Ella Nelson getting a little better every day

Australian champion sprinter Ella Nelson (NSW) is on the cusp of challenging the best 200m runners in the world and she has got to this point by making small and purposeful gains every day at an elite performance centre in the United States.

She returns for the #SUMMERofATHS Grand Prix now as the sixth fastest Australian woman just behind the great Raelene Boyle and well within reach of Melinda Gainsford-Taylor’s national record.

The 22-year-old does most of her work with ALTIS, an elite training environment located in Phoenix, Arizona with world-class facilities and athletic personnel that work with some of the best athletes from around the globe.

Under the watchful eye of coach Stuart McMillan, Nelson undertakes a meticulously planned out program the includes sprint work, gym workouts, pre-hab and recovery sessions ensuring her continued development.

“I think it works for me because I'm just so genuinely happy there,” Nelson explained.

“I look forward to every single day. I trust the staff completely. I have incredibly talented and hilarious training partners.

“It’s just such an easy and great environment to be in.”

Light & fast ✌️

A post shared by ELLA NELSON (@ellanelson200) on Feb 20, 2017 at 1:15pm PST

To understand just how elite ALTIS is you only have to browse through the athletes that have recently trained at their impressive facilities and taken direction from their highly-credentialed staff.

The list includes 2012 Olympic long jump gold medallist Greg Rutherford (GBR), 110m hurdles world record holder who also won gold in London Aries Merrett (USA) and Rio Olympic sprint sensation Andre De Grasse (CAN).

There is no doubt the training philosophies of McMillan that have been transferred to Nelson led to her almost qualifying for the final at the Rio Olympics last year, running a personal best of 22.50 sec in the semi-final.

To run so well in Rio after not competitively racing for four months following a hamstring injury at the Mt SAC relays further highlights the work she does at ALTIS is justified by her results.

“He was giving me advice on accelerating, and I think I replied something like ‘don't worry I'll have this nailed by next week’,” Nelson recalls from one of her first sessions with McMillan.

“And he said, ‘no you won't, then there would be no point in being here if you were perfect by next week. The aim is to get a little better every day’.

“From that day onward it was all about working on the little things each day to build up the end product.”

'Trust' is a word Nelson uses regularly when talking about ALTIS, particularly about her coach who obviously has developed a close-knit group that knows exactly what is expected of them in every session.

“Stuart, he is definitely the smartest, most sarcastic, to the point, and most caring person I've met,” Nelson says of her mentor.

“He gets to know each of his athletes really well and makes a program based on their strengths and weaknesses accordingly.

“We all completely trust him and what advice he gives us, which is a massive part of it.”

An average week for Nelson at ALTIS:

Signing up to such an all-consuming training regime requires significant motivation to one day be the best in the world and if Nelson needed any more incentive to keep working hard she got it in Rio.

Missing the final at the Olympics by 0.01 seconds was a reality hard to accept and still stings Nelson today when she takes her mind back to a memorable time representing her country on the biggest of stages.

“It's still bitter-sweet,” Nelson admits.

“It was the most incredible experience of my entire life, but I definitely haven't forgotten about that 0.01 it's definitely keeping my motivation levels high.

“I love looking through photos of the Games on my phone, it was just overall such a fun few weeks.”

Looking towards the next Olympic Games in Tokyo the New South Wales sprinter may get the chance to face off against her idol Allyson Felix (USA), who won silver in the 400m in Rio to a diving Shaunae Miller from the Bahamas.

The American, who is a six-time Olympic champion, has hinted at competing in the 200m in 2020, holding a personal best of 21.69 sec set in 2012, which made her the sixth fastest woman in history.

“Absolutely Allyson Felix, the way she runs the 200 is pretty much the ideal model for me,” Nelson said when asked if she looks up to any of the best sprinters.

“I love how easy she makes it look whilst still being insanely powerful.”

Another aspect of the ALTIS program that has undoubtedly helped Nelson’s development as a sprinter is her training group that features Olympians from various countries including the United States and Great Britain.

“Absolutely, the group has a great dynamic, every day is fun. We all support each other without ego getting in the way,” she said.

“Off the track, we all enjoy each other’s company, each of our different personalities just mesh well.”

Nelson’s personal best of 22.50 sec would have placed her seventh in the final at Rio, which was won by Jamaican star Elaine Thompson in 21.78 sec who also claimed the 100m crown.

Leading in to the Australian athletics championships in Sydney later this month the three-time national 200m champion believes she has made improvements since that semi-final appearance at the Olympics.

Prior to travelling back to Australia for the end of the domestic season Nelson competed at an indoor meeting in Flagstaff, Arizona running 7.48 sec for 60m.

Before making a run for her fourth consecutive national 200m crown Nelson will come up against Olympic 400m semi-finalist Morgan Mitchell (Vic) at the Canberra Grand Prix this weekend over Nelson's preferred distance.

“I think I'm in pretty similar form to this time last year,” Nelson said.

“But saying that my acceleration, strength and mechanics have improved greatly so it'll be interesting to see how I can progress after the domestic season.”