‘Redemption year’
Fedrick Dacres eyes big 2023 after injury-plagued season
Published:Thursday | January 12, 2023 | 1:08 AMOrane Buchanan//Staff Reporter
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FOLLOWING AN injury-hit 2022, five-time national discus champion and national record holder at 70.78 metres, Fedrick Dacres, is beginning to feel like his old self again. Dacres’ season’s best throw of 65.98 metres back in April of 2022 at the...
FOLLOWING AN injury-hit 2022, five-time national discus champion and national record holder at 70.78 metres, Fedrick Dacres, is beginning to feel like his old self again.
Dacres’ season’s best throw of 65.98 metres back in April of 2022 at the MVP Velocity Fest at the National Stadium highlighted a year where he wasn’t at his best after an abductor injury stifled his progression.
“In terms of the injury, well, I’m feeling good. I haven’t really felt it since, but I can feel a bit of weakness within. Preparations have been going well, I’m feeling strong again, and the real dilemma for last year was the abductor injury at the start of the competitive season,” said Dacres.
The former Calabar High School standout during last year’s World Championship in Eugene, Oregon, missed out on the medals following his ninth-place finish. Dacres said that despite not wanting to linger on that performance in Oregon, it is still fresh in his mind, and he vows a better showing this year.
“Well, this could be a redemption year. There is a point to prove that it’s not over, but I’m not really putting that on my head. The only thing I have to do is train hard and execute when I’m supposed to. I’m not really keeping that on my mind, but it’s on my mind,” he said.
Already having the experience of mining a silver medal on the World Championship stage at the 2019 staging in Doha, Qatar, Dacres believes that if he has an injury-free season, there could be a 2023 repeat.
“But you can’t really dwell in the past. Things have changed since then, and you can’t really dwell on that. Comparison is really the killer of things, so I don’t really compare myself, but I do feel good, and I do feel that I could medal again. It all comes down to preparation. I don’t have any injuries to talk about, so I’m in good shape,” said Dacres.
The 28-year-old, who is coached by the experienced Julian Robinson, has a personal best distance of 70.78 metres, which was achieved back in 2019. This, the national record, is on his agenda for breaking this season.
“It has always been about being better than you were yesterday. So that’s really the aim, and has always been the aim, just to be better.”