.
"To fly high on a stick, you need to literally possess spring in your steps. A youngster, who takes up pole vault, should be fearless and willing to do all the crazy stuff," said Klima.
"It's tough to be a pole vaulter. To maintain your record, just like (Yelena) Isinbayeva does at the moment, is even tougher and she achieves it through sheer professional training. There's a lot of fun involved in training as it incorporates the gymnastics elements into it. That way the entire pole vault training can be far more interesting than the daily practice of a sprint or jump event," said Klima.
Tobias Scherbarth, a bronze medallist at the 2008 European Indoor Cup in Moscow, feels pole vault is a sport for specific people.
"The event has got specific people to perform it. You need to be brave. Most of the vaulters don't start in the sport, but move from gymnastics. I started in decathlon, but my coaches asked me to join pole vault later," said the 24-year-old, who found the most active among all while training the ASPIRE Academy athletes.
Scherbarth added that he was planning to take up coaching in the future.
Twenty-year-old Australian Matei Tzvetanov believes one needs to possess crazy cultures to pursue his career in pole vault.
"It's a bit difficult with pole vault. The kids should be a little stupid to start with. To soar above the bar, you need balance, but to master that, it takes steady practice," said Tzvetanov, a strong fan of the Socceroos, as his country's football team is known.
Asked what would it be like to have legendary pole vaulter Sergei Bubka as president of the International Association of Athletics Federations, Tzvetanov laughed a lot before saying, "Oh! That could be crazier."
BAYER Leverkusen, who possess a rich sports tradition, have been one of the favourite destinations of the world's cream of pole vaulters over the years, thanks to the presence of their Polish coach Leszek Klima.
A former pole vaulter, who finished fourth at the European Championships at Prague in 1978, Klima took up coaching in the early '80s after an Achilles heel injury forced him out of big-time competitions.
He then produced many champion vaulters, including Germans Tim Lobinger, Danny Ecker (both in 6M clubs), Silke Spiegelburg and reigning women's world champion Anna Rogowskva, who incidentally is Klima's compatriot.
It was the turn of a few Qatari youngsters to learn from the ace coach as he descended on Doha last week with five of his Leverkusen wards - Ecker, Tobias Scherbarth, Hendrik Gruber, Michel Frauen and Matei Tzvetanov. With the freezing cold in Germany forcing them indoors, it was basically a search for sunny conditions that brought them to the ASPIRE Academy, for the first time.
The contingent was impressed with the training facilities at the academy and expressed their wish to make the Doha tour a regular affair during this time of the year.
"Pole vault needs track and field as well as gymnastics facilities, but at Leverkusen and many other places, you need to travel a lot to get access to these facilities. At ASPIRE, everything lies within a touching distance and that makes training more easy and productive. And the facilities are the best in the world," said the 53-year-old.
The ASPIRE Academy made full use of their trip by arranging a combined training session of the Leverkusen athletes and five local pole vaulters. While Odai Fawaz, Abdulrahman Hussam, Moa'th Al Masri and Xavier van Poelvoorde represented the academy, Badr Hashim, one of the promising athletes of the country, attended the session, proudly wearing the Qatar colours.
Badr, a former ASPIRE student, is part of the Qatar Association of Athletics Federation and currently trains under Ahmed Ali Jassim. Badr is earnestly trying to qualify for the next World Championships in Canada.
"It was great to be the guests of the ASPIRE Academy. We made full use of the facilities, and offered some advices and tips to the academy's youngsters about how we could become successful in the sport, during our week-long stay," said 32-year-old Ecker, who won a bronze at the 2007 World Championships in Osaka and finished fourth at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inspiring to the core!
THE two-hour joint training session presented the ASPIRE Academy students with a chance to learn valuable lessons from Leszek Klima and his Bayer Leverkusen wards.
"It was inspiring to the core. To train alongside champion performers is something every athlete looks forward to in our academy. It was great to watch the way they warm up and jump. Moreover, we also learnt about their overall approach to a training session in general. It'll surely help us when we train next," said Moa'th Al Masri, a pole vaulter at ASPIRE.
ASPIRE's Uzbek coach Ramil Ganiev believes efforts like this offer the athletes as well as coaches a chance to learn something new.
"Our youngsters would've surely felt many things new while training along with German athletes. It gives all a chance to think out of the box. We should always try to learn something new and it's also an opportunity for us, coaches, to acquire many new lessons from ace trainers like Klima," said Ramil.
ASPIRE Sports Director Wayde Clews described it as a productive initiative.
"The idea of a joint training session was an initiative by the ASPIRE Academy. It provided our student athletes and the Qatar Association of Athletics Federation boys with an opportunity to practise alongside world-class German athletes, who visited the academy's state-of-the-art facilities. I think our athletes gained a lot from it," he said.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Crazy, thy name is pole vault
ASPIRING to become a pole vaulter? You need to be crazy!
That was a common observation shared by Bayer Leverkusen coach Leszek Klima and his wards.
"To fly high on a stick, you need to literally possess spring in your steps. A youngster, who takes up pole vault, should be fearless and willing to do all the crazy stuff," said Klima.
"It's tough to be a pole vaulter. To maintain your record, just like (Yelena) Isinbayeva does at the moment, is even tougher and she achieves it through sheer professional training. There's a lot of fun involved in training as it incorporates the gymnastics elements into it. That way the entire pole vault training can be far more interesting than the daily practice of a sprint or jump event," said Klima.
Tobias Scherbarth, a bronze medallist at the 2008 European Indoor Cup in Moscow, feels pole vault is a sport for specific people.
"The event has got specific people to perform it. You need to be brave. Most of the vaulters don't start in the sport, but move from gymnastics. I started in decathlon, but my coaches asked me to join pole vault later," said the 24-year-old, who found the most active among all while training the ASPIRE Academy athletes.
Scherbarth added that he was planning to take up coaching in the future.
Twenty-year-old Australian Matei Tzvetanov believes one needs to possess crazy cultures to pursue his career in pole vault.
"It's a bit difficult with pole vault. The kids should be a little stupid to start with. To soar above the bar, you need balance, but to master that, it takes steady practice," said Tzvetanov, a strong fan of the Socceroos, as his country's football team is known.
Asked what would it be like to have legendary pole vaulter Sergei Bubka as president of the International Association of Athletics Federations, Tzvetanov laughed a lot before saying, "Oh! That could be crazier."
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