Lewis-Francis dashes to European Cup spot
Duncan Mackay
Friday June 13, 2003
The Guardian
http://sport.guardian.co.uk/athletics/story/0,10082,976401,00.html
Mark Lewis-Francis emphatically claimed the 100 metres place in Britain’s
European Cup team with a powerful display of sprinting in the Golden Spike
meeting in Ostrava’s Vitkovice Stadium last night.
The Birchfield runner, 20, moved to the top of the European rankings with
victory in 10.07sec, finishing ahead of a field containing his domestic
rivals Dwain Chambers and Jason Gardener. The performance earned him the run
in Florence next week.
Lewis-Francis also claimed the scalp of Kim Collins, the winner at last
year’s Commonwealth Games. The St Kitts and Nevis runner pushed
Lewis-Francis from the gun but had no answer as he pulled away towards the
end to win by two-hundredths of a second. Chambers, struggling for form
after injury, was never a factor as he finished third in 10.15.
Chambers had told the selectors that he did not want to run in the
individual race in Florence but Lewis-Francis’s fine performance will erase
fears that Britain is not sending its best sprinter and will raise hopes for
his chance of honours at August’s world championships in Paris. Gardener,
the European indoor 60m champion, finished seventh in 10.27.
Disillusioned after the Commonwealth Games, Lewis-Francis has returned
fresher and hungrier. He has refused to play the sprinter’s normal game of
setting himself a time target, saying he just wants to win all his races.
This was his third victory in three races.
Britain may miss out on potential gold in Paris due to the Home Office’s
refusal to bend the rules for Yamilé Aldama. The Cuban triple jumper, who
married the Scotsman Andrew Dodds two years ago, wants to compete for
Britain but must wait until November 2005 for a passport. Her meeting record
of 15 metres last night consolidated her position at the top of the world
rankings.
Chris Rawlinson finished a disastrous last in the 400m hurdles in 49.91.