I Could Have Challenged Usain Bolt But Didn't Race Enough: Yohan Blake
Yohan Blake admitted Usain Bolt was a superman but their common coach Glen Mills in Jamaica was probably overprotective about the fastest man on earth. Blake, who was the youngest to win the world 100m championship in Daegu, South Korea in 2011, said Bolt retired at the right time and Tokyo Olympics in 2020 will not miss him. Silver medalist in the 2012 London Games, Blake, 29, said he was keen to end his career with a dream 100m Olympic gold at Tokyo. He is keen to pursue a career in franchise cricket and open an academy in India for sprinters. Here's an exclusive interview with the Jamaican, the second fastest man on earth right now.
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Transcript
00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:03 The youngest world sprint champion, 2011,
00:10 Yohan Blake, welcome to India, Yohan.
00:13 And did you see the roads of India?
00:17 You were in Mumbai for a couple of days.
00:19 What do you think of the roads of Mumbai?
00:21 First and foremost, I just want to say thanks for having me.
00:26 It's a pleasure for me to be here for a worthy cause.
00:29 It takes some time out of my training
00:31 to be here because what I come for is not an easy one.
00:36 And as you said before, the road of India is crazy.
00:40 And for me to come on board with this World Series,
00:44 this Sports World Series, it's a blessing.
00:48 Yes, in fact, you'll be startled to know
00:51 that India has one of the highest road accident
00:54 rates in the world for such a big country.
00:57 And Mumbai is the business capital of India.
01:00 Do you think there's something wrong
01:02 with the system of India?
01:05 Basin, before I came to India, I watched a lot of IPL cricket.
01:10 And when they take a tour into the city,
01:14 and all the city is jam-packed with bike, with cars,
01:18 and everybody going different directions,
01:21 I'm saying this is crazy.
01:22 This is madness.
01:24 And when I hear about this World Series tackling traffic,
01:32 I said this is a good cause.
01:33 I jump on board with it and say I have to do this
01:35 because a lot of kids, a lot of people
01:38 are losing their life every minute.
01:40 Yeah, but as you rightly said, that when
01:42 you see the minutes of when you see an IPL match,
01:44 they show clippings of a city.
01:47 And there are millions of people driving around,
01:50 trying to throng the stadiums.
01:52 How would you compare that to an Olympic event?
01:55 Maybe you've done your first Olympics in London 2012.
01:58 And then you see IPL on television.
02:01 And today you've seen the Mumbai roads.
02:03 So what's the first thing that comes to your mind?
02:06 You said that this is crazy.
02:09 London was my first Olympics, yes.
02:11 And it was jam-packed.
02:14 But India is on a different level.
02:16 You're talking about the Olympics, the greatest
02:18 you've ever heard.
02:19 But with so much people in India,
02:21 and when the IPL is coming on, when everybody's
02:24 rushing to the stadium, you can't see the roads.
02:28 When the players video, traffic is crazy.
02:32 You cannot see the road.
02:33 You're seeing bikes, seeing cars.
02:35 And I'm saying as a government, as a country,
02:37 you have to take a stand.
02:39 And also, not only the traffic, we have another big problem.
02:42 That's pollution.
02:44 Oh, yes.
02:44 And also the pollution is crazy.
02:47 Because even the other day I was watching cricket.
02:49 West Indies versus Bangladesh.
02:52 And I could see they're in mass and everything.
02:54 So it was crazy.
02:55 And you have to tackle that as well.
02:58 Because that alone, the fuels, I can't even go outside
03:01 and train.
03:02 In Delhi, we have one of the world's biggest marathons,
03:04 called the Delhi Marathon.
03:06 And a lot of Indian athletes come and compete.
03:09 Would you ever run 100 meters in India?
03:12 I would love to run 100 meters in India,
03:14 to record the fastest time on soil in India.
03:19 So that's something.
03:20 That's a good idea.
03:21 That's something I'm looking forward to.
03:23 Instead of maybe doing a world series T20,
03:26 if Usain Bolt and maybe Johan Blake
03:29 ran an exhibition 100 meters, you could perhaps
03:32 draw a larger crowd.
03:35 That's an interesting one.
03:36 Because cricket is the number one sport in India.
03:39 And I love cricket.
03:42 It's my first love.
03:43 I love to play in the World Series as well.
03:46 And I also would do--
03:48 I would do both.
03:49 I would do both.
03:50 Yes, because India is not an athletics country.
03:54 India is a cricket country.
03:55 And maybe you link better with cricket.
03:58 The fact that when you play a master series with somebody
04:02 such as Lara Sehwag, it's amazing.
04:05 Just can't think about it.
04:06 And we like to tell our viewers that Johan started
04:10 his life as a fast bowler.
04:12 And maybe when you end your athletics career,
04:15 you want to become a fast bowler and play for the West Indies?
04:19 No, I'd rather play for Bangalore.
04:22 You mean RCB?
04:23 RCB, yeah.
04:25 But of course, after track and field,
04:28 definitely I'm going to take up cricket.
04:31 That's my first love.
04:33 And anything to come to India and to help.
04:36 And there's a lot of athletes here
04:39 that want me to come to India for a very long time.
04:42 Everybody trying to meet up with me right now, which is hard.
04:45 Because I'm here on business.
04:47 So we can plan that for the future, of course.
04:50 Yes, because India don't have good sprint athletes.
04:53 We have middle distance runners.
04:55 Do you think that's one of the areas
04:56 that we need to develop to become a nation with some quality
05:00 athletics?
05:03 India, with so much people, with so much talent.
05:07 And I think if you guys get the proper coach, the proper people
05:11 to come in and talk to the kids and encourage them,
05:14 show them a different side of the world,
05:16 show them a different side of sprinting,
05:18 show them a different love for the sports,
05:20 I definitely, with so much people,
05:22 there have to be more than one talent you can find.
05:25 You're just 29.
05:27 Your birthday is coming up, December 26.
05:31 And London was your first Olympics.
05:35 You won the silver behind Hussain.
05:38 You also won the silver behind Hussain.
05:40 The 200 meters, you won the relay gold.
05:45 And Tokyo is obviously your next destination.
05:50 Looking at your performance after 2012,
05:53 I would be more specific.
05:55 Looking at the World Championship,
05:57 how are you prepared for Tokyo?
06:01 Well, in life, there's a lot of ups and downs,
06:03 in which injuries get the best of me after 2012.
06:06 But I think I'm running back into shape.
06:09 I think I'm right where I want to be.
06:12 And also, right now, it's been a month and two weeks
06:15 now I start preparation for the Tokyo 2020.
06:19 And it's going according to plan.
06:21 With my new training coach, Gregory Little,
06:23 I think he understands my body.
06:25 And I think we're in the right direction.
06:28 So preparation is in place.
06:30 As I said before, I take some time out of my busy schedule
06:36 to come here and just to promote this World Series.
06:39 And Hussain once called you the beast, the kind of work ethics
06:44 you have, the kind of training that you do.
06:47 Many of your photographs have that beast-like posture.
06:51 And can we see the beast winning the gold medal in Tokyo?
06:55 Definitely.
06:56 That's the aim for me.
06:58 I got that name because I fought vigorously.
07:01 I trained.
07:02 I would call it passive aggressive, gently,
07:05 but very dangerous when I'm training.
07:07 So I'm looking forward for the Tokyo.
07:11 And definitely, I can see not the beast,
07:13 but something greater than the beast in Tokyo.
07:16 There's a lot of talk about this US sprinter called
07:19 Christian Coleman.
07:20 He won the gold medal in Doha.
07:23 And he did it pretty easily.
07:25 And do you think he's a formidable opponent?
07:30 Taking nothing away from him, I think
07:31 he's a really good sprinter, one for the future.
07:34 Remember back in my days, which I am still
07:36 the youngest world champion, 100-meter world champion.
07:39 And he's a very exciting one.
07:41 I'm always looking forward to compete against him.
07:44 And it's going to be interesting in Tokyo.
07:46 Just some more pressure, and you can crack.
07:49 So I'm not worried.
07:51 Age is definitely not a factor when you have a Gatling
07:53 running at 37 and winning a silver medal.
07:57 Is age a factor?
07:58 I would say age is not a factor.
08:00 It's how well you take care of your body,
08:02 and it's how well you put yourself in training,
08:05 and training is smart.
08:07 And if you say age is not a factor,
08:09 then do you think it was the right time for a ball to go?
08:12 It wasn't the right time for him to go,
08:18 but he has done everything.
08:23 That's what he said.
08:24 He has done everything, and he has won everything.
08:26 So what's the sense?
08:28 And Chuck Anfield is very unforgiving.
08:31 As you see his last race, he didn't do so well.
08:33 So it was the right time.
08:36 Do you think so?
08:37 Yeah.
08:37 Because whenever we talk about superman athletes,
08:40 like Bolt, like Muhammad Ali, Muhammad Ali made comebacks.
08:45 He did well in his comebacks.
08:46 He lost, of course.
08:47 That's true.
08:48 Do you ever see Bolt make a comeback?
08:50 No.
08:53 Mom, boxing is a rhythm.
08:54 Chuck Anfield, you have to be training constantly
08:57 to get your form, to get your rhythm.
08:59 No injuries.
09:01 You have to be careful of your body posture.
09:03 It's very different.
09:05 It's one of the hardest sports in the world.
09:07 100 meters and 200 meters.
09:09 100 meter and 200 meter.
09:11 If you compare a Brian Lara 400,
09:14 batting for how much days, and a sprinter that's
09:17 training for four years nonstop to break 10 seconds,
09:25 running 9.58 is not easy.
09:29 Yes, true.
09:30 For example, Bolt did this quite repeatedly.
09:33 Even you did it, sub 10.
09:36 I think there have been events in a world championship
09:39 when four runners have run under 10.
09:41 And yet, you did not win a medal running under 10.
09:45 So running under 10, how would you kind of think running
09:50 under 10 and this man called Yulid Kipchoge,
09:53 he ran the marathon under 12, two hours.
09:56 Don't you think these are superhuman?
09:58 You need superhuman efforts to do this.
10:02 Well, what he did and run under two meters, that's different.
10:07 Two hours.
10:08 Two hours.
10:09 And playing with the people, I think you can go faster.
10:13 And some athlete is born superhuman.
10:18 You're right about that.
10:19 You're right.
10:21 Yeah, I mean, looking at Bolt, you trained with Bolt.
10:25 What was so special about him?
10:26 I mean, he was quite inspirational.
10:29 We have read interviews about him speaking about you.
10:31 He was quite inspirational.
10:33 But do you think when he was running on the track,
10:35 you were an opponent, right?
10:37 I think we didn't race as much.
10:40 We trained a lot, but we didn't race as much.
10:42 I think the coach didn't make us race a lot.
10:45 And he's different.
10:48 He's tall.
10:49 When he's taking one strike-- when he's taking two strikes,
10:52 he's taking one.
10:53 He's just a different athlete.
10:55 It was just his time and his movement.
10:58 What about his psyche?
11:00 I mean, what is it that made him Thunderbolt?
11:04 And you a beast?
11:06 I guess his mindset is different from everybody else.
11:10 He always believe in nothing can break him.
11:14 And I know I could have break him.
11:16 It's just because different training--
11:21 different trainings mix up.
11:23 But it's a long story.
11:26 Yeah, but you're not saying everything about it.
11:28 Do you regret not competing with Bolt as many times
11:32 you have wanted?
11:32 Because you were beating him in 100 and 200.
11:34 I do regret.
11:35 I do regret.
11:36 And it's not my fault. I think it's my ex-coach fault.
11:40 That we didn't race as much.
11:42 But that's behind us.
11:43 So I'll just look into the future.
11:45 Yeah, but this change of coach-- a lot of athletes do it.
11:48 A lot of cricketers do it.
11:49 A lot of individual athletes do it.
11:52 How would you define the role of a coach?
11:55 To be there every time to check on you,
11:58 to see how you're doing, make sure that you're eating right,
12:01 make sure that everything is going according to plan.
12:03 Yes, we're our own person.
12:05 But I think the coach should check in and make sure
12:07 that everything and our social life is going according
12:10 to plan.
12:11 Because it's not what you do on the track,
12:13 it's what you do off the track.
12:14 It's also affecting your performance
12:16 when it comes to the track.
12:18 Johan, I mean, you said about Bolt
12:20 that a lot of people forget that you were the youngest 100 meter
12:24 champion.
12:25 A lot of people like us who really don't get
12:28 to see so much of Johan Blake, we
12:30 thought that Blake always lived in the shadows of Bolt.
12:33 I think 2011, when I won the world championship,
12:37 changed all of that.
12:38 Also when I won in 1926, and also when I won in 1969,
12:42 changed all of that.
12:44 Because when you're living in a era of we're
12:49 dominated by the guy, Bolt, it's different.
12:56 And to step out of that shadow, to be the man,
12:58 it's not easy.
12:59 Because when the world is penetrating on one person.
13:02 But I think I did step away, creating my own self
13:06 with all of those times.
13:08 Do you think Tokyo is the time when people will say,
13:10 this is the man we really saw?
13:12 That this is the man that he could have beaten Bolt?
13:16 There's pressure on you on winning the gold at Tokyo.
13:19 Let me put it this way.
13:20 Yeah, definitely.
13:21 Winning an Olympic, winning a world championship
13:24 is not so much as winning an Olympic medal, an Olympic gold.
13:27 That's everybody's dream.
13:29 And to wait every four years.
13:32 You don't know what's going to happen in year one, year two,
13:34 or year three.
13:35 But to wait four years for that event, and to win that gold,
13:38 is magical.
13:38 And that's what everybody's aiming for.
13:40 And that's what I'm going for.
13:41 Is that your ultimate dream?
13:43 That's my ultimate dream.
13:44 What happens if you win the gold in Tokyo?
13:46 Do you call it quits?
13:47 Or you want to--
13:48 Well, even if I don't win the gold,
13:50 and that's going to be my last Olympics,
13:53 I'm venturing off in my cricket.
13:56 Oh, that's nice.
13:57 Because Bolt wanted to play football.
13:59 He was not successful.
14:00 That's fine.
14:00 But I know I'm very good at what I do in cricket.
14:04 And I'm looking forward to it.
14:06 West Indies needs bowlers like you.
14:09 Yeah, definitely.
14:10 But I'm not going to play for the West Indies.
14:12 I'm going to play franchise cricket.
14:14 Franchise cricket.
14:14 But are you sad the way West Indies cricket has gone?
14:19 Definitely.
14:19 Definitely we're sad because of bad management.
14:22 But I think we're somewhere looking forward
14:24 to what's coming to the forefront.
14:27 Because we changed all of that management.
14:29 And we're in India now, going to see
14:31 how we match up against that wonderful era of cricket
14:34 in India.
14:36 You mentioned about London 12, which was your first Olympics.
14:38 The stadiums were packed.
14:40 I was myself present there covering the event.
14:43 Of course, we were following the Indian contingent, not so much
14:45 about Bolt and Johan Bleck.
14:47 But what will be Tokyo minus Bolt?
14:54 Minus, I think people are looking
14:56 for the next exciting talent, the next exciting person.
15:01 You have someone who relies, as you said, Chris Coleman.
15:05 You have Fred Curley.
15:07 You have Michael Newman.
15:09 You have good athletes coming up.
15:10 And just take Bolt out of the equation.
15:16 There's still athletes out there.
15:17 And also, there's this 400-meter runner from India as well.
15:23 She is doing very well.
15:25 Do you have any idea about Indian athletes?
15:27 Yeah, I do.
15:28 I have great friends with them.
15:30 I was with them in Doha.
15:32 They have a wonderful 4x4 team as well.
15:35 And they have a wonderful team.
15:38 Many guys get along really well.
15:39 The women are actually better than the men.
15:42 Well, the men, I mean, are coming forward.
15:45 As I said, the men have a good 4x4 team.
15:47 And I think they are qualified for the Olympics.
15:50 If you were supposed to pick three big competitors for Tokyo,
15:54 who would they be?
15:57 I would say Noah Lyons, definitely Chris Coleman,
16:04 Akane Sambini.
16:07 And this grass, the Canadian?
16:09 Yeah, yeah, I guess I'd pick three.
16:11 That's four.
16:11 And the grass.
16:13 So Coleman, yes.
16:14 Yeah, Coleman, Noah Lyons, Akane Sambini, and the grass.
16:17 Yeah.
16:19 Tokyo Olympics will be different from other Olympics.
16:21 We thought that there's something
16:23 called gender equality.
16:26 50% will be the maximum times women--
16:29 medal events for women will be the highest.
16:31 Do you think that's a fair decision?
16:33 I don't think that's a fair decision.
16:34 That's a stupid decision by the IAF and the government
16:39 in Bali.
16:40 Because I was born--
16:43 yes?
16:44 Because I was born with more estrogen.
16:48 That means you must stop me from competing.
16:51 And I feel very much for the female runners.
16:55 And that's the way they were born.
16:57 That's how God made them.
17:00 Yeah, but the thing is, it's not just the World Athletics.
17:03 It is the IOC which endorses it.
17:06 And since Moscow, the last 40 years, the number of events
17:10 for women have only gone up.
17:12 Now there will be more than the men.
17:14 So in a way, do you think that's not a right balance, right?
17:18 No, I think it's right.
17:22 The men are always treated fairly.
17:23 But I think the women, they have been under looked.
17:25 And I think it's time now for them to push them forward.
17:28 But not this way?
17:29 But not that way.
17:30 Because they have added events in boxing, canoeing.
17:34 So these are events which are not really in the spotlight.
17:37 They are, of course.
17:39 You guys always take away the spotlight, the sprinters.
17:43 But it's all about that extra edge.
17:47 That when I, in 1996, I saw Michael Johnson.
17:51 And then earlier when we saw Carl Lewis on television.
17:54 And then we saw Blake--
18:00 and not Blake, but Bolt in London.
18:02 We thought, oh, that's it.
18:04 That's it.
18:05 There can't be any more.
18:06 But as you said, the world always
18:09 looks for the next Superman.
18:10 Yeah, I believe in every year and every generation,
18:15 there are going to be people who are faster.
18:18 Remember the thing that no one could do in '96 or '95.
18:21 And look, it's happening now.
18:22 And as technology go along, and as people evolve,
18:26 it's going to get faster.
18:27 I believe so.
18:28 So it's going to get faster?
18:30 Yeah, it's going to get faster.
18:31 And I believe if China--
18:33 if the Chinese are producing great sprinters that
18:35 is running nine, I believe Indian can do that as well.
18:40 Oh, that's a good observation.
18:41 Yeah, because you're talking about genetics.
18:44 And I believe the genetics of an Indian
18:45 is different from the genetics of an Asian runner of Chinese.
18:50 And if you see the scientific behind that,
18:53 they are greater faster too.
18:54 Maybe our genetics are more tuned to cricket.
18:58 Probably, but you have a much billion people.
19:00 Of course you can't find a big sprinter.
19:02 We spoke about an Olympics minus Bolt.
19:06 Can you imagine an Olympics minus Russia?
19:14 That's an interesting topic.
19:17 But they always produce good runners.
19:20 And it's going to be--
19:23 they're fighting for it.
19:24 So hopefully it'll come true.
19:27 Do you think that--
19:29 you handle doping.
19:31 Three months, you'd sub the man.
19:34 And it seems from outside that athletics is all about cheating.
19:39 You agree?
19:41 I don't think it's all about cheating.
19:43 It's the way-- everybody wants to be on the top.
19:46 And training is--
19:50 training is one of the hardest training in the world.
19:52 To put your body, your mind, through all of that.
19:55 And some people can't handle it.
19:56 And they use different type of heavy steroids to do that.
20:01 Yeah, but why don't you think the role of the coach
20:04 is very important here?
20:05 I mean, what to administer.
20:07 Do you think you really need those additional stuff
20:09 to make your performance better?
20:12 Don't need no additional stuff.
20:13 You just need the right stuff that is not illegal,
20:17 and that is legal, and that can help you.
20:20 Food alone cannot carry the body.
20:22 Water, Gatorade alone cannot carry the body.
20:26 What we break down, 500,000 calories per day
20:30 to come back less than 24 hours to train and do it again,
20:34 it's not easy.
20:35 That's why some people take drugs.
20:37 Yeah, but when you were kind of found
20:40 that you had taken something, the drug you took
20:43 was not on the list of water.
20:46 And it was found also your band was just about three months.
20:49 But yet they took you off the relay team,
20:51 the world championship.
20:52 Yeah, they took me off the relay team.
20:53 It was a bit of chaos and madness,
20:55 because what I was taking is just a regular plant-based
20:58 supplement.
20:59 And well, they apologized to me for that,
21:01 which damaged a little bit of my career.
21:03 But it was just messed up.
21:07 It was just crazy.
21:08 I wasn't taking anything, because I was naturally
21:11 fast from high school, if you watch me coming up.
21:14 Yes, not only you.
21:15 Even bold, for example, seemed to be pretty clean.
21:17 Yeah, definitely.
21:20 As I say, genetics is just taking care of the body
21:24 and taking the right stuff.
21:26 That is not illegal.
21:28 And that means they take some stuff, right?
21:30 Yeah, they take natural supplement.
21:32 That is not illegal.
21:34 And why is it that the Indians don't know how to do this?
21:39 Yeah.
21:40 We have a national doping agency.
21:43 That's why you need--
21:45 as you say, you need a proper coach.
21:46 You need a proper nutrition who can say, OK, this
21:49 is what your body maximizes per day.
21:51 This is what you need.
21:52 And that's why I'm going to keep--
21:54 what's my plan in India is I'm going
21:56 to come every--
21:58 almost every summer before and have a summer camp building
22:03 with some of the Indian athletes.
22:05 OK, so did you have any talks with anyone?
22:07 Not yet.
22:08 But you wish to do it?
22:09 It's part of my mission.
22:10 I wish to do it.
22:11 Oh, so we can see Johan Blake as an Indian coach someday?
22:16 Yeah, I would love to come here and develop athletics
22:19 in India because they have a great potential for that.
22:23 And there's so much people in India.
22:27 But you need to really pinpoint on those particular people who
22:29 can run fast, which they are.
22:31 They are people.
22:32 There are a lot of people.
22:33 And India is very big.
22:35 And we are going now throughout India to do that.
22:37 Johan, what do you think of WADA's role in this doping?
22:40 Because doping has really become a worldwide issue.
22:44 And a lot of people think that there's a lot of politics in it
22:47 because the British want to underplay US.
22:51 US wants to underplay Russia.
22:53 Do you think it's a big mess and there's a lot of politics
22:56 behind doping?
22:58 Everything you're doing is a lot of politics.
22:59 Of course, there's a lot of politics.
23:01 People is covering up for people.
23:04 And what I see going on even in London and with WADA
23:09 and even in the US with what happened with Chris--
23:13 Yes.
23:13 Yeah, they are saying it is madness.
23:16 You know, they look up for their athlete.
23:19 Let's say that.
23:20 And you mentioned cover up, right?
23:23 It's obviously anything to do with cover
23:25 has to be politically natured.
23:26 Exactly.
23:27 They don't want their country to look bad.
23:29 And so they try everything to cover that up.
23:32 If you were heading the IOC, how would you
23:35 let Russia participate in the Olympics?
23:39 I would fire everyone.
23:41 And I would fire everybody on the board and start fresh.
23:46 They have already fired.
23:47 And start with the athlete that--
23:51 well, they said the good have to suffer for the bad.
23:53 But we have to give some--
23:56 I'll give them an extra chance.
23:58 Yes, because there are many athletes who are clean.
24:00 Suffering.
24:00 Many athletes that is coming up that are suffering.
24:03 Yeah, because that means you agree that you cannot have
24:05 an Olympics minus Russia.
24:07 Yeah, you have to include Russia.
24:11 They are very good in a lot of things.
24:14 There's a feeling in the media that WADA is like the mafia.
24:18 Whomever they want, they can get them out.
24:20 And India is suffering because of WADA.
24:22 Yeah, I heard a talk before.
24:25 And I try to stay away from it because I don't really
24:29 want to have nothing with WADA.
24:30 I just try to stay away from it.
24:32 Right.
24:32 Yeah, I think you can stay away as long
24:34 as you're clean and training hard.
24:35 You have nothing to do with WADA.
24:37 I get tested almost every minute.
24:39 You mentioned about Christian.
24:41 Christian also is in controversial circumstances
24:44 because he missed a couple of testing.
24:46 And for a boy who's just 23, do you
24:50 think he's a great example for future athletes?
24:53 Yeah, and as I say, I think the sport is dying a little
24:57 because of the doping scandals.
24:59 And if the sponsors, it's really backing out.
25:02 And for that, for Christopher Coleman,
25:05 it was the leading time in the world.
25:08 And for him to come and compete, everybody
25:11 look at it as a big cover up.
25:14 You mentioned a very great thing,
25:16 that the sponsors are backing up, backing out.
25:19 The sponsors are backing out.
25:20 Then the sport itself is taking a hit.
25:23 People say, oh, there's so much cheating.
25:25 It's something we saw in IPL.
25:28 If you know, there was a lot of scandal
25:29 with match fixing and betting.
25:32 And athletics are also going through a similar phase.
25:34 And you mentioned about the role of the coaches.
25:36 Like, for example, Salazar.
25:39 Salazar had that Nike program.
25:40 And it has also come under a lot of spotlight,
25:44 and especially after Mo Farah split.
25:48 I just say, that's what I'm telling you.
25:50 Everything that's in the dark always comes to light.
25:52 And I think there's a lot more going to come out.
25:55 And it's just a matter of time.
25:57 And I see a lot of match fixing going on as well,
26:00 with Suresh Nath, and just coming back.
26:03 And so it's crazy.
26:07 You said something interesting.
26:08 You said a lot more is going to come out.
26:09 I think there's a lot.
26:12 Everything is taking its time coming out.
26:15 And I believe in the near future,
26:17 there's a lot more to come out.
26:20 So we'll just give it time.
26:21 Oh, the police will be hearing you.
26:23 And they'll ask you, what is it that you know that's
26:25 a lot more going to come out?
26:26 But jokes apart, I'm saying that athletics--
26:29 why is it that always the sprinters are under?
26:31 It started with Ben Johnson when you started.
26:34 And then, of course, there were other sprinters.
26:36 Of course, now the latest is Christian Colman.
26:38 I don't know.
26:40 It's just they want to get faster and be more explosive,
26:43 and just take less time to break nine seconds.
26:49 They want to break that world record,
26:50 so they will try everything to do that.
26:52 So the next level is nine seconds?
26:55 I think so.
26:55 To break the 9.58 barrier.
26:59 Did you ever feel pressured by your sponsors?
27:02 Yeah.
27:03 That you have to do this.
27:04 You must achieve this.
27:05 Otherwise, I will not be able to sell my product.
27:08 You always have to be in the limelight.
27:09 You always have to be in the spotlight.
27:11 You have to match up to what they give you
27:13 to run for the season.
27:15 If they want 10, 100 meters, you have to run those 10, 100 meters.
27:19 And you have to be in the top five in the world,
27:22 finishing for the year.
27:23 So there's always pressure.
27:25 It's not easy running for the sponsor
27:27 when they want certain things and their brand
27:29 to be highlighted.
27:30 You mentioned about always wanting to be on the spotlight.
27:33 A glaring example is perhaps Tiger Woods,
27:37 for whatever reason.
27:39 But his sponsors backed out.
27:40 But look at this man's ability to come back.
27:43 See, that's what I look at.
27:44 And I say, if Tiger Woods can make that come back.
27:46 And many times I'm feeling down.
27:49 I say, look at Tiger Woods winning the Masters.
27:52 I think he win the US Open again.
27:53 And everybody wants to be on Tiger Woods' team again.
27:58 So it's just the ability to come back.
28:00 Can I ask you whether he is one of your heroes?
28:03 Somebody you would like to emulate?
28:05 No, not really, no.
28:07 Michael Jackson.
28:09 Michael Jackson?
28:10 Why?
28:11 In the world, I want to make a change in the world,
28:13 just like I want to make a change in India.
28:16 OK.
28:16 And thanks for speaking to Outlook.
28:18 You've come on a big mission, which
28:20 is the road safety of India.
28:22 And it would be wonderful to have you back in India again
28:26 as an athletics coach.
28:28 Can we say, can we make a headline
28:30 that Yuan Blake wants to coach Indian athletes?
28:32 Definitely.
28:32 You can make that headline, me and Laura Pearson.
28:36 Thank you, Yuan.
28:37 Thank you very much.
28:38 Pleasure having you.
28:39 All the time.
28:39 Thank you.
28:41 (upbeat music)
28:44 (upbeat music)