Marc Burns opens his bid for honours in the men’s 60 metres dash at the World Indoor Championships, in Istanbul, Turkey, at 11.59 this morning (T&T time).
The Trinidad and Tobago sprinter has been drawn in lane seven in the fifth of eight heats.
Burns, a silver medallist in the men’s sprint relay at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, will square off against seven other sprinters in his opening round heat, including Canadian Justyn Warner and Guyana’s Jeremy Bascom. The top two will advance automatically to tomorrow’s semis.
Lalonde Gordon and Jarrin Solomon will fly the T&T flag in the men’s 400m.
Gordon, who ran an indoor best 46.43 seconds in New York, USA, in January, will match strides with British quarter-miler Nigel Levine at 6.30 a.m. (T&T time), in the third of six heats.
Five minutes later, Solomon will be on show in heat four. American Gil Roberts, second on the 2012 world indoor list at 45.39 seconds, is also in this heat.
The favourite for gold, 19-year-old Grenadian Kirani James, will run in heat two. James, the reigning 400m world outdoor champion, is the 2012 world indoor leader at 45.19.
The top two finishers and the six “fastest losers” will advance to the semi-final round, scheduled for 2.10 this afternoon (T&T time). Jamaal James will be the first T&T athlete to compete at the 2012 World Indoor Championships.
James will be on the track at 4.34 this morning (T&T time), running in heat five in the men’s 800m. He is targetting a top-two finish in the race and an automatic berth in tomorrow’s semis.
And the lone female athlete on the T&T team, 60-metre hurdler Aleesha Barber, faces the starter at 11.21 this morning (T&T time) in the fourth and final first round heat. The top three finishers will automatically secure lanes in the semis.
-Kwame Laurence
Source: www.trinidadexpress.com