Craig Pickering

I just looked at Craig,s come from behind win again.
To be fair I think Forsythe did do his hammy judging by his grimace just before the line.
But it happened because he could fell Craig running him down and he pushed too desperately to try and hold him off (I have had this experience myself).
The race showed a lot of spirit by Pickering. I wish he'd gone to Rieti

Sometimes the short sprints can have a comical wrestling type feel to it with the hamstring injuries. Who can forget the hype before the US trails 200 meters and both Greene and Johnson pulled up lame together. Or the hype before Bailey and Johnson and Johnson losing badly then falling like he was shot on the track.......

Oh! Yeah! That 150 m thing. I remember that it was hilarious

Well it happened again. Despite Craig beating alot of the other guys who will still get funding, he was cut off any funding at all for 2010. Explain to me how in hell he is supposed to continue to compete when he isn't getting paid. Why wouldn't he go to another country or even get a normal career. England is pathetic. It's not like Craig was breaking the bank. These athletes don't have much money to live on and they train their ass off year round. They also cut MLF and Christian Malcom. These two I understand. MLF was barely running in the 10.50-10.70's range all year. I think the fastest that he ran was a 10.37 last year and he has been a flop for around 5 years now. I hope Craig still continues sprinting. I feel so bad for him. He deserves better.



http://www.morethanthegames.co.uk/athletics/276885-olympic-gold-medallist-lewis-francis-stripped-lottery-fundingEdited by: white lightning

total BS! this poor kid has just too much negativity around him. I really hope he stays strong mentally and finds the funds to keep doing what he loves. Craig is still young and has more left in the tank, I just hope he has good friends and family to help him through this mess.

I wonder if the BNP has taken notice of this?

At any rate, things seem to get from bad to worse this unappreciated phenom, after showing so much promise 2-4 years ago. Now "they" want to make him quit racing altogether. I pray Lemaitre does not get the same treatment 4 years from now. The British sporting program sucks right now, giving "too much" opportunity to these non-whites. While "native whites" like Pickering are more than often given the pink slip. My best regards to wherever he continues from here.

Great post. I'm glad a few people know about the B.N.P. For those who don't know, it stands for the British National Party. They are the only govt. group trying to fight for the history of England. The U.K. is in a very sad situation with all of the extreme radical muslims coming there and taking over the country. Nothing against good muslims but these people are trying to rule England. The BNP is there to fight for the British people and restore the country back to where it should be. Limiting the amoung of foreign immigrants. Fair is fair.

Back to track. Craig will continue as far as I know. He has a strong family and many friends behind him. They just continue to piss him off. They will be sorry. He will respond. I wonder how UK Athletics would react if they pushed him to run for Scottland or some other country? I wouldn't blame him but I doubt he will. Craig wants to represent England at the 2012 Olympics in London. He will be a force next season. This kid is mentally and physically as tough as any sprinter they have. They will not hold him down. Just like Andy Turner who got screwed last year. Pickering will be back with a vengence in 2010. He is still the best talent they have in my honest opinion. He is the most consistant sprinter and also the one with the most upside once he gets everything sorted out. If only England would realise that!

The guys who run the athletics federation live in ivory towers. It's all fine and good to expect for athletes to get certain times and places for funding but they want their athletes who are clean to run against drugged up cheats and beat them....... I wish some maverick would speak the truth about the rampant drug problem that still persists in track and field. Well we know it won't be Seb Coe.....

Another good article with Craig talking about next season. He will focus on longer distance races to help his endurance. Finally, what I would have done 2 or 3 years ago if I were his coach. Better late than never. It's only about building a base. It doesn't matter if he runs an average time in the 200 meters. It is about getting his body better suited for all the phases of the 100 so he can be more consistant! I'm pumped for 2010. Here is the link to the article.

http://www.miltonkeynes.co.uk/athletics/Pickering-I39m-going-to-run.5777232.jpEdited by: white lightning

I really hope Pick gets it all together this year and turns some heads. I know he can do it!

The BNP are great people and i wish them all the best in breaking the zionist chains around the native english, however they should not fund, Pickering because the media will attack his every mistake and loss. That would be bad for him.
What he needs is one rich English man to bankroll his training.

If he was a jew, then a jew businessman(like the criminal jew thief from russia, boris berezovsky who was given british citizenship) would support him, so the call is to an english sponsor.

He should start an add campaign or something. Put in something about the London 2012 Olympics and his dream to win them as an Englishman on his own turf. Maybe that'd get him a sponsor.

Craig needs more funding for sure. Hopefully some company or person will help to support him in his training costs. That being said I want to add my opinion on next years outdoor season. I have followed track for decades and I usually can spot a guy with immense talent most of the time. I saw something special in Craig from the time he was a high school kid. Here is the problem however. As we know, his progression has stopped. It seems to happen to the majority of the UK Sprinters. Between injuries, bad luck and just bad training methods. His form has always needed work and that has really hampered his progress in addition to the nagging injuries. The lack of support from his teammates and UK Athletics in general has also played a part.

I will say this. I predicted he would be the first white guy to go sub 10 for a reason. He has showed sub 10 form in 1 or 2 races each year for three years in a row in my opinion. He had the break out season where he set his p.b. of 10.14 three years ago. He ran in the 10.15 range on a semi regular basis that year. Some of the times were also run on a cold, rainy track. Then two years ago he had a race in Reiti into a hurricane wind that could have easily been a sub 10 in one of the heats. Last year he had the 10.08 finishing 2nd to Bolt with a 2.1 wind and the final race of the season into a huge wind. Both of those races could have easily been around 10 seconds flat or a shade under. Again I repeat that Craig has the potential.

His problem is that he can not do it on a regular basis. That is where fixing his arm swing(he is working on it)and changing up his training/race program. Craig needs to get more of the longer sprints into his base training. He needs to learn how to start and finish strong like clockwork. Will 2010 be his first sub 10? I sure hope so. I still believe in the kid. At 23, he still has plenty of time but he has to start setting new personal bests this summer. If not, I fear he may have such a mental setback that it will be hard to recover. Alot of sprinting is mental. This summer is huge. He will get it done. The kid is a warrior and he has the heart of a champion.

I just hope he limits his indoor races to focus on outdoors. The 100 meters is where the money is at! Good luck Craig. Just like the law of attaction says, you have to belive before you acheive. YOU CAN AND WILL GO SUB 10!Edited by: white lightning

I will agree with you WL. Craig has what it takes and just needs a few thing to come together to be sub 10. I think in the next 2-3 years we are going to see multiple sub 10s from a couple of guys. if I was a betting man I would have to say The Master will go first, but I'm really hoping it will be Craig. Pick works hard under sh*t conditions (mentally & physically). He has the talent and deserves it the most. At 23 he has got time, but the clock is ticking. Here's to Pick going sub 10 in 2010! The same goes for The Master & Rocket!

What I feel Pickering needs are some legal enhancements to his overall sprint ability, not withstanding corrections to the mechanics of his sprint.

Two things: a real olympic lifting coach to train him in the snatch lift. Why? because in studies done on olympic athletes, the olympic lifters of comparable weight to the sprinters had a faster 20m time, as well as a better vertical jump than the high jumpers.(rome, 1960)
By learning the snatch lift and training his system to get under the bar faster and faster he recurits and subsequently enhances his explosive power.
I see that some sprinters do a power clean, but that misses the explosion development. The Snatch Lift is the only lift to really develop this. Someone like Alexseyev who speaks english.

Second: he needs an ifbb level coach to teach him some legal tricks to drop his body fat and enhance his muscle density.

The best method for that ( and my friend just got his ifbb pro card this fall): as part of his training ( and nobody should do this at home)
He used insulin with a particular type of whey protien isolate as follows: one day of insulin injections and his whey shakes, and protien. No carbs> the next day regular protien/carb small meals.
in a week he went from 10% body fat to 5% and his muscles became super full and hard, because he could starve carbs every other day and still have the energy of a 5500cal diet due to the fact that the insulin/whey protien isolate combo tricks the brain into really using the body fat for energy and not getting run down or flat looking.

As i said, nobody should do this at home without a pro coach/doctor monitoring.
the fact that his body became hard and full and his fat decreased, while not tiring enhances his physique, while translated to a sprinter one can peak by having less weight(fat) and more strength with fuller muscle heads and a better nitrogen balance.

If Craig were to become knowledgable about the snatch lift and legal fat reduction/strength,getting real pro's to coach/guide; him at peak times he would mostly break 10.00 and sometimes dip in the 9.88-9.92 range

and to add an example: brent barry had met a good olympic lift coach who taught him the snatch lift and really enhanced his jumping ability, well above his natural talent and basketball development for jumping and way off the charts compared to his father and brothers

Great posts Yuri. Do you think the hang clean is effective in developing sprinting power? I was conversing with a speed coach who primarily uses hang cleans and one arm dumbell snatches to improve his sprinters' power. I have never tried the barbell snatch from the floor, but I willafter reading your posts!

The snatch lift is very dangerous to do without a coach teaching technique as a pre-requisite to actually starting the lift in a gym. Even light weight can be dangerous as it is a violent pull that can hurt the thumbs.

As well, a person must have a solid body-core strength development before doing a snatch lift of the gym variety.

We always did hack squats and front squats on a smith machine both with feet as close together so as not to thicken the hips, plus dead lift with feet together and barbell rows with feet together, rows for the upper back and more, for 3 months before doing the snatch lift.

The idea for pickering is to gain an edge to compensate for his height, although he has a excellent stride length for his height, he is half a foot shorter than lemaitre and bolt and has no chance of catching them, he can peak in the 9.90 range and win the indoor 60m in the 6.45 range and be a world star in athletics.

I agree with your analogy of Pickering and his potential. He needs to increase his speed endurance as well which is his focus for this season. I want to see him put it all together. He either gets a great start and doesn't finish strong or the other way around. His top speed is scary but he needs to get up to it quicker and hold that speed endurance longer. He also needs to do it like clock work. He has been too inconsistant. This will be a huge year if he can get everything worked out. It is very hard for me to imagine him being stuck in neutral or reverse unless he has a major injury. 2010 should be a banner year for Craig!

Craig will open up his season on January 30, 2010. He is attemting to win the Glasgow Meet for the 4th consecutive time! He loves running on this track. Let's hope for a great time to start a record breaking season! Here is a link.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/athletics/6976006/Craig-Pickering-out-to-extend-winning-indoor-run-at-Aviva-International-in-Glasgow.htmlEdited by: white lightning

good luck to CP on the 30th.

Craig will only be racing a few more times indoors with his short season. Then the main focus will be on the outdoor season this summer. He will race this weekend in the UK Championships & World Qualifiers. He will not compete in the Indoor World Champs regardless of the results at the UK Champs. Then he will have one last race in the 3rd week of Feb. That will be it according to his coach. Let's hope this new training regimine works out.Edited by: white lightning

this is a smart move by Craig. I'm thinking PB in the 100m this season!

Changing his training will be benificial for the outdoor season but it is slowing him down a little at the moment. The only reason I wish he was in his usual indoor shape is because he races at the Aviva UK Indoor Championships this weekend. The top two qualify to go to the World Indoor Champs in India. Even if Craig doesn't want to go, I would love to see him finish in the top two. Even better would be if he shocked everyone but beating the drug cheat Dwain Chambers. Chambers has blown Pickering away in all of their races. I would love to see a little bit of revenge this weekend but I know that Craig isn't in the proper shape to do so. Chambers has the 2nd fastest 60 in the world so he will probably win. I wish he would just retire. I really don't like drug cheats. They ruin this great sport that I love! Regardless, good luck to Craig Pickering this weekend. Edited by: white lightning

Well the 60 heats and finals are over. Craig finished the finals in 3rd place running a time of 6.66 seconds. PED King Chambers won in 6.50 with the bodybuilder kid H.A.A. second in a new p.b. of 6.55 seconds. The only bright side was seeing MLF finish in 4th place. That is how last year went and this year seems to be no different. Remember though that this was not Craigs focus. He is not concerned with indoors this season so don't read too much into this. It still has to burn him up inside seeing cheaters get away with it and still going to major championships.

Just use it as more motivation Craig. Train harder than you ever have. Build a base like you never have before and the speed endurance to go with it. If you build it, the wins will come! It's all about the summer time. Getting on the podium of the European Outdoor Championships will make all of this worth it. Craig will have one last race indoors in another week and then back to training for the outdoor season. Keep your head up Craig. Your day will come soon!