Interview with Sportsman of the Year Dylan Sicobo |23 January 2018

‘My dream is to break the 10-second barrier in the 100 metres’

Seychelles’ fastest man on track, Dylan Sicobo, wants to become the first Seychellois to run under 10 seconds. But before that he has set himself the target of running the 100 metres in 10.19 seconds this year.

After picking up his maiden Sportsman of the Year trophy from the hands of President Danny Faure during Friday night’s annual crowning ceremony at the Berjaya Beau Vallon Bay resort, Sicobo flew to Mauritius on Sunday to join fellow sprinters at the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) High Performance Centre in Réduit.

The year 2017 was a really good one for Sicobo as he was able to project himself to a bigger local audience by making the Seychelles 100m record his and also making himself known in the Indian Ocean region, on the African continent and among member countries of the Francophone world.

In fact, 20-year-old Sicobo started the season with a personal best of 10.53 seconds and he later lowered Cyril Brioche’s 30-year-old 10.51 seconds record with a performance of 10.49 seconds in a competition in Mauritius.

The 20-year-old again improved his record to 10.38 seconds and at the Jeux de la Francophonie he pulverised his own 100m Seychelles record with a time of 10.33 seconds in the semifinal and matched the time in the final to reach the finish line first to clinch the gold medal ahead of Ivorian athlete Arthur Cissé Gué who ran in 10.34 seconds.

Days later, he joined forces with Sharry Dodin, Ned Azemia and Leeroy Henriette to win the 4x100m relay bronze medal in a new Seychelles record of 40.31 seconds.

Sports NATION spoke to the sprinter before his departure and we bring you the complete interview.

Sports NATION: Were you expecting to win the Sportsman of the Year title?

Dylan Sicobo: I was. Or should I say I was 80% sure I could win it. This is the most prestigious award I have won so far. It is the first time I am chosen as best male athlete to feature in the sports awards of the year crowning ceremony and to win the Sportsman of the Year title on my first appearance is the cherry on the cake.

Sports NATION: What can we expect of you this season?

Dylan Sicobo: I have lining up three important competitions ‒ the World Indoor Championship in Birmingham (March 1-4), the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia (April 4-15) and the African Athletics Championship in Lagos, Nigeria (August 1-5). My aim is to use these competitions to continue improving the Seychelles’ 100m record. It will be tough to win medals but I’ll be happy if I make the finals of these competitions to improve my world ranking.

Sports NATION:Now that you are Sportsman of the Year and Jeux de la Francophonie 100m gold medallist, Seychellois sports fans expect you to win more medals this year and in the coming years…

Dylan Sicobo: I know and understand them. It’s quite tough to challenge the best, but I will give it my best shot.

Sports NATION:Since you want to improve the Seychelles 100m record, what is the time we expect of you this year?

Dylan Sicobo: My aim is to run the 100 metres in 10.19 seconds this year. It’s going to be hard worksince my personal best and Seychelles record stands at 10.33 seconds. But I know I can do it. I will also be looking to make the Seychelles 200m record mine.

Sports NATION: So your target for 100m is 10.19 seconds. What about the 200m?

Dylan Sicobo: I would like to do 20.95 seconds early in the season, but I should be running the distance in 20.80 seconds by the end of the season.

It’s going to be tough but I am confident in my abilities. On top of the three main competitions lined up for this year, I will also be travelling to France with other sprinters from the IAAF High Performance Centre. In France, we get to compete in a number of meetings and there are some good sprinters there and I use their presence on track to push myself even further.

(Editor’s Note: Leeroy Henriette holds the Seychelles 200m record of 21.10 seconds set in Botswana on June 1, 2013.)

Sports NATION:What is a typical day of training like?

Dylan Sicobo: I live in Quatre Bornes and every day I wake up at 6.30am and travel to Réduit to train at the Stade Maryse Justin. Training starts at 8am and we finish at 10.30am. I train twice a day on Mondays and Fridays. On these two days I do gym work in the morning and track training in the afternoon. On the other days, I train in the morning and rest in the afternoon. On Monday, I concentrate a lot on strength training in the gym. On the other days, I do endurance training. Speed training is reserved for Saturday.

Sports NATION: You spent almost four months here after your last competition which was the World Outdoor Championship. What have you been doing since?

Dylan Sicobo: I rested for two-and-a-half months after I picked up an injury at theWorld Outdoor Championship. After that I resumed training and followed the training programme my coach, Mauritian Stephen Buckland gave me. My first coach Anna Barra helped me during this time as she volunteered to take the timing of my runs during the training sessions.

Sports NATION: It’s been one-and-a-half years since you joined the IAAF Performance Centre in Mauritius. What is it you think that made the difference to make you become the sprinter you are?

Dylan Sicobo: It’s the strength training. I have to lift heavier weights at the centre compared to when I was in Seychelles. On the track I do a lot of long runs to improve my endurance. A lack of endurance was one of my weaknesses when I left Seychelles to join the centre. So I’ve worked and continue to build my endurance and strength because my speed is quite OK.

Sports NATION: What is you dream as a sprinter?

Dylan Sicobo: My dream is to become the first Seychellois to break the 10-second barrier in the 100 metres.

Sports NATION: Finally Dylan, looking at how you have progressed over the years, you could achieve the under-10 second goal in say two years’ time and by this time you will be 22 years. So what will be your next goal?

Dylan Sicobo: If I am able to run the 100 metres in less than 10 seconds, my next goal will be to challenge for medals at world level ‒ at the World Championship and the Olympic Games.

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Word and African 100m and 200m records

100m world record: 9.58 seconds set by Jamaican Usain Bolt on October 26, 2009 in Berlin, Germany

200m world record: 19.19 seconds set by Jamaican Usain Bolt on October 20, 2009 in Berlin, Germany

100m African record: 9.85 seconds set by Nigerian Olusoji A. Fasuba on May 12, 2006 in Doha

200m African record: 19.68 seconds set by Namibian Frankie Fredericks on August 1, 1996 in Atlanta, USA during the Olympic Games

Interview conducted by G. G.