KRISTINA Knott and her coach Rohsaan Griffin are leaving Austin, Texas on Sunday (Monday in Manila) for a 10-day pre-Olympic training camp in Nagasaki, Japan before the Fil-Am sprinter swings into action on Aug. 3 in the women’s 200-meter dash at the Japan National Stadium in Tokyo.
“We’re leaving for Nagasaki on July 18 and have our training camp there before we enter Tokyo on July 28, five days before she (Knott) competes,” Griffin told Malaya-Business Insight yesterday.
A week after arriving from Europe at the end of June, Griffin said that Knott is back in training in his hometown of Austin in preparation for the biggest race of her life.
“Things are going well. We’re great, no distractions and totally focused. We do track work three times a week, weights twice a week and sled pulls once a week,” the Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association consultant said.
“We usually have two days off but one of those days might be active recover like pool work to keep the legs fresh as well as physio and chiropractor visits at least twice a week,” he added.
A double gold medalist in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games, Knott earned a universality place in the Tokyo Olympics through actively competing in World Athletics qualifying competitions.
Her European outdoor campaign ended on a sour note when she contracted COVID-19 despite being fully vaccinated, forcing her to beg off the day she was set to see action the Karlstad Grand Prix in Sweden last June 22.
Since then, however, Knott has been upbeat and is eagerly looking forward to her Olympic stint, according to the coach.
