by Michael Bascombe
In a matter of weeks, some of our most cherished and celebrated athletes will be flying the national colours at the Olympic Games in London, and with all the recent disappointing news stealing the spotlight it is a good time to look to our sportsmen and women for encouragement and hope.
There are a number of athletes who are putting all their time and effort into improving their standings or attempting to qualify in their respective events.
Chief among them are Kirani James, Rondell Bartholomew, Joel Redhead, Kurt Felix, Kanika Beckles and Andrea St Bernard (Taekwondo).
We are traveling to Eugene, OR this weekend for a star-studded line-up of athletes at the 38th Prefontaine Classic meet at Hayward Field.
Of interest to Grenada would be the Men’s 400m which is considered a dress rehearsal for the Olympic 400 metres rivalry involving the reigning Olympic champion and world leader LaShawn Merritt; the 2004 Olympic champion Jeremy Wariner and the reigning World champion Kirani James.
And hopefully next weekend we could see Rondell Bartholomew competes for the first time in 2012. There are indications that he may open his season at the adidas Grand Prix in New York on June 9.
That same weekend, Kanika Beckles and Kurt Felix will be competing in the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Des Moines, Iowa. Beckles, in particular, has shown remarkable improvement over the past five (5) months.
Consider the athlete running 53 and 54 seconds in March and under the guidance of Alleyne Francique is a leading contender among college athletes with a personal best of 51.72 a few weeks ago.
The hope is that my colleagues will find some time to give attention to the athletes’ preparations and performances through their regular bulletins, blogging, and social media. We are sometimes blamed for fuelling the negatives. Why not assist in changing the “conversation”? By doing that you may also educate our population about a competitor’s preparation for an international event as the Olympic Games.
My best wishes to our sportsmen and women as they continue their journey.
Here is a guide to what some of our athletes have or attempting to achieve.
200m (Men 20.55 A, 20.65 B) (Women 23.10 A, 23.30 B),
400m (Men 45.30 A, 45.90 B) (Women 51.55 A, 52.35 B),
400mH (Men 49.50 A, 49.80 B)
800m (Women 1:59.90 A, 2:01.30 B)
Decathlon (8200 A, 7950 B)
Long Jump (Men 8.20 A, 8.10 B) (Women 6.75 A, 6.65 B)
Triple Jump (Men 17.20 A, 16.85 B) (Women 14.30 A, 14.10 B)
Top 16 teams 4x400m (As of May 20, 2012, Grenada was ranked 18th with an aggregate of 6:08.96 and an average of 3:04.48).
According to the IAAF, athletes must reach the standards as set by the IAAF during the following prescribed periods:
- 10,000m, Marathon, Race Walk and Combined Events: 1 January 2011 to 8 July 2012
- All other individual events: 1 May 2011 to 8 July 2012
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