Tosin Ogunode is hoping to break out of his brother Femi’s shadow and carve out his own identity at the Asian Games when the athletics programme begins on August 25.
The 24-year-old sprinter is part of the Qatari squad which boasts stars like 400m flat ace Abdalelah Haroun and 400m hurdler Abderrahman Samba, but there’s no doubting the fact that it’s his injured big brother’s big boots that he is hoping to fill.
By all accounts, it is a huge task.
Femi had ruled the sprints at the 2010 and 2014 Asian Games in Guangzhou and Incheon, respectively, winning the 100 and 200m gold on both occasions. He also holds the Asian Games record of 9.93 seconds in the 100m and shares the Asian record of 9.91 seconds over the distance with Chinese star Su Bingtian.
Tosin, on the other hand, is a relative newbie who is the antithesis of the flamboyant Femi who famously declared after his Incheon exploits that he was ready to challenge Usain Bolt.
“I know I carry the Ogunode name. I know the expectations that come with it but I will try to do my best and live up to that name,” Tosin told Gulf Times after a training session under veteran Qatar-based coach Yanko Bratanov.
The soft-spoken Tosin, in fact, was hesitant when approached for a chat, saying he doesn’t have much to say, eventually agreeing only after coach Bratanov gave him the permission.
“Femi just told me to try hard and give my best. That’s the best advice a brother can give,” Tosin said.
Tosin, who will be running both the 100m and 200m, however, knows that he has a mountain to climb.
For starters, this will be his first competition in more than a year – in fact, he himself struggled to name the last event he took part in.
Also, a couple of Chinese and Japanese runners have gone under 10 seconds in recent meets.
“I had some injury problems after my last meet which meant that I couldn’t take part in any competition. However, I am fine now and hoping to make a mark,” he said.
If Tosin sounds somewhat hopeful it’s due to the fact that he has done a couple of sub-10-second 100m in practice.
“I’ve never gone under 10 seconds in competitions but I have done that while training. That gives me hope and confidence. You cannot hope to win the gold at the Asian Games if you can’t do the 100 metres under 10 seconds.”
A few members of the Qatar athletics team trained in the evening yesterday, among them Samba himself.
Samba, who overshadowed world 400m hurdles champion Karsten Warholm during the current Diamond League season, did some sprints and jumps yesterday, and looked in excellent shape.
Fellow 400m hurdler Hamdi al-Amin, another 400m hurdles medal contender, also trained with Samba, who clocked 46.98 seconds in Paris a few weeks ago.
It was the second-fastest 400m hurdles ever in history, and in the process, he became only the second man to break the 47-second barrier.
The first man to do that is Kevin Young, who of course holds the world record of 46.78 clocked at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
Samba, just 22, looks like the man to beat it.