The British 800m runner is targeted on reaching the highest once more after accidents, sickness and an odd anti-doping incident blighted his progress
Oliver Dustin has simply completed detailing that 800m race, which occurred within the setting solar of southern France in mid-June 2021: the stillness of the pre-race wind, his concern at falling “approach too far again” in eighth place on the bell, the astonishing ending velocity that blitzed his rivals, and the disbelief when he crossed the road in 1:43.82 to interrupt Seb Coe’s longstanding British under-23 report.
“It’s a good reminiscence,” he summarises, earlier than unexpectedly including: “However I don’t need it to be the defining level of my profession.”
Dustin’s story is one that may seem horribly acquainted from the surface; the promising expertise who started to crack the massive time at a younger age, just for setbacks to begin mounting. Approaching three years in the past, he competed at his debut Olympics in Tokyo – a short-lived marketing campaign that ended when he crashed out of the 800m heats. In no small half that was because of a horribly disrupted build-up dominated by an odd anti-doping incident which, a lot to Dustin’s chagrin, was detailed within the nationwide media.
Since then, one a part of his physique or one other has let him down, limiting him to simply six 800m races within the two full outside seasons which have adopted. Final October, he was dropped from British Athletics funding. In December, he underwent surgical procedure on his nostril and sinuses in a bid to clear up a succession of points.
It has all been brutally arduous to endure. In a British middle-distance cohort that more and more warrants the customarily wrongly used description of a golden era, Dustin is in peril of being a forgotten footnote. So it’s a nice shock to listen to nothing however contemplative positivity from the 23-year-old after what he describes as “by far the hardest couple of years of my athletics profession”.
The previous European under-20 champion says: “Till 2021 my development was linear, going by way of the age teams, doing properly nationally after which internationally. These final couple of years have actually, actually examined me however made me so significantly better as an athlete and an individual, bodily and mentally.
“It has undeniably been actually powerful, however it’s brought about me to look elsewhere to see how I can higher myself within the pursuit of perfection.”
Dustin’s illnesses have been a number of. There was the glandular fever that struck in early 2022 and an prolonged interval of post-viral fatigue that additionally impacted his 2023 marketing campaign. He additionally suffered a plantaris rupture final April, adopted by a few tears in his calf. When he developed a sinus an infection and respiratory points throughout the summer season he determined it was time to hunt out an working desk after two years wherein his finest 800m time was 1:48.37 – shut to 5 seconds off his private finest.
“I work so arduous and don’t have the goal of working 1:48 or 1:50 so it’s troublesome,” he admits. “It actually taught me how you can take care of disappointment and failure, and that I simply must get again up, mud myself off and go once more.
“If you’re performing properly and profitable races every thing appears to fall into place fairly simply and also you don’t take into consideration the psychological aspect of issues. However when issues don’t fairly click on collectively that’s if you actually query if what you’re doing is true.
“That’s the place I must place confidence in my potential and what we try to attain.”
Oliver Dustin, Ben Pattison and Finley Mclear (Getty)
Dustin needn’t search arduous for inspiration, with the rollercoaster summer season of 2021 nonetheless seared into his reminiscence. Entrance and centre is the race in Good that, for a short interval a few months out from the rescheduled Tokyo Video games, made him the quickest man on the planet that 12 months.
Dustin had arrived on the French Riviera with a lifetime better of 1:45.71 clocked at a BMC Grand Prix meet in Manchester a fortnight earlier. Gifted the best circumstances of a fast monitor, a pacemaker, Wavelight expertise set to the Olympic qualifying customary and a balmy, completely nonetheless, summer season’s night, he flourished. Regardless of not passing a single athlete from the preliminary lane break till the 600m level, he rounded the sphere in astonishing vogue on the ultimate bend to go away each his rivals and the blinking lights positioned within the inside rail trailing in his wake down the house straight.
“It was all a bit surreal,” he remembers. “I knew I used to be in good condition however I wasn’t actually anticipating to run that quick. I used to be a great distance down within the pack. I form of knew everybody was going to come back again to me, however there was some extent about 500m in the place I assumed I used to be in hassle.
“However everybody did come again in the direction of me in a short time. At that time I simply knew I needed to end the race robust.
“Even then, it wasn’t nearly one race – I had the remainder of the season. The subsequent day I had 12 miles to run and was very a lot targeted on the Olympic trials.”
But when that job of securing a Tokyo spot had been efficiently navigated with a slender second-place end behind Elliot Giles, a reasonably extra surprising difficulty arose.
Elliot Giles wins the British 800m title (Mark Shearman)
Dustin was knowledgeable {that a} urine pattern he had volunteered to offer after the Good race to make sure his British under-23 report could be ratified had returned minute traces of cocaine. It’s understood the case was subsequently dropped by French anti-doping authorities because of cross-contamination with one other take a look at within the laboratory. However, amid all of the upheaval, the information then emerged within the nationwide media. All of it mixed to trigger a massively disrupted build-up to the Olympics, the place Dustin might solely end sixth in his warmth and didn’t progress.
He has by no means spoken publicly concerning the episode and has no needs to be drawn on specifics, however he does admit the anti-doping errors and subsequent undesirable publicity tarnished what ought to have been the spotlight of his profession to this point.
“It was the hardest time of my life by far and I’d by no means want that feeling on anybody – the place your privateness and popularity is completely disregarded,” he says. “It’s a horrible factor. I acquired by way of it on the time however it doesn’t sit properly and it by no means will.
“We had been constructing one thing actually particular and it disrupted that. It’s unfinished enterprise as a result of I used to be doing one thing actually good, however there’s no motive why I can’t do it once more.”
His exclusion from British Athletics funding for this season was anticipated – “it’s the character of a cut-throat enterprise” – however Dustin explains that his day by day programme has remained largely unchanged due to a longstanding sports activities scholarship from the College of Birmingham, the place he accomplished a chemistry undergraduate diploma and is now learning part-time for a masters in healthcare expertise. He has additionally retained a Nike sponsorship deal that was signed simply earlier than the Tokyo Olympics.
Whereas others might need been tempted to change teaching set-up after reaching the worldwide stage, Dustin stays below the steerage of Graeme Mason, a coach at Border Harriers in his native Cumbria, who started taking care of him aged 11. With Mason setting the coaching programme from afar, Dustin mixes solo classes with work alongside the college group in Birmingham.
“It simply works,” says Dustin. “The continuity permits us to take a look at the previous, take a look at the longer term and perceive what we wish to do.
“I don’t purchase into the mentality of needing to maneuver on. If somebody has the flexibility to get me from my first 600m race properly outdoors two minutes to 1:43 for 800m in 10 years, there’s not a lot flawed there.
“There’s nothing about my character or physiology that has made me suppose I must go to a global or skilled coach. It doesn’t work like that. He acquired me there and I’ve full religion in his potential to get me again to that.”
The hope is for that to occur this summer season. The latest surgical procedure means no indoor racing, however he absolutely expects to be again to his finest outside and insists qualification for the Paris Olympics is “completely lifelike”, as long as he can muscle his approach again right into a burgeoning pack of global-level British 800m runners headed by world bronze medallist Ben Pattison, alongside the likes of Max Burgin and Daniel Rowden.
What occurred at – and earlier than – the Tokyo Video games stays what spurs Dustin on every single day. “I really feel like I’ve acquired unfinished enterprise,” he says.
“I used to be in unbelievable form and some issues derailed my preparations. It’s all the time at the back of my thoughts and is a bit of fireplace every single day to get me out of the door, get me to finish the final rep, to push the restrict to get again on the world stage and show what I’m able to.”
» This text first appeared within the February difficulty of AW journal, which you possibly can learn right here