media_artricles :: 2013

T&T banking on 110m and 400m men

Four Trinidad and Tobago’s runners provided a lift to the Trinidad and Tobago contingent at the World Championships in Moscow by moving into the semifinals of their respective events here yesterday.

Wayne Davis 11 and Mikel Thomas both qualified for the 110 metres semifinals which will be contested today with Davis in particular producing a season best time of 13.38.

Thomas was fourth in his heat in a time of 13.41. Today, Thomas will be first on the starting blocks in semifinal one at 11.05pm (TT time), running from lane two, while Davis 11 will race in semifinal two at 11.14 pm.

Also advancing were Deon Lendore and Jarrin Solomon in the 400m event. The pair, who were part of T&T’s bronze medal-winning team at the London Olympics, produced the overall fifth and sixth best qualifying times for today’s semi finals, with Lendore (45.17) and Solomon clocking 45.19.

Manager Dexter Voisin described the performances as pleasing and said it augured well for the future.

“While Thomas is considered a veteran, he is still demonstrating that he has what it takes at the highest level, and Wayne (Davis 11) had a fantastic season at the NCAA and he is continuing to improve every time he performs,” added Voisin.

“We are expecting big things from both of them and the aim will be to reach the finals and then let us see what happens, it is the hurdles so anything can happen,” stated Voisin.

It was also Solomon’s best ever time. He entered the home straight in the lead despite being drawn in lane one and was only passed near the finishing line by Olympic champion Kirani James.

“I was not thinking about the time, I am just pleased with the result. I now have to look out for tomorrow and get my mind ready for the semi finals,” a buoyant Solomon said.

“The season has been good. I have been running consistently and this year and I have not had injuries and that has helped me to be consistent.”.

Solomon, 27, said he will need to improve his time to medal. “I definitely believe there is more left from me. When I came off the straight with the lead, I went into relax mode and cruise control, and tomorrow if I do that same thing but keep pushing down the straight, I will have more.”.

Solomon said today he will not focus on time but rather place. “I am going to try to finish in top two in semi finals and move on into semi finals, the mood is good.”.

Lendore will be in semifinal two, which starts at 12.13 pm, in lane four with La Shawn Merrit in lane six, while Solomon will race in semifinal three which is scheduled to start at 12.21 pm. He will run from lane five while Kirani James is in lane four.

Also competing today will be Jehue Gordon who took the world by storm four years ago, when, as a 17-year-old, he finished fourth in the 400m hurdles.

Gordon will compete at 3.37 am, when he runs in heat five from lane five.

“He is in fine spirit, he has done all of the preparatory work and is just resting and in his own words, he is just having fun and enjoying the situation,” said coach Ian Hypolite.

Questioned on any pressure on Gordon, after his season best 48.00 in winning the last Grand Prix, a reflective Hypolite noted: “We try to get things right at the correct time and we were happy with his performance. We must not lose sight that Jehue is a 21-year-old, competing in an event where the average age is some five years more than him, so he is still learning and still maturing. In boxing terms, he is continually punching above his weight,” remarked Hypolite.

Bledman, Thompson fail to reach 100m final.

Meanwhile, Usain Bolt delivered the message that he is indeed the heart and soul of athletics in the world with a scintillating victory in the World Championships 100 metres final in pouring rain as T&T’s Richard Thompson and Keston Bledman were eliminated at the semi final stage.

Thompson was fifth in heat one in a time of 10.19, while Bledman was third in the third semifinal in a time of 10.08.

Thompson pointed out that a bad start may have been his downfall. “The start was my downfall. I was hoping to put it together today but unfortunately it did not work out. No excuses, I just did not run a good race. I was hoping that Keston would advance but unfortunately he did not advance either. Maybe for both of us, not being in the final is a blessing since we have the 4x100 relay to focus on.”.

Thompson noted that: “We just want to go in there and have the flag flying. It is not just about being in the final. Our goals are a little bit higher..a realistic goal is for us to medal in the 4x100 metres.

Thompson believes the relay team can pull together to deliver a medal for T&T.

“We can pull together..it was a sub-par season for me but track and field is a funny sport; one day you are on top the next day you are not and it could be because of a switch in programmes, a switch in coaches. It was definitely one of those years, and I am hoping to bounce back from it,” Thompson said.

A disappointed Bledman stumbled out of the blocks and had to rush to get back into the race.

“I hate to be on those sides of the lane although it is a straight but I now have to go back and focus on the relay and go out there and try and get a medal,” Bledman said.

Bledman believes the team will medal in the relay. “Going back to Trinidad and Tobago on that long nine hour flight without a medal will not be good. We will go back to the hotel and focus on the relay. A lot of countries are counting us out, but we will get it together for the relay, so I not really worried,” declared Bledman.

The 4x100 metres relay begins on Sunday. Borel, Ahye disappoint.

On another disappointing day for T&T’s female athletes, two more finished their competition in the first round. Both though left after sub-par performances. The experienced Cleopatra Borel failed to make it into the final 12 in the shot put while our only sprinter in the women's 100m, 21-year-old Michelle-Lee Ahye could only finish fifth in heat four in a disappointing time of 11.37.

For Ahye, it was a poor start as she recorded the second worst reaction time and from that moment on she was never in the race and had to watch as Olympic champion Shelly Ann Fraser-Pryce of Jamaica won in a time of 11.15.

Ahye was the only representative in the 100m for T&T after the withdrawal of Kelly-Ann Baptiste on Saturday .

Manager of the team, Dexter Voisin told the Guardian that Baptiste is on her way back to her base in the United States where she will meet with her team and then decide on her future.

Borel was pensive as she reflected on the year. “I am not happy today. I went to a track meet in May and I was injured at the time and I was not able to throw the shot. I was not able to practice for a while, so this year has been trying for me. I am happy that I can compete and I am getting better.

“Am I happy with not qualifying? Absolutely not but I understand my situation. Well I am going to go home and rehab. I have an injury to my right index finger, rehab it, get stronger..this year was really transitional for me. I moved back home, and am working with a new coach and I am really excited to see how things go next year since we have Commonwealth Games and World Indoors,” added Borel.

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