By Symone Goss, World-Track
BERLIN — Jamaican officials withdrew its request to bar former 100 metres world record holder Asafa Powell and five other members from competing at the World Championships, hours after saying they would kicked off the team.
Early Wednesday, Jamaica said the stars would not compete as the championships after failing to show up for the mandatory training camp for the worlds last week.
But IAAF secretary general Pierre Weiss said the world governing body requested that the Jamaican federation reconsider its decision because the exclusion of the six superstars would reflect poorly on the championship.
"We asked Jamaica to reconsider in the interest of sport," Weiss said.
"We didn’t like it. The world championships, that is our baby. We take care of our baby," he added.
Besides Powell, the other athletes who were set to miss the championships were Olympic champions Melaine Walker and Shelly-Ann Fraser, as well as hurdler Brigitte Foster-Hylton, and 400m runners Shericka Williams and Kaliese Spence.
Leave a Reply