Anthony Foster, Freelance Writer
Tayna Lawrence ... just want to try something different. - FILE
OLYMPIC GAMES relay gold medallist Tayna Lawrence has become the latest star athlete to join a local track and field club.
Lawrence, who ran the lead-off leg at the 2004 Athens Olympic to set the stage for gold and national record of 41.73, recently joined the high profile Stephen 'Frano' Francis-coached MVP Track Club.
Thirty-year-old Lawrence is the second athlete in a little over a year to return home to train with a local coach. Last year, Aleen Bailey returned home to live and train with Glen Mills.
Lawrence, who won 100m bronze at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, is returning home after 15 years.
"I was looking for a good coach and I thought of coach Francis (Stephen).
"I'm not saying that if he was somewhere else I wouldn't go there, he just happens to be in Jamaica and he is somebody I already know," said Lawrence. "At this stage of my career it's best to work with somebody I know, and am familiar with instead of going to somebody who is totally new," she said.
WORKED WITH HUSBAND
Previously, Lawrence worked with her husband, Lloyd Edwards, who helped her to three sub-11 seconds, 10.93 (PR), 10.95 and 10.99.
"I have been with my husband ever since I got out of college (Florida International University) and I just want to try something different.
"Basically to separate our married life from track and field ... and just to keep it business-like right now," she said. "It was kind of getting intertwined ... I think over the years I have got a bit over relaxed and comfortable just training with my husband ".
Now with the change, Lawrence, who first represented Jamaica at the 1998 CAC Championships, said she is confident Francis, who conditions the world's fastest man, Asafa Powell, Sherone Simpson, Brigitte Foster-Hylton and Michael Frater can take her to another level.
CONFIDENT
"I am very confident. That's one of the main reasons why I came here, because I look up to him (Francis) as a good coach and just having that in my mind gives me confidence to work with him," she said.
Lawrence, who left Jonathan Grand High for North Miami High in her teenage years, said training on grass would help prevent shin splints which have affected her over the years.
She also spoke of her disappointment over missing this year's World Championships in Helsinki, Finland.
"I was disappointed because I have never made it to a World Championships. I was really, really looking forward to be in there, but my hamstring just came up on me at around the time of trials," Lawrence said.
"It's just one of those things. I'll brush it off and come back again," she said.
