Ato
Boldon and Bruny Surin set for sprint clash
February
24 1997
MONACO - Monte
Carlo - By powering to a 60m/200m sprint double
at the IAAF Indoor Permit Meeting in Birmingham
yesterday, Trinidad’s Ato Boldon confirmed
that he is in the form to swap his two Olympic
bronze medals for two World Championship golds
when the 6th IAAF World Indoor
Championships takes place in Paris, Bercy, on
March 7-9.
Boldon,
who recorded the world’s fastest time for
1997 over 200m (20.35) less than an hour after
matching the fastest time over 60m (6.49), has a
further incentive next month because, for the
first time in history, competition awards will be
made to event winners: if the Trinidadian wins
both sprint titles he will take home a cool
$100,000.
Curiously,
Boldon’s indoor campaign began poorly. He
finished last over 60m in Lievin where
Jamaica’s Michael Green capitalised on a
great start to record a personal best 6.49 just
over a week ago and was also beaten in Stockholm
four days ago by Bruny Surin. "I thought
maybe I was an outdoor guy," was
Boldon’s wry comment after getting back to
winning ways at Birmingham’s National Indoor
Arena: "Today was a pleasant surprise. I
can’t lose indoors to people who I beat
outdoors."
But Boldon’s
path to glory in Paris is blocked by the imposing
presence of Surin. The Canadian, 100m silver
medalist at the 1995 World Championships in
Gothenburg and winner of Olympic 4x100 relay gold
in Atlanta, has been crowned World Indoor
Champion at 60m in the last two editions.
"No-one has ever won three consecutive
titles," said Surin: "My whole indoor
season is planned so I can win gold again in
Paris." Surin’s fastest this year was
6.51 in Stockholm.
Two Jamaicans: 26
year-old Michael Green, who has been in superb
form indoors, and Ray Stewart, who was an Olympic
100m finalist as long ago as 1984, will try and
spoil the script. Green’s 6.49 in Lievin was
just 8 hundredths of a second slower than Andre
Cason’s world record while Stewart will be
aiming to improve his own season’s best of
6.52. Stewart has the distinction of being the
only sprinter to have qualified for every World
Championships and Olympic 100m final between 1984
and 1995.
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Back
Boldon matches fastest times indoors this
season in 60m and 200m and looks set to go for
gold in both events in World Indoor
Championships.
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