Kilty eyes tilt at Rio sprints
RiCHARD KiLTY may not defend his World indoor sprint title next month because he does not want to be branded ‘just’ a 60 metres specialist. Kilty, who is also the european 60m champion, had been expected to compete in Portland, USA, but insists his focus is the Rio olympics. ‘in the last two years i have won everything indoors and it’s time to concentrate on the 100m,’ he said after finishing second behind fellow Brit Sean Safo-Antwi at the Glasgow indoor Grand Prix on Saturday. His 6.57sec dash after a sluggish start was a way off the 6.49sec he ran to win the world title in Sopot, Poland, in 2014. ‘i’m not too worried about my start,’ he added. ‘i’m working on my back end, my 100m and 200m. i’m just looking to get faster. i will decide next weekend (after the UK trials in Sheffield) if i go to Portland. To win the world title again would be like, “oh yeah, you’re just a good 60m runner’’, and i don’t want to have that tag. i want to produce what i am capable of outdoors. The next thing is to make 100m finals. ‘i was a 200m runner before 2014. People forget that i have gone 20.3sec and i can go a lot quicker.’ The debate over whether amputee long jumper Markus Rehm should be allowed to compete at the olympics is set to intensify with the first signs of animosity from his able-bodied competitors. Australia’s Fabrice Lapierre refused to discuss the subject after missing out on victory in the Glasgow Grand Prix, his 8.08m leap just two centimetres short of Rehm’s winning jump. Some critics claim Rehm receives an unfair advantage from his prosthetic which he uses as his take-off leg.