Four-time Olympic medallist Ato Boldon is throwing his support behind local sprinters Kelly Ann Baptiste and Richard Thompson to win gold medals at the 13th IAAF World Outdoor Track and Field Championships which get underway at the Daegu Stadium in Daegu on Saturday (Friday night TT time). Boldon believes the speed duo can return home with the top honours in the women’s and men’s 100m events. The 2007 World 200m champion explained that given Baptiste’s run of outstanding performances in 2011 and Thompson’s national record run of 9.85 which gave him his third national title two weeks ago, there is every reason to be optimistic.
“If Kelly goes and runs the race that I think that she is capable of, she has a very good chance not just to medal but to win. I don’t think many people are aware that in her entire season this year she has not finished lower than second.”
Baptiste has beaten Jamaica’s Olympic champions Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (100) and Veronica Campbell-Brown (200) in her build up to Daegu. Boldon said if Thompson can reproduce the form in racing to his third national title he will be a strong contender for the gold medal. “If Richard runs the way he ran at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, he has a chance of not only winning a medal but to be world champion. Only Asafa Powell (Jamaica) is ahead of him on the world list (9.78).” Boldon said he was not shocked at Thompson’s record run. “It was not much of a surprise for me. It was a fantastic run. He has not run under ten seconds since 2009.” The 1992 CAC Junior sprint king is also upbeat about this country’s chances in the sprint relays. “It will be competitive as usual. Jamaica will be hard to beat but in the relays as we have seen in the past, anything could happen, people step the lines, the stick is dropped. All sort of drama could take place.”
The 1996 NCAA champion added that Thompson’s 9.85 run was to remind the country of his class. “I spoke with him before he came to Trinidad and I told him that he had to remind the people who he is. With Darrel Brown on the comeback and with talk that Keston Bledman or Emmanuel Callender would win, Richard and his camp felt slighted.” Boldon explained that with the 9.85 clocking the expectations of Thompson will now be greater. “That performance will now put pressure on him as he now has the second quickest time going into Daegu. American Michael Rogers is not competing (he withdrew from the US team after testing positive for a banned substance) and Steve Mullings of Jamaica will not be there, after he also tested positive.
On Thompson’s quick run two weeks before the World Championships Boldon believe that the 9.85 dash will inspire him. “It is a blessing because Richard’s confidence is sky high right now. He just ran a personal best and there are a few athletes in the top ranks who can claim that.” Boldon, who will be in Daegu doing television commentary for American TV NBC, explained that the Cascade sprinter will have to prove that his run was not a fluke as there are persons who have questioned the validity of the timing. “I am a little surprised about the concerns I am hearing. I must add that I have my doubts because of previous racings here. Daegu will prove a lot. If he goes and run 10 flat people will say something was wrong with the clock. If he runs 9.8 or 9.7 then he would validate the time he ran.”
Source: www.guardian.co.tt
By Clayton Clarke