Lewis-Francis faces tough warm-up

Lewis-Francis faces a stern test in his Commonwealth Games warm-up
Mark Lewis-Francis will warm up for the Commonwealth Games with a testing match-up against Jamaica’s 100m world record holder Asafa Powell on 9 March.
The 23-year-old will face Powell over 100m in Melbourne, 10 days before the Games’ athletics programme starts.

Powell had only been expected to do the sprint relay in the warm-up event after recovering from a hamstring injury.

But he said he would now “run the 100m and the relay” even though he was “a little bit anxious” about the problem.

“It is my first real competition since the injury,” Powell said. “I still have a little fear but it’s only a mind thing.”

Lewis-Francis will hope to continue the form that saw him beat Australia’s top sprinters at the Melbourne Cricket Ground 10 days ago.

Meanwhile, England’s 400m hurdler Nicola Sanders will have the chance to assess her Commonwealth medal hopes when she faces defending Games champion Jana Pittman in Brisbane on Friday.

The 23-year-old has been in impressive form indoors this season and posted the second quickest indoor time by a British woman of 50.72 seconds in her 400m victory at the AAA Indoor Championships.

Last year’s World Championship semi-finalist said: "Training has gone very well this winter.

“I’ve worked a lot on my technique, so now it’s just a matter of combining the technical work with my speed to get ready for the Commonwealth Games.”

However, Pittman, who has already run 54.8secs this season, insists she is back to form and fitness after a back injury kept her out of the World Championships in Helsinki.

“I’m back and the demons have been put to bed,” declared the Australian.

BBC