17 Sep 2024
Fresh from winning the silver medal in the marathon at the Paris Olympics, Belgium's Bashir Abdi visited Aspire Academy to offer his advice to the endurance student-athletes.
The 35-year-old, who was born in Somalia but moved to Belgium with his family as a child, also claimed marathon bronze at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and the 2022 World Championships in Eugene.
In addition to touring Aspire's impressive facilities, he spent some time with some of the Academy's student-athletes, not only training with them but also fielding their questions about what it takes to become an elite competitor.
He explained the traits that are needed to achieve success as an athlete.
"Just have fun, enjoy, listen to your advisors and try not to see things as pressure," he said.
"Self-discipline is very important. If you have a goal, if you want to achieve something, YOU have to do something. You have to work for it."
"There are a lot of challenges; there will be days that you are not motivated to train, your body's tired, and that's when you need discipline. Without it, you will never reach the highest level of sport."
"Never lose your target. Set your goals, and every morning, when you wake up, look at your target."
The European marathon record holder also talked about how important other people are to reaching those goals.
"The team around me is the most important, and together, they make you strong. When I run a marathon, people think it's a very individual sport, but of course, to prepare, you need a great team," he continued.
"I have a coach, a physiotherapist, and training partners, so it's amazing to have that team around me. Of course, this success is also their success."
He also insisted that patience is a key attribute, especially for athletes who want to achieve great results.
"It's all about building up to the longer distances, start with shorter distances, and when you have mastered them, you move to the longer ones," he added.
"It (success) is something that doesn't happen in a very short time. It's something that takes a very long time; my medals are the results of the last ten years."
"It's a very long journey with a lot of sacrifices and, of course, challenges as well, like injuries and financial issues."
"But of course, it's always to get that worth it when you are rewarded for it."
According to Bashir Abdi, being away from family and friends is a major sacrifice for athletes who want to challenge the best long-distance runners in the world.
"(Between the Olympics) All I did was train, sleep, eat, and repeat. People only really see you when you finish the race and win medals, but the story is much more," he said.
"I'm very often away from my home at altitude camps in Ethiopia, Kenya, America and in France.
"For us to compete with the Ethiopian and Kenyan athletes, the only option we have is to train in the places that they train, at the same altitude."
"They are born and live at altitude; they train at altitude all year long, and we try to do the same in just four months."
He is also confident that Aspire Academy is an ideal place to develop future champions for Qatar.
"It (Aspire Academy) is incredible. I have never seen anything like this anywhere else in the world."
"The facilities here are really another level. It's really a nice place to be and very inspiring for the rest of the world to see a place like this."