With a raft of withdrawals hitting the Supreme Ventures/Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) Senior Athletics Championships, one bright spark for Jamaican fans is the return of former 100m World Champion, Yohan “the Beast” Blake.
The sprinter who has been sidelined for the past two years due to injuries, competed in heat 1 of the Men’s 100m on Thursday night, Day 1 of the championships, where he finished second to Asafa Powell in a modest 10.24s.
But Blake was pleased despite the time, telling reporters, “First and foremost I have to give God thanks. I feel real good. I fell at the start and coming back like that, you know I’m packing some serious power. So I am just going to go back and see what I did wrong, talk to my coach and head back tomorrow (today),” he assured.
“I am not far off (from getting my technique right)…I was too eager and that’s what caught me at the start. It’s going to be much better tomorrow because if I had gotten out I would be right up there with ‘Safa (Asafa Powell).”
Having been out so long, Blake’s coach, the legendary Glen Mills said it would take the 26 year old some time to get back to his best and compete as well as he should, because of the fear of getting injured again but the athlete insists that he is ready on all fronts.
“Everything is going according to plan. Mentally I am getting there, but physically I think I am ready. The fear factor is a non factor now because coach has been talking to me, my therapist, Sean Kennedy has been working with me so it has been going good,” he stated.
There is a good chance that Blake may compete against Powell, three times in the space of two days as they have both been drawn in heat one of the semifinals. Powell, who leads all qualifiers, with a time of 9.98s, has been drawn in lane 5, while Blake has been drawn in lane 6.
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