Mitchell-Blake will light it up in Glasgow
ALREADY a world champion, but forever reaching for even greater glories. Don’t blink when Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake runs in Glasgow in the New Year. You might miss something.
The 4x100metres relay gold medalist from last summer’s World Championships in London confirmed yesterday that he will be racing at the Emirates Arena in February.
Heading into a season where the World Indoor Championships, Commonwealth Games and European Championships all offer tantalising possibilities, Mitchell-Blake is blunt about his ambitions.
The Englishman, who also finished fourth in the 200m in London, said: ‘I want to be the best. I don’t want to be a lane-filler. I want medals. That’s what you’re judged by and that’s what I’m capable of doing.
‘I’m 23, but why not try now and reach the top? People in the past have done it — not that I’m comparing myself to anybody else — but I believe it can be done. I really want to build on the success of 2017. I’m looking to get an individual medal on a global stage. The Indoors, Commonwealth Games and Europeans give me a chance to do that.’
Now a full-time athlete after graduating with a degree in international trade and finance from Louisiana State University, Mitchell-Blake is still based in the States and working hard to realise his dreams in doublequick time.
Laughing as he talked about shooting a commercial for adidas in Los Angeles, he said: ‘It’s a profession now. It’s my career. When I left the house today, I said: “I’m off to work, mum”. She laughed at me.
‘I understand a career in sport is short-lived compared to others, so I have to make the most of it while the sun shines and embrace the opportunity I have to do something I love for a living.
‘In school, I didn’t have much time to think about it. When I was at the track, I was focused — but my priority was graduating. Now my priority is having a successful career. I want to find the right way to balance it out without putting too much pressure on myself.
‘It’s a demanding sport, a performance sport and an individual sport. You get judged on your times and the times don’t lie.’ The chance to run in front of a home crowd excites Mitchell-Blake. ‘I haven’t run indoors in the UK since I was 13. That was in Birmingham,’ he explained. ‘My mum bought me a new pair of spikes and I was convinced I was going to run a new personal best. It didn’t go according to plan. Hopefully, I have a better performance this time around. ‘It was an age-group championship. I remember it was my first year at Under-15. ‘Back then, I was naive enough to believe the spikes would automatically make me run faster — but they definitely didn’t.’
The man who brought Team GB’s men home for their first ever World Championships 4x100 gold, leaving the super-quick Americans and a limping Usain Bolt trailing on the home leg, Mitchell-Blake is guaranteed to whip up some excitement in Glasgow.
‘Right after the championships was pretty crazy,’ he acknowledged. ‘I was getting recognised in quite a few places.
‘I was thinking: “This is like being a celebrity. I’m not used to this”. But I embraced it.
‘We watched the video (of the final) the other day at the Sports Journalists awards and I got goose bumps.’
The Müller Indoor Grand Prix takes place at Glasgow’s Emirates Arena on 25 February 2018. Tickets are available at www.britishathletics.org.uk/events-and-tickets./