Running News Daily

South African sprinter Luxolo Adams:I want to use Oregon experience in Budapest

South African sprinter Luxolo Adams has said he will be leaning on the 'overwhelming' experience at last year's World Championships in Oregon ahead of this year's showpiece in Budapest.

Adams has been working on his 'mental fitness' after making a maiden appearance at the global show in 2022 where he reached the semifinals of the 200m.

Speaking to the BBC Sports The Warm-Up Track podcast, the 26-year-old said: "Now I know how the world class meet operates."

"I know how to execute my races. Now, when I'm standing in the lane with with a Noah Lyles, I know how to manage my stress levels, I know how to manage all the influences around me. I've got enough experience in store," Adams said.

Adams was the fifth fastest man in the world last year after winning the Paris Diamond League meet. The sprinter has already qualified for Paris Olympic Games.

"Mentally, it was challenging, because it was my first World Champs," he said. "Two or three weeks before, there was a visa issue. Days went by and then we got closer to the meet and we [still] don't have visas.

"We managed to get waivers but when I got there, it was a different type of environment for me. I couldn't know how to interact, I didn't know how to, to move around, and also how to behave because now it's a different type of meet. It's a world class.

"It was overwhelming. I don't know what I was going through but one thing was in my mind: God is not going to place me in a sport whereby I don't have the power or the strength to go through.