Dwyer pulls out of World Champs 100m
For the first time in a long while, Jamaica will field only two entrants in the men’s 100m at a global athletics championships as Rasheed Dwyer has opted not run the sprint double at these 2019 IAAF World Athletics Championships.
The 2015 Pan American Games 200m champion was listed, along with former World champion Yohan Blake and Tyquendo Tracey to run the 100m, but the 30-year-old and his coach Maurice Wilson made the decision not to submit his name for event when the final entries were due yesterday and will instead concentrate on his favoured event, the 200m.
“We have made a strategic decision at this point in time not to double,” Wilson told STAR Sports. “When we look at the conditions and how difficult it is to recover. We felt that it would be better for him to focus on the 200m because there are better opportunities there.”
Dwyer equalled his personal best in the 100m, with a time of 10.10 seconds, to finish third at the the Jamaica Senior Championships back in June.
But Wilson said the former Camperdown High School sprinter has been showing signs reminiscent of his form from the 2015 season when he blitzed to 19.80 seconds to win the Pan American Games title and hence he wants to give him the best possible chance of securing his first World Championship medal, by concentrating on one event.
“Based on his training, we are seeing that he should perform fairly well in the 200m,” Wilson said.
Wilson, who is the head coach of the team here, believes that Tracey and Blake will represent the country well in the event, which is set to kick off with the preliminary round tomorrow at 8:35 a.m. Jamaica time.
“We expect them to do well, especially Blake, who is an experienced practitioner, so we are just hoping that he will be able to execute and do well,” Wilson said.