Brown sprints into history books

Trinidad and Tobago’s Darrel Brown smashed the world junior record when he clocked 10.01 seconds in winning his quarter-final at the 9th IAAF World Athletics Championships at the Stade de France in Paris yesterday.

At exactly 12.30 pm local time, the 18-year-old world junior champion wrote his name in the athletics record books and made a strong statement that he is on track for a medal in the 100 metres final today. Running in lane four, Brown shot down the straightway with the fastest timing of the four quarter-final races and eclipsed the former six-year old world junior record of 10.06 secs held by Englishman Dwain Chambers. The previous record was set at the European Junior Championships, Ljubljana, on July 25, 1997. It was also Brown’s new personal best, which surpassed the 10.08 he clocked when he finished second in his first professional senior race at the PreFontaine Classic on Eugene, Oregon on May 26.

Yesterday, he once again displayed smooth acceleration and impressive speed as he out-sprinted  Englishmen Darren Campbell (10.14) and Mark Lewis-Francis (10.18); and Ghanaian Eric Nkansah (10.15) who placed third. Former world junior champion Francis-Lewis was fourth while the 2003 Pan-American 100-metre gold-medallist Michael Frater (Jamaica) placed fifth in 10.25 and was eliminated. In the first round, Brown clocked 10.10 secs and finished a creditable second to the American world record holder Tim Montgomery who posted 10.07, the second fastest time among the first round qualifiers. Speaking to a CSTN reporter after he established the new world junior mark, a panting Brown said: “I feeling very happy. I have been training the whole year for this and now finally I have the record.” He faces a sterner test today when he battles defending champion Maurice Greene, compatriot Boldon, Chambers and Nigerian Deji Aliu among the starting line-up. But he is ready to enter his name into the record books once again and become the youngest athlete to make the final of the premier event at the World Championships.

Montgomery returned to win the first of the four quarter-finals in a fast 10.04 secs while Kittitian Commonwealth champion Kim Collins was first home in last “quarters” in 10.02 ahead of European champion Chambers (10.03), Olympics champion Greene (10.04) and Aliu (10.04). However, the most encouraging result was the time returned by quadruple Olympic medallist Boldon who took advantage of the disqualification of American Jon Drummond and Jamaican Asafa Powell for beating the gun. Boldon, a former world 200 metres champion, who was third in his first round heat with a 10.23 timing, showed very good form and sustained the speed for 10.09 secs, his best time for the year. TT’s other entrant Marc Burns, the world junior runner-up, placed fourth in the first round with a time of 10.28 and did not advance to the “quarters”. In that race, defending champion Greene was second to Nkansah with both runners credited with a similar time of 10.18.Third place went to Nigerian Uchena Emedolu (10.23).
 
World Championships 100m
Quarter-Finals Results
Heat One:
1 TIM MONTGOMERY (USA)- 10.04 secs ; 2 Bernard Williams (USA)- 10.12 ; 3 Vries Sherwin (RSA)- 10.18 ; 4 Ashara Nobuharu (Jpn)-10.23
Heat Two:
1 ATO BOLDON (TT)- 10.09 secs ; 2 Uchena Emedolu (NG)- 10.13; 3 Nicolas Macrozonaris (Can)- 10.16 ; 4 Ronald Pognon (Fran)- 10.23 (tied); 5 Dwight Thomas (Jam)- 10.23 (tied)
Heat Three:
1 DARREL BROWN (TT)- 10.01 secs (WJ) ; 2 Darren Campbell (GB)- 10.14; 3 Eric Nkansah (Gh)- 10.15; 4 Mark Francis-Lewis- 10.18;
Heat Four:
1 KIM COLLINS (StK)- 10.02 secs ; 2 Dwain Chambers (GB)- 10.033; 3 Maurice Greene (USA)- 10.04; 4 Deji Aliu (NGR)- 10.04