Still no 200m lane for Simpson at IAAF World Cup
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
by Gary Smith
Caribbean Net News Sports Correspondent
Email: gary@caribbeannetnews.com
OKLAHOMA, USA: Despite leading the world in both the 100m and 200m, Jamaica’s Sherone Simpson is still finding it difficult to get a lane in the women’s half-lap field for this weekend’s 10th IAAF World Cup in Athletics, which will be hosted in Athens, Greece.
Simpson leads the world in the event with a fast 22.00 seconds, a time that she’s achieved twice this year, but according to her manager, Paul Doyle, her chances of racing in the event look dim at the moment.
“Sherone (Simpson) really wants to run the 200m, but presently, it looks like she will only run the 100m,” Doyle was quoted as saying in an article published in the Jamaica Gleaner on Tuesday.
At the 4th IAAF World Athletic Finals (WAF) in Stuttgart on Saturday, the Jamaican Commonwealth Games champion suffered a shocking defeat to the improving American World champion Allyson Felix and is hoping to avenge the loss in Athens.
Simpson did salvage some kind of revenge when she blew by the American in the 100m on Sunday and sped to victory in the third fastest time of year behind her own two marks. Her winning time of 10.89 is only bettered by the 10.82secs she did in Kingston and the 10.87 she did in Rome on July 14.
The Jamaican has been in devastating form this season, blazing six of the top-ten best times in the 100m this season, all of which are below the 11-seconds barrier. She also has four of the top-ten list of performances in the 200m.
Cayman Islands’ Cydonie Mothersill is currently the athlete in the line up to race in the 200m for the Americas team. Mothersill and Simpson will be joined by Bahamian “Golden Girls” Debbie Ferguson and Chandra Sturrup, as well as Jamaican Aleen Bailey for the 4x100m relay, which will be the penultimate race on the first day of competition - Saturday, September 16.
Meanwhile, it is now official that 100m co-world record holder Asafa Powell will not continue is quest for a place in the men’s 200m, after his manager confirmed that he has pulled out of all individual events at the World Cup, citing fatigue as his main symptoms.