Boldon fifth in Sweden 100m

TRINIDAD and Tobago 100-metre sprint king Ato Boldon endured a disappointing run yesterday at the DN Galan IAAF Super Grand Prix meet in Stockholm, Sweden. The 2000 Olympic silver medallist placed seventh and last in the men’s “A” 100m final, his first race since injuring his left leg during his gold medal sprint at the Sagicor National Open Senior Track and Field Championships at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo on June 19.

The 30-year-old Boldon crossed the finish line in 10.47 seconds (Nigerian Uchenna Emedolu was disqualified) as Ghana’s Aziz Zakari claimed gold in ten seconds flat. A quartet of Americans took the next four positions —  Leonard Scott (10.13) second, Mardy Scales (10.17) third, Joshua Johnson (10.23) fourth and Coby Miller (10.32) fifth while Darren Campbell of Great Britain was sixth. But Marc Burns, who was third at the Sagicor Nationals, and national 100m silver medallist Niconnor Alexander, were first and second in the “C” final.

The 21-year-old Burns clocked 10.27 while Alexander recorded a time of 10.35, with American Aaron Armstrong and Jamaican Christopher Williams tied for third in 10.43. But Burns’ time was outside the Olympic “A” qualifying standard of 10.21 and has until August 9 to earn a spot in the 100m preliminary round at Athens, Greece. Alexander, Burns, Boldon and Jacey Harper teamed up to compete in the men’s 4x100m relay, but the quartet could only finish fifth in a time of 39.44.

An international team of Dwight Phillips, Marcus Brunson, Christopher Williams and Brian Lewis was victorious in 38.62 followed by Italy (39.04), Australia (39.10) and the USA (39.43) while Ghana was sixth (40.22) and hosts Sweden disqualified. And Damion Barry captured the silver medal in the men’s 400m “B” final, in a slow time of 45.71. Jerry Harris won the one-lap race in 44.72 with fellow American Jerome Davis third in 45.97.