Athletics: Ottey defies ageists to make it seven in a row

By SIMON TURNBULL

It was on July 28, 1980, that Merlene Ottey settled into her starting blocks in the Lenin Stadium for her first Olympic race. It was two days after Steve Ovett had beaten Sebastian Coe in the 800m final, four days before their epic rematch in the 1500m final in Moscow.

Running from lane seven, Ottey surged to victory in the sixth heat of the women's 200m, clocking 22.70s.

Margaret Thatcher was one year into her reign as Prime Minister. Bjorn Borg was the Wimbledon champion. And television viewers were gripped by the question of who had shot J.R.

All of which lends historical perspective to the feat Ottey, now 44, will achieve in Athens next month when she competes in her seventh successive Olympic Games.


"People always say that after a certain age you cannot do certain things, so I set my own goals," Ottey said. "I want to see how fast I can run at 44. For me the most important motive is that I can still run and that I can still run fast.

"I actually thought about stopping after the 1984 Olympics and again in 1988, but I kept on running my best, so I thought, 'Why stop?' Every year I was running in the top three in the major championships. There was just no reason to stop."

Only last year, at the world indoor championships in Birmingham, Ottey missed a place in the top three of the 60m final by a mere 0.03s.

In May this year she won the 100m in the opening grand prix meeting on the European circuit, the Fanny Blankers-Koen Games in Hengelo, Holland.

Her best times of 2004 are a wind-assisted 11.15s for 100m and a "legal" 23.16s for 200m.

In Athens, the native Jamaican intends to contest both sprint events in the aqua-blue colours of her adopted homeland, Slovenia.

She already holds the record for the most medals won by a woman in Olympic track-and-field competition: eight - three silvers and five bronzes.

She is also the oldest medallist in Olympic track-and-field history, having held off Marion Jones on the anchor leg to secure silvers for the Jamaican 4 x 100m relay team in Sydney four years ago, four months past her 40th birthday.

In Athens Ottey will become the first athlete to compete in seven Olympic Games. Her Olympic odyssey has truly been an astonishing journey. It has taken her from the era of East German domination of women's sprints, through the trail-blazing advent of Florence Griffith-Joyner, to the rise of Jones.

"I have been through many ups and downs in my career and I've always been strong enough to come back. I have many good memories, but one of them stands out - my first Olympic race in Moscow in 1980. That will always be my favourite."

- INDEPENDENT