Coach of Australian Olympian Peter Bol, Justin Rinaldi, believes all of the credit should go to Bol for “giving it a red hot go”, despite admitting the race didn't go to plan.
Bol was scintillating in both his heat and semifinal runs before finishing a respectable fourth in last night's final.
The 27-year-old did all the heavy lifting and led the race from the 300-metre mark before getting overtaken in the last 200 metres.
“At the moment we’re still a bit flat because that gold medal was so close,” Rinaldi told SEN Breakfast.
“We thought there would be no natural leader and that we might have to take the pace of it, it slowed up at 300 (metres).
“The way Peter ran was exactly how I told him to. The race plan didn’t work, so I guess I’m to blame for that, but all credit to Pete for sticking to the plan and giving it a red hot go.
“I thought about the race plan for about three days so I have no idea how I’d plan it any differently, to be honest.
“I spoke to him after the race and he was very disappointed. It’s going to take a while to get over coming (fourth) I think.”
Rinaldi is positive that Bol has always had the fitness and the ability to compete at the highest level, but it wasn’t until he started to believe in himself that the results came.
“Yeah, I think he’s at 95% (capacity of the athlete he can be),” Rinaldi said.
“In terms of fitness, I think he’s been at this fitness for the past four years. But, it’s not until you start believing in yourself that the performances start coming.
“In the last six to twelve months is when he’s really started believing in himself and that’s why he’s seeing improved performance.
“I think he’ll be a consistent top eight (runner) and every time you make that final you give yourself a chance at winning so that’s what our goal is, to make that top eight.”
Much has been made of the speed of the track at the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo with several records tumbling this week. Rinaldi believes that it boils down to a few different factors and not just the surface.
“The track is fast, but I think the stadium is what makes it," Rinaldi said.
"It’s really enclosed, there’s no wind and it’s quite warm conditions, so it makes it easy to warm up.
“So I think it’s a number of factors and not just the track or the shoes. I think once you combine all these factors that’s why we’re seeing good results.”
Fourth in the 800m final.
— SEN 1116 (@1116sen) August 4, 2021
Peter Bol, we couldn’t be prouder. 🇦🇺 🇦🇺#Tokyo2020 #Athleticspic.twitter.com/xEwGBOhhsn
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