Jonathan and Zaidatul put through stern test in Atlanta but the Malaysian duo are not complaining

KUALA LUMPUR: No pain no gain – at least, that’s true for national sprinters Jonathan Nyepa and Zaidatul Husniah Zulkifli (pic).

Both have been pushed to the limit over the last two weeks in training at the Atlanta Track Club in the United States but they are willing to go through the hardship to reap the fruits of their labour.

They arrived in Atlanta on Feb 26 and will be there for eight months in a mission to be the best sprinters in the South East Asian region and deliver the medals at the SEA Games in the Philippines in December.

National sprint coach M. Balamurugan said the training methods in the US were much tougher than what the athletes normally go through in Malaysia.

“But I’m proud of Jonathan and Zaidatul as they’re in high spirits and are willing to go through the tough training,” said Balamurugan via a telephone interview from Atlanta.

“Here, the athletes focus on strength, power, speed, and explosive starts to make them lean and mean running machines.

“They also focus on muscle strength in every part of the body. They do a lot of sprints during training and gym workouts to build strong legs and arms.”

He added that Jonathan and Zaidatul have adapted to the competitive environment and cooler weather in Atlanta.

“Jonathan and Zaidatul are trained by three different experienced coaches – Dwight Phillips, Eric Campbell and Taiwo Ariyo,” said Balamurugan.

“Zaidatul also trains with Aaliyah Brown, who is the US’ first relay runner in the 4x100m. She won gold in the World Championships in London in 2017.

“Small-sized Zaidatul has to keep up with the lanky Aaliya in training and competitions and that’s keeping her on her toes,” said Balamurugan.

He added that Jonathan trains with Dangelo Cherry, who has a personal best of 10.04.

“I’m optimistic Zaidatul and Jonathan will clock decent times in competitions after the training stint here.”

Their first competition will be in Florida on March 28.

The Kedah-born Zaidatul has qualified for the SEA Games after clocking a season-best time of 11.65 en route to winning gold in the Perak All-Comers Championships in Ipoh last month but Jonathan has yet to beat the qualifying mark of 10.42.