IF ONLY! Calabar’s Christopher Taylor rues missing 400m event at Champs

Kingston College’s quartermiler Dashawn Morris ran a lifetime best of 45.09 seconds to win the Class 1 Boys 400m at the recently concluded ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls’ Athletics Championships.

Calabar’s Christopher Taylor, who won the race last year and was favoured to retain his title, opted out of the race at the last minute to instead concentrate only on the 200m which he eventually won. His absence has left many speculations about the outcome of the race had he ran.

Taylor, who has a personal best of 45.27 clocked in 2015, told STAR Sports that he would have done whatever it takes to retain his title, even if it means that we would have to run under 45 seconds.

“If I was in that race, it would be a total different race because when I am running the 400m, I always dictate the pace of the race. It would have gone under 45 seconds because I would do whatever it takes to defend my title,” Taylor said.

Only one school boy has gone under 45 seconds at Champs. That is Kingston College’s Akeem Bloomfield who did 44.93 in 2015.

Morris’s time ranks him third on the all-time Champs fastest 400m times. Calabar’s Javon Francis is second on all-time list with his 45.00 seconds he did in 2014.

At the Corporate Area Championships, Taylor edged out Morris for the title, winning in a time of 45.84. Morris stopped the clock at 45.93 in that race.