Elton Tucker, Assistant Sport EditorATHENS:
JAMAICA'S TOP female sprinter, Veronica Campbell, will begin her quest for Olympic honours today when she runs in the opening rounds of the women's 100 metres at the Athens Olympic Stadium.
Campbell is strongly tipped for gold in the 200 metres and is also a leading contender for the 100 metres, which has its first and second rounds today.
Jamaica, without a medal or even a finalist after competing in badminton, shooting and swimming, will be seeking to get off the mark this weekend. The women's 100 metres final is set for tomorrow night.
Six Jamaicans will be in action today in the Athens Olympic Stadium. Former national champion Aleen Bailey and the 20-year-old budding star Sherone Simpson will accompany Campbell in the 100m. National champion Brandon Simpson, Michael Blackwood and Davian Clarke are down for the opening round of the men's 400 metres while Michelle Ballentine is the lone competitor in the women's 800 metres.
Head coach Dennis Johnson said yesterday that he expected all the athletes, especially in the 100m and 400m, to advance to the second round of their events.
MEETING
"We had a meeting with the athletes and the vibes were good so I am expecting them to perform very well," Johnson said last night.
Johnson, who said there were no injury concerns in the camp, refused to make any predictions on medals.
"I am not a guru. I am just looking to the athletes to do their best and then the medals will come," Johnson added.
Most attention today will be focused on Campbell, who has already tasted Olympic glory following her sprint relay silver in Sydney four years ago.
Two days ago the University of Arkansas student declared herself ready for competition as she had overcome a nagging hamstring problem.
"The 100 metres is very open and the athlete who executes best on the day will be the winner of the final," Campbell, who has a season-best time of 11.06, said.
Campbell meets 1992 and 1996 gold medallist Gail Devers of the United States in the sixth of eight heats. Devers has a 2004 best of 11.05.
The first Jamaican on the track will be Bailey as she faces Bahamian hope Debbie Ferguson in heat one. It should be close as Bailey has a season best 11.04 while Ferguson's best for 2004 is 11.07.
FASTEST WOMAN
Simpson, Jamaica's fastest woman this year with a best of 11.01, is drawn alongside Chandra Sturrup of the Bahamas and Russia's Yulia Tabakova in heat four. Sturrup is a former top level contender but has been hit by injuries while Tabakova is one of the leading Russian sprinters with a year's best 11.10.
Simpson has improved by leaps and bounds since running the opening leg of the sprint relay which won gold at the World Junior Championships in 2002. She has taken her personal best down from 11.37 at the beginning of the year to 11.01 in May. She admitted two days ago that the phenomenal improvement has come as a pleasant surprise but she has been gearing up for the Olympics from two years ago.
"I think the improvement has come from me being focussed and setting goals. Some I have achieved already. One was making Jamaica's Olympic team in 2004. My coach Stephen Francis has played a great part in this and on Friday I am just hoping to go out there and do my best."
The Jamaicans, if they advance to the semi-finals, should have most to fear from 20-year-old Bulgarian Ivet Lalova, who clocked a year's best 10.77 on June 19; France's Christine Arron, who had a sub-11 seconds clocking (10.95) on July 16 and American trials winner LaTasha Colander, who ran 10.97 on July 10.
The men's 400 metres will also be interesting. Veteran competitor Davian Clarke has already been surprisingly included ahead of 19-year-old Jermaine Gonzales to run the individual event.
Clarke was entered ahead of Gonzales after the national championships because the latter had not achieved the 'A' qualifying standard. Gonzales, however, made this time on two occasions in July, beating Clarke on both occasions.
SIDELINED BY INJURY
The Jamaica Olympics Association (JOA) press attache, Ed Barnes, said Gonzales who has not competed since being withdrawn because of injury from the North American and Central American and Caribbean (NACAC) meet in Canada three weeks ago is down as an alternate. The former Tacius Golding High student was seen training yesterday at the Games Village.
Other reports from the Jamaican delegation are that the Jamaica Amateur Athletic Association (JAAA), by its rules, has the discretion to choose the third competitor in any event and 29-year-old Clarke got the nod.
Blackwood is in the best current form of the Jamaican 400m trio. He has a season best 44.74 and can follow up his 2003 World Championships last eight placing with another top performance here.
"I am confident. My training is going good and I hope to get a medal in this Olympics," Blackwood said two days ago.
The men to watch in the one-lap event are American trials winner Jeremy Wariner, who has a world-leading 44.37, and Grenada's Alleyne Francique with 44.47.
Ballentine, with a personal and season-best 1:59.52 for the 800m, will have a hard time to even go past the first round as she has some tough competitors in her heat including American Jearl Miles Clarke, Britain's Kelly Holmes and Tayana Roslanova of Russia. She dipped below two minutes for the first time at a recent Grand Prix meet and will be looking to improve on her personal best.
The first three in each heat and the next six fastest advance to the semi-finals.
