Saturday, August 26, 2000
Bailey shuts it down early
Careful Canadian settles for eighth
By STEVE BUFFERY -- Toronto Sun
Worried that the old engine still could break down, Donovan Bailey shut
off the afterburners yesterday at the Van Damme Memorial Grand Prix in
Brussels.
The result was an eighth-place finish for the defending Olympic 100-metre
champion, who took his also-ran performance in stride.
Actually, Bailey was downright upbeat for a guy who finished well back of
the pack in 10.20 seconds. American star Maurice Greene (with a slightly
illegal 2.1 metres-per-second tailwind) won the competition in a sizzling
9.88, followed by compatriot Bernard Williams (10.01) and Ato Boldon of
Trinidad and Tobago (10.02).
"I'm still working on things. My first 50 metres was as good as I've ever
run," Bailey said from his Brussels hotel room. "At about 60 metres I just
decided to shut it off, satisfied with what I had done."
The Van Damme Memorial marked Bailey's first race since he suffered a sore
left hamstring on Aug. 1 in Stockholm. Although he claimed to be fine
following yesterday's event, Bailey admitted that with the Sydney Olympics
only three weeks away, the hamstring pull still was in the back of his mind
and that he is feeling some pain.
"I didn't want to reach or do anything to jeopardize (my health)," Bailey,
32, said. "I don't want to put myself behind the 8-ball. So, I'm just being
careful."
The Oakville sprinter said that he was thrilled with his reaction out of
the blocks, his early drive phase and his transition at about 30 to 40
metres. He said it's all a matter of putting an entire race together. With
that in mind, Bailey has decided to add a couple of events to his schedule.
The former world record holder (9.84) originally was going to run on Monday
in Gateshead, England, and next Friday in Berlin. Now, he also will compete
on Wednesday in Thessaloniki, Greece, and on Sept.3 in France, although that
hasn't been confirmed. Teammate Bruny Surin also will run in Greece and
Germany.
You can find more of this story at http://www.canoe.ca/Track/aug26_bai.html
----- Original Message -----
From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Saturday, August 26, 2000 12:18 PM
Subject: Re: Re: t-and-f: Bailey at Van Damme
>
> In a message dated 8/26/0 7:21:26 AM, you wrote:
>
> <<Well ..According to his web site he doesn't want to win any races before
> Sydney !?!!?>>
>
> Running 10.20 will sure take care of that. I wonder if Capel is trying
the
> same thing?
>
> A.C.
>
