Dexter Lee targets the big boys
BY PAUL A REID Observer West writer reidp@jamaicaobserver.com
Thursday, August 05, 2010
MONCTON, Canada — Fresh from his historic gold at the 13th IAAF World Junior Championships (WJC) at Stade de Moncton in Canada, six-time global medalist Dexter Lee has resumed training in preparation for the European circuit.
Lee returned to the island last Tuesday night with the rest of the Jamaican delegation that won a gold, silver and bronze medal in the championships, to place 10th on the medal tables of the 42 countries that won a medal and ninth in the point’s tables with 49 points of the 65 countries that earned a point.
One hundred and seventy countries took part in the seven-day championships.
Lee had been scheduled to run at a meet in Lucerne, Switzerland this weekend but was withdrawn and will instead compete in two meets, the first in Lille, France at the end of August.
Lee’s agent Claude Bryan told the Observer West that the other meet is to be confirmed but hinted it will be a major European event.
While on the circuit Lee will seek to lower his Personal Best 10.16 seconds which he achieved in Spain last month.
With about two months to go in his junior career, Lee has targeted the Jamaican National Junior Record of 10.11 seconds held since 2007 by Yohan Blake.
The 19-year-old former Herbert Morrison runner created history at the WJC when he raced to 10.21 seconds to retain his 100m title he won in 2008 in Bydgoszcz, Poland, the first man in the history of the event to achieve that feat.
Lee, who is now based in Atlanta where he trains with 10-time global medalist and two-time Olympic champion Veronica Campbell Brown, won the World Youth Championships in Ostrava, Czech Republic in 2007 and was the fourth man to win back to back Youth/ Junior titles.
Lee who went into the WJC as one of the most scrutinised and analysed athletes, delivered when it mattered most despite a near stumble in the semi-finals.
After cruising to an easy win in the first round on Tuesday, Lee appeared to stumble about 15 meters into the semi-finals after a lengthy delay but regain his balance to finish second to Canada’s Aaron Brown and secured a place in the final.
Despite a less than brilliant start, Lee executed the race plans to perfection by taking the lead mid-way the race and held off the fast finishing American Charles Tilmon and Frenchman Jimmy Vicaut who came into the Championships with the same personal best 10.16 seconds as Lee.
Lee added a silver medal in the 4x100m relay on the second to last day of the Championships when he anchored the team of Brandon Tomlinson, Bernardo Brady and Odean Skeen to a season best 39.55 seconds.
He however false started in the first round of the 200m which was run about 16 hours after the 100m final and was one of four athletes with connections to western Jamaica at the meet.