Simpson

A WOMAN should hardly be disappointed running 10.87 and 22.11 in the shorter sprint events. Not so, for Sherone Simpson.

Despite covering the 100 metres and 200m in fairly fast times to place third twice at Jamaica's Olympic trials last weekend, the Olympic Games gold medal hopeful believes she could have done better.

"I'm not pleased with the way I performed," she said after a training session at UTech this week. "There's a lot of work to be done ... there's a month to go before Beijing," adding that "... my coach and I will work on the weak areas."

Simpson, an Olympic sprint relay gold medallist who also finished sixth in the 100 final in Athens, has identified those weaknesses.

"For the 100, I'll be working on the start. For the 200m, it's running the curve," Simpson said.

While it is ironic, it's not surprising that the same deficiencies that have contributed to Simpson's disappointments with her form at the weekend are driving her optimism for Beijing glory.

"I'm very confident. When I look at it, running 10.8 in the 100m final with a poor technique and running 22.11 without executing the first part, especially, I think there's a lot of positives for me after correcting the weak areas," she said.

Personal best times

Simpson, also a World Championship sprint relay silver medallist and Commonwealth Games 200m champion, registered personal bests of 10.82 and 22.00 over the distances in 2006, when she was ranked the number one female sprinter.

The following year, injuries and tumbling form took a toll.

"In '07, I was in the stands watching," the former Lacovia Primary student who moved on to Manchester High reminisced on the last major track event - the World Championships. "This time I'm on the team."

She continued: "It feels good, I'm happy to be a part of the team going to the Beijing Olympics. I'm just looking forward to representing my country and doing my best."

Sizing up the fields for both events, Simpson, noting her major competition, said: "Definitely Allyson (Felix), Veronica (Campbell-Brown) and Kerron (Stewart). Seeing that it's an Olympic year, you'll have a lot of surprises, too."

As far as expectations are concerned, she admits no surprises with regards to her MVP teammate, Shell-Ann Fraser, who ran 10.85 for second in the 100m and 22.15 for fourth over 200m.

"I wasn't (surprised). They were all talking about Veronica and Kerron. I'm very happy for her (Fraser)."

Stewart won in 10.80 seconds, but Olympic 200 and World Championship 100m winner Campbell-Brown surprisingly placed fourth in a fast 10.88 and missed out on automatic qualification to run the individual 100m.

Excellent chance

With four women running 10.8s, Simpson believes Jamaica has an excellent gold medal opportunity in Beijing, especially if Fraser, with a rocket-like start, leads off the relay team.

"Our chances with Shelly-Ann (Fraser) are very good, especially if she's on the start. It'll be very important to our chances of winning the 4x100m," she said.