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News12 Jul 2001


Darrel Brown fastest youth in the world

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Darrel Brown fastest youth in the world
13 July 2001 – Debrecen – The first Championships record of the 2nd IAAF Westel World Youth Championships was established in yesterday’s second semi final of the men’s 100m when Darrel Brown (TRI) clocked 10.38 cutting his effort five metres from the line. In today’s final, Brown improved once more on this mark and lowered the Championships record to 10.31.

The previous Championships record was held by Great Britain’s Mark Lewis-Francis who stopped the clock at 10.40 in Bydgoscsz two years ago.

Brown and Lewis-Francis – who has since won two World junior titles in Santiago and a bronze medal in Lisbon’s World Indoor Championships – have actually already met.

They both took part in last year’s world junior championships 100m final when Lewis-Francis won the title clocking 10.12 and Brown had to settle for fourth place and a time of 10.34.

“I certainly wanted to do better than last year in Chile where I was competing with older athletes but I was ready to take whatever came from today’s final,” said a very relaxed Brown after his championships record semi final.

And indeed Brown raised the standards up a level when he outclassed the field in the 100m final and crossed the line in another Championships record of 10.31.

Running in lane 5 with Americans Willie Hodge on his left and Jonathan Wade on his right, Brown’s superiority was evident from the very first metres of the race. After an impressive start, Brown produced his effort at the 70-metre mark and left second placed Willie Hordge ten hundredth of a second behind.

“I haven’t changed anything in my preparation for these championships. I still train twice a week in the gym and twice a week on the track.”

All-time World Youth fastest sprinter, Brown seemed able to improve his personal best of 10.2’ today but “he cut off long before the line,” his team leader explained. “I think he wanted to enjoy his victory rather than lowering his personal best.”

Winner of his heat with the overall best time of 10.46 despite slowing down after the 80-metre mark, Brown admits that after high school he will move to the United States. “I want to go to University in the United States but I still don’t know where exactly.”

A world leader in the 200m as well with a mark of 20.41 clocked last May on his home soil of Port of Spain, Brown will take part in the 200m and the medley relay in Debrecen.

His team mate Don Rodriguez finished fourth in the 100m final and 400m runner Kellon Francis got through to the semi finals after his 49.09 performance in the heats.

“We have a very strong team in Trinidad,” said team leaders. This is the second time in the history of athletics that two representatives of Trinidad and Tobago line up in a men’s 100m world championships final after Brown himself and Marc Burns respectively finished fourth and third last year in Santiago World junior championships.

Brown whose international career is only at its beginning might well cross the path of Lewis-Francis this year again. 17-year-old Brown will indeed make the trip to Edmonton for what will be his first senior World Championships.

“Darrel will go to Edmonton to run the 4x100m relay together with Ato Boldon. And this will be a really good experience for him.”

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