SO TONIQUE WILLIAMS-DARLING HAS CHANGED HER MIND YET AGAIN AND NOW DECLARES SHE WILL COMPETE IN THE CWG IN MELBOURNE IN MARCH. WONDER HOW MUCH HER APPEARANCE WILL COST CWG MONEYMEN.
WONDER ALSO IF HER COACH, STEVE RIDDICK, WILL HAVE HIS BAIL EXTENDED TO PERMIT HIM TO JOIN HER IN AUSTRALIA? SEE FELONY BANK FRAUD CHARGES AGAINST RIDDICK UNDER THE STORY “JUST WHAT MARION NEEDS. NOT!” kk
SHE’S coming … Bahamas’ gold medallist Tonique Williams-Darling after winning the 400m final in last year’s World Athletics Championships in Helsinki. A big fan of Australian track legend Cathy Freeman, Williams-Darling has confirmed she will line up for next month’s Commonwealth Games in Melbourne. Picture: Eric Feferberg/AFP
Olympic champ will run in Melbourne
Scott Gullan in Melbourne
27feb06
THE word on the street last month had her out but yesterday Tonique Williams-Darling gave Commonwealth Games officials the news they were desperately craving – she’s coming to Melbourne.
After weeks of speculation, the Bahamas Olympic 400m champion has confirmed she will try to emulate her hero Cathy Freeman at the MCG and chase the only gold medal not in her CV.
Freeman won Commonwealth Games, world championships and Olympic gold in the 400m, and Williams-Darling’s triumph at the world championships in Helsinki last year means the Commonwealth Games gold is the only missing link.
“I informed my federation this week that my training indicates I am ready to compete in next month’s Commonwealth Games,” Williams-Darling said in a statement.
"I’ve heard quite a lot about Melbourne’s reputation as a great sports town. Australians know a thing or two about great 400 women.
“I was in Sydney and watched with admiration as an entire country embraced Cathy Freeman’s inspirational victory. If my quest for Commonwealth gold is met with just a fraction of the support that Cathy received, I will be forever thankful.”
The 30-year-old has raced a couple of times indoors over the past month in Europe and the US as she tries to recapture the form which produced two golden years.
In the lead-up to the Athens Olympics, Williams-Darling won $500,000 as a share of the Golden League jackpot for going through the season unbeaten.
She then romped home in the Olympic final beating Ana Guevara, the Mexican many thought was Freeman’s heir apparent.
Williams-Darling then showed last year what a true champion she is by winning the world title in very difficult conditions in Helsinki. The women’s 400m final was marred by heavy rain and strong winds.
Her triumph in Athens meant she became the only athlete from the Bahamas to win an individual Olympic gold medal.
The presence of Williams-Darling adds further weight to an already impressive looking line-up for the Games track and field program which will be headed by the world’s fastest man, Asafa Powell, who arrives in Melbourne tomorrow.
Other reigning world and Olympic champions to compete in the Games include Jamaican 200m Olympic champion Veronica Campbell, Kenya’s 5000m world champion Benjamin Limo and England’s world marathon record-holder Paula Radcliffe.