Gift Leotlela back in SA to prepare for Eugene Diamond League with Coach T

Leotlela enjoyed a strong start to his international season in China, winning the Shanghai Diamond League race in an impressive 9.97 seconds. 

He finished ahead of African record holder Ferdinand Omanyala and two-time Olympic silver medallist Kenneth Bednarek of USA.

Despite the encouraging results, his coach Thabo Matebedi, popularly known as Coach T, believes there are still areas that need improvement before the American meeting.

"Yes, I am happy with the first race in Shanghai but the second one there were a lot of mistakes that he made. The key has to be consistently running sub 10s. It was not such a bad race but my expectations were 9,95 or maybe 9,94,” Matebedi said.

“In terms of his execution in that part of the race, it was not so good, the only part that was good was his top end speed, that was perfect but the rest of the race was a little bit shaky. So, I hope the next Diamond League he's going to be part of, we can fix that."

The reigning African Athletics Coach of the Year told SABC Sport that Leotlela is now back in South Africa and the pair have already had detailed discussions about his performances in China and what needs to be done before his next Diamond League appearance.

Matebedi says the focus over the coming weeks will be on addressing the weaknesses identified during the two races and ensuring Leotlela is in top shape for Eugene.

"Yes, he is back in the country, I had a one on one with him on Tuesday. He's training tomorrow morning also, we did speak about it, he did come up with a plan. So, we have a full five, four weeks before he races again. So, we have a full month to rectify it,” he added.