USF Sprinter keeps Olympic aspirations alive
TAMPA - Abul-Rasheed Saminu lives life 100 meters at a time. But the USF sophomore's journey to Tampa is measured, not in hundreds of meters, but in thousands of miles.
"Don't think about anybody, just run your own race," Saminu repeats to himself before every race.
"When the opportunity presented itself to have a chance to recruit him, we recruited him hard," said USF Head Track & Field Coach Erik Jenkins. "We're just happy that he chose the University of South Florida."
Born and raised in Ghana, Saminu grew up in a small village in the countryside without electricity.
What his village did have, however, was a space for Saminu to find his true passion, soccer.
"I started everything with soccer," Saminu said. "I went to high school and one coach told me, 'You know you can run, right?'"
That is when Saminu first put aside the sport he loved for the sport he was meant to do.
Competing in Track & Field throughout high school, Saminu originally enrolled at Florida Memorial University to be able to obtain NCAA eligibility. After his freshman season at Florida Memorial, Saminu transferred to USF, where he really began to show his speed. That speed, however, wasn't born out of a love for soccer, but out of necessity back home in Ghana.
"I was running barefoot, chasing (rabbits) and going hunting," Saminu remembers.
From hunting rabbits for sport, to hunting down records, in his first season at USF Abul-Rasheed has broken the program records in the 100-meter dash, 200-meter dash and 4x100 meter relay. In the 100-meter dash alone, Saminu became the only sprinter in program history to break 10 seconds by recording a 9.95 in the race.
"9.95 no matter how you cut it is extremely fast and right now it is the fastest time in the NCAA for Division I," said Jenkins. "But it didn't surprise me because I see what he does in practice."
Though Saminu's beginnings may be humble, his future appears to be anything but. Thanks to his 9.95 time in the 100 meters, Abdul-Rasheed now has his sights set on making his country's Olympic team.
"Nobody ever thought I could make it out of that tiny village and make it to this level," Saminu said.
To qualify for Ghana's Olympic roster, Saminu needs to once again break 10 seconds in the 100m without wind. Now, the boy who chased rabbits in West Africa hopes to be the man who marches into an Olympic Stadium this summer in Paris.
"There will be a lot of people talking about him for a long time to come," Jenkins promised.
In the meantime, Abdul-Rasheed Saminu is getting set to take his mark for a bright future in the fast lane.
SIGN UP: Click here to sign up for the FOX 13 daily newsletter
WATCH FOX 13 NEWS