Xandru Grech during a coaching session on the sand.Xandru Grech during a coaching session on the sand.

When you have been training and competing in a sport for most of your life, you tend to become accustomed to the adrenalin highs that this produces.

It is these feelings that athletes miss most once they decide to retire, finding it difficult to replicate the emotions they used to experience on a daily basis.

That was certainly the case for Xandru Grech.

As an athlete, he was one of the finest middle-distance runners Malta has ever produced as underlined by the national records he set in 1995 over the 800m and 1,500m distances which still stand to this day.

Throughout his career, Grech achieved what many others dream of, yet the decision to retire still hit him hard.

“When I retired from athletics I had a lot of mixed emotions,” Grech admits.

“It was a trauma for me. I missed a lot of things about the sport and for a time even held it against athletics to the extent that I didn’t want anything to do with it.

“With time, I started getting interested in the sport once more. The turnaround came in the Small Nations Games of 2003 that were held in Malta.

“I decided that I wanted to make a return, this time as a coach. Since then I’ve done all the IAAF coaching courses and taken it on from there.”

There is a bit of ego and pride in my records. But, still, I would be happy if these were to be broken. Especially if one of the athletes that I coach were to be the one to do it

Grech’s development as a coach has seen him appointed as the MAAA’s technical coach for the middle distances as well as develop a promising group of athletes, three of which – Dario Mangion, Simon Spiteri and Mona Lisa Camilleri – represented Malta at the European Games in Baku earlier this year.

“To be honest, I’m proud of all my athletes because they all take the sport very seriously,” Grech says.

“However, there are certain athletes who manage to reach certain levels.

“Dario (Mangion) for instance has improved massively. He achieved big personal bests in the 400m (4.01.8) and the 3,000m (8.53.75).

“Same goes for Simon (Spiteri) who was fractions of a second close to going under the four-minute barrier (4.00.3).

“As for Mona Lisa (Camilleri), she keeps on improving and getting better, setting as she did the new national record for the 3,000m steeplechase (11.28.28).

“Seeing athletes get such results is, obviously, hugely satisfying.

“I always tell my athletes to make sure that they leave everything on the track.

“There’s nothing worse than the feeling after a race that you could have done something more.

“I want my athletes to leave the track happy because they’ve done all they could, regardless of the result.”

Attitude is key

Attitude, it transpires, is extremely important for Grech.

“Being the best you can has to be the ambition,” he says.

“For me, an athlete is whoever loves the sport and takes every aspect of it seriously.

“A lot of people believe that the best athletes are those who win but I don’t think that’s the case. I’ve come across many athletes who are talented, achieve good results but who don’t take their training seriously; staying out late or smoking for instance.

“To achieve your maximum you need to train hard and there must be commitment. They must have good time management in order to dedicate to the sport the time that is required.

“There is then the emotional and psychological element. An athlete has to realise that if he wants to progress he must do it for himself.

“Athletics has to be a priority.

“Your brain is putting out all the excuses for not training or slacking off but you must have the fortitude to push on.

“That is why I love athletics as it helps you believe in yourself and your abilities. I work a lot on that side, the psychological element.”

His approach is working given the progress his athletes are registering. The question, then, is whether there will be a time when the national records that Grech himself set could be broken.

“When I was competing there were a number of very good athletes,” he recalls.

“However, while individually they have not yet achieved what we did back then, I think that there is a bigger group of talented athletes at the moment.

“I’m not just referring to the athletes that I coach but the overall level. The future of middle-distance running in Malta looks bright.

“As a former athlete there is no envy but certainly a bit of sadness when you see others competing. However, I can say that being coach provides you with a different but just as rewarding level of satisfaction.

“There is a bit of ego and pride in my records. But, still, I would be happy if these were to be broken.

“Especially if one of the athletes I coach were to be the one to do it.”

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