OTTEY
RIVAS, Spain (CMC):
JAMAICA-BORN veteran sprint star Merlene Ottey, now representing Slovenia, is astonishingly thinking of a championship appearance this summer in Europe at age 46.
Ottey, a two-time World Championship gold medallist over 200 metres, is on the comeback trail from injury and won a 100-metre race at the Rivas International on Thursday.
Against a stiff head-wind (-3.5 metres-per-second), Ottey fought off Spain's Belen Recio to win a moderate time of 11.94 seconds.
"It was slow so forget the time, but the legs feel fine," Ottey said after the victory.
Ottey, who turned 46 years old last month, was competing for the first time since her 200-metre semi-final outing at the Athens Olympics and says if her form is competitive enough this summer she will seriously consider racing at the European Championship from August 7-13 in Gothenburg, Sweden.
"If I'm running well in July then I'd like to go to Gothenburg," she told reporters.
Ottey is embarking on her 26th year of running at the highest level, having started with an Olympic bronze medal over 200 metres - as a 20-year-old for her native Jamaica - in Moscow in 1980.
Last December, the Jamaica Government unveiled a statue at the National Stadium in Kingston honouring Ottey, who was in attendance.
Ottey, who won two world indoor titles at 200 metres and another at 60 metres, captured a record 28 global medals, including eight at the Olympic Games and 14 at World Championships.
She still holds the world indoor 200-metre record holder at 21.87 seconds and became the oldest medallist in Olympic track and field history when she won sprint relay silver with the Jamaica team at the Sydney Games in 2000.
