media_artricles :: 2016

Walcott to finally open 2016 season

After a weekend of inactivity due to the failed Trinidad and Tobago Grand Games, two of this country's star athletes will be back in action this weekend when the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon, USA takes off. Olympic javelin champion Keshorn Walcott is listed as one of the entrants for the meet and will be competing for the very first time this season.

With just over two months to go before the 2016 Rio Games gets underway on August 5, Walcott's Cuban coach Ismael Mastrapa Lopez is keen to see what his student can do on the competitive stage.

Lopez noted that his Toco- born athlete was supposed to make his season debut at the Grand Games but with its abandonment, they were forced to reconfigure training to suit the Diamond League meet.

"This will be his first meet...

The training going good so far; no injury and everything is going according to the plan," he said.

Asked specifically about how the Grand Games cancellation affected them, he said: "That is a problem because we wanted the opportunity for him to win in Trinidad.

Everybody know the Grand Games was cancelled. We prepare for that meet so when that was cancelled we had to change our training but it's going good so far." Walcott will be going up against reigning World champion Julius Yego of Kenya as well as Egyptian Ihab Abdelrahman who took the silver at the 'Worlds' in Beijing last year behind Yego. Also in action at the Prefontaine Classic will be 2014 World Junior champion Machel Cedenio who will be coming up against an explosive field of past and present champions in the 400m final. Scheduled to compete are 23-year-old Olympic champ Kirani James of Grenada and former Olympic and World gold medallist LaShawn Merritt of the USA.

Cedenio has already picked up a silver medal in the Diamond League earlier this month in Qatar, clocking 44.68 in trailing eventual winner Merritt who timed 44.41.

The Men's 100m race will feature American powerhouses Justin Gatlin, Tyson Gay and Michael Rodgers as well as former world record holder Asafa Powell of Jamaica.

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