… aiming to use event to qualify for IAAF World Championship

KIM Collins is in Guyana, but the 42-year-old is making it clear that he’s not here for an exhibition. Collins is hoping to use the second Aliann Pompey Invitational to qualify for next month’s IAAF World Championships in London.
Collins, the 2003 100m World Champion and four-time bronze medallist in the event, will be among athletes from 20 countries, including USA, Jamaica, Bahamas, Trinidad and Tobago, Nigeria and Columbia. They will be competing in the ‘AP’ Invitational, set for today at the Leonora Track and Field Centre.
Olympic Games triple jump bronze medallist Leevan Sands of Bahamas, American Tawanna Meadows and Trinidad and Tobago’s two-time Olympic Games relay gold medallist Emmanual Callender are among the big names.
Should Collins clock 10.12 seconds or below, he will be heading to London for the August 4 – 13 IAAF spectacle, and during an exclusive interview with Chronicle Sport yesterday, Collins believes that the mark is more than achievable.

“I’ve had a cramp, but I’m good now. I’ve had three races since and I know my body and I know I’ll be able to do it (qualify for London) …,” said Collins.

Despite not winning an Olympic medal, Collins remains one of the Caribbean’s most decorated athletes and, with a career that spans over 22 years, the St Kitts and Nevis native believes that competing at events like the AP Invitational is something all the region’s top athletes should do, since it’s a way of giving back to their fan-base and the people who are usually glued to their television to cheer them on.
“It’s very important as a Caribbean person to compete within the Caribbean and the reason for that is that most persons aren’t able to travel to Europe where most of the competitions are kept, so we welcome these opportunities to compete in the Caribbean to showcase our talent to hopefully inspire the younger generation to want to be like us,” Collins stated.
He added, “The best thing to come out of it is for the local athletes in these countries to come out and compete against athletes that they see on TV, because it will help to build their confidence so when they go out on the outside they don’t feel inferior, having competed against persons who have been world and Olympic Champions.”
According to Collins, “Within the region, you’ll have one person that will emerge, whether it’s the 100, 200 or 400m; you’ll have someone to show that yes, the Caribbean has the talent. But the trick is, for that person to follow up and ride that and use that inspiration to show that we have more people, not just in that event, but others as well. I know that the Caribbean has the talent. We have shown that and every time a young athlete rises from the dust in the Caribbean, I feel proud and always willing to lend a helping hand wherever or however I could.”
Collins burst onto the scenes in 1995 at the CARIFTA Games when he won bronze in the 100m. After that, he went on to become CAC gold medallist, Commonwealth champion, World champion, World Indoor silver medallist, among other notable medals at some of the world’s top events.

“The thing is, young people they understand that it takes a lot and that comes from their own experience in competing and preparing; so when they see someone like myself who has been there for so many years, they know that it takes a lot more. It’s just a simple understanding and following the formula. Most people don’t want to do that; they get excited and just lose focus,” said Collins.
Collins happens to be the oldest athlete on the international circuit, competing with the likes of Usain Bolt, Asafa Powell, Yohan Blake, Justin Gatlin among other world class athletes who are all younger, but the man, considered the ‘Caribbean Pride’, told Chronicle Sport that while he sees retirement in the horizon, when to hang up his cleats is something that’s not on his mind at present.
“Yes, that moment is coming but I don’t know when,” said the 42-year-old Collins who doesn’t look a day older than 30 years old.
“I want to make sure that when I leave, I leave on my terms and not too soon. It is about doing the best as you can, as long as you can. I believe that God has given me a talent and I intend to showcase it. Surprisingly each year you keep going faster and faster,” Collins noted.

Meanwhile several rising stars, among them Guyanese duo of Kadecia Baird and Brenessa Thompson, Jamaican Martin Manley and Antiguan sprinter Tahir Walsh are also set to take centre stage at the IAAF sanctioned event today.
Banks DIH Men’s 100m: Kim Collins (SKN), Emmanual Callender (TTO), Tre Houston (BER), Jeremy Bascom (GUY), Jaquone Hoyte (BAR), Rupert Perry (GUY), Owen Adonis (GUY), Tevin Garrway (GUY), Emanuel Archibald (GUY), Caesar Compton (GUY), Tahir Walsh (ANT), Levi Codogan (BAR), Yancarlos Martinez (DOM), Fred Dorsey (USVI) and Chavanghn Walsh (ANT).