Pompey sets sight on Olympics

The Olympic Games are 47 days away and although track star Aliann Pompey  will definitely compete, she is cautiously optimistic of  peaking in  time for world’s biggest sports event next month.

“I am taking things one day at a time and hoping for the best,” the former Commonwealth 400 metres gold medalist  said yesterday.
Pompey was one of two Guyanese athletes who competed  in  the Adidas Diamond League athletics  meet  in New York at the Icahn  Stadium, which saw an invasion of world class competitors, testing their readiness  for the big event in London.

Pompey did not make the cut for the women’s 400 metres but  raced in the 200m instead where she clocked  23.89 seconds, placing sixth  in  the sprint dash won by Jamaica-born American Sanya Richards-Ross.

“ I think it’s a matter of timing your preparation and competing in the right races at the right time,” added Pompey who does not have to worry about qualifying times, having made the  51.55s standard last year.

The longstanding national  representative, expects to compete as much as she could between now and the July 27th start of the Games.
She is scheduled to return to Icahn Stadium today to race in the 400 metres at  United States  Eastern Regional championships.
The London Games will be Pompey’s fourth Olympic Games  and she hopes to put her best foot forward  once again representing  the Golden Arrowhead.

 The New York-based Pompey burst  into prominence in 2002 by winning 400m gold at the Commonwealth Games and has been a regular participant at Global meets ever since.

She placed second in the 2010 Commonwealth Games, taking the silver medal  behind  world number one Amantle Montsho of Botswana.
While Pompey is assured of a place at the  London Olympics, her compatriot  Jeremy Bascom  is trying his utmost to make his debut at the event.

Bascom raced in the men’s B Class 100m yesterday,  against among others American star Tyson Gay, but did not come close to meeting the Olympics qualifying standard of 10.18s.  He was fifth in 10.53s and  explained that a 1.5 mph headwind affected his performance.

Bascom, who competed at this year’s World Indoor Championships, said he clocked 10.28s last weekend in Florida and is confident of  going below the 10.18 requirement before the deadline in three weeks.

Aliann Pompey

Gay, the former double world 100m champion is  returning to competition after  one year’s absence and won the event Adidas  event  in 10.00s.

The meet was blessed by the presence of  800m men’s record holder David Rudisha of Kenya who  blitzed the field to record the fastest 800 ever run on America soil.  He clocked 1 minute 41.74 seconds.

Jamaicans Yohan Blake and Shelly- Ann Fraser-Pryce captured the men’s and women’s 100m  in 9.90s and 10.92s respectively.  Neither world record world Usain Bolt or former holder record holder Asafa Powell competed.