Brown goes for US big bucks in Paris

REIGNING World junior sprint champion Darrel Brown and his relay teammates Marc Burns, Nicconnor Alexander, Ato Boldon and Julieon Raeburn will be racing for coveted medals and big US dollars at the 9th World Athletics Championships in Paris, France. The premier world Track and Field Championships, organised by the International Athletics Association Federation (IAAF) will be staged at the massive Stade de France with a capacity of  over 55,000. IAAF officials expect over 2,500 athletes from over 213 nations to be vying for top honours in the biennial competition, which showcases the world’s leading athletes. In addition to getting the prized gold, silver and bronze medals, the top three finishers will also be rewarded with US$40,000; US$30,000 and US$20,000 respectively. Even the fourth placed athlete stand to benefit with a US$10,000 reward.

The Trinidad and Tobago relay quartet of Alexander, Burns, Boldon and Brown copped the bronze medal at the just concluded Pan-American Games in the Dominican Republic. Together, they established a new national sprint relay record of 38 point 53 seconds. Two years ago, Burns, Boldon, Jacey Harper and Brown got  the bronze medals at the World Championships at Edmonton, Canada. They also shared in the US$30,000 prize reward. Clearly, the youngsters Brown and Burns have held their own and are improving while Alexander has also shown marked improvement. However, there is cause for concern about Boldon’s form and fitness, and all Trinidadians are hoping  he can recapture something of his former self, which will prove advantageous among the world’s elite sprinters. On the other hand, all Trinidadians and athletics fans worldwide are following, with great appreciation and amazement, at the dazzling speed of 18-year-old Brown who registered his personal best in his first major professional outing.

At the Pre-Fontine Classic in Oregon, Brown was second the 100 metres in a high-quality field with 10 point 08 seconds clocking, the same time registered by Hasely Crawford when he won the 100 metres gold at the Montreal Olympics. He skipped the 100m flat race at the Pan-Am Games but will definitely be facing the starter and matching strides with the “big guns” in Paris, which include Olympic and defending world champion Maurice Greene, along with fellow American world record holder Tim Montgomery. Hammer thrower and Pan-Am Games bronze medallist Candice Scott and US-based female long jumper Onika James are the others who will battle for supremacy from Friday. The full national squad  is expected to assemble in France on Wednesday. National Amateur Athletic Association (NAAA) president Ken Doldron is head of delegation to the IAAF World Congress which starts today while senior vice-president George Commissiong is team manager and Dr Ian Hypolite coach. All three officials are already in Paris and will represent the country at the Congress.