'Gonz' racing against time

Quarter-miler's World Champs prep slowed by surgery

Kwesi Mugisa, Staff Reporter

Quarter-miler Jermaine Gonzales is confident of getting back to his best soon, having fully recovered from his latest injury setback, which kept the athlete sidelined for a few months and severely hampered his early-season training schedule.

A stellar 2010 season - highlighted by his erasing Roxbert Martin's 13-year-old national record (NR) at a July meet in Monaco, France - ended on crutches for Gonzales.

The athlete, who is nicknamed 'Gonz', underwent minor knee surgery in Germany and was expected to be out for only a few weeks, but the damage proved to be worse than initially feared.

"It was supposed to be minor surgery, but it ended up being more than that. I was out of training for a good while, four or five months. It was a big delay in my training and so I'm a little behind," Gonzales told The Gleaner yesterday.

Sadly, the promising quarter-miler is no stranger to injury setbacks and has, in fact, been dogged by them ever since he burst on the international scene, taking bronze at the 2001 World Youth Championships in Debrecen, Hungary; and then earning bronze again one year later at the World Junior Championships in Kingston.

best form

However, after a strong performances in 2010, Gonzales remains positive and expects to rediscover his best form just in time for the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) World Championships in Daegu, in August.

"Track and field is like that sometimes, you have to be patient. Injuries have definitely affected my ability to perform to the level everyone expected," Gonzales said.

"In 2009 I wasn't injured, I mean I wasn't running that fast but I was training. In 2010 it was easy for me to start at a high level and run fast. Having this injury is a big setback for me, but this time around I'm more focused and confident because of what happened last year," he added.

Last year was indeed a big one for the sprinter, who opened his season with a strong performance at the JN Jamaica International Invitational, where he closed rapidly to finish second behind American Tyson Gay; and peaked with his 44.40 NR in Monaco.

In fact, Gonzales was bettered by only American Jeremy Wariner, who finished just ahead of the Jamaican on two occasions - a gap he admits he has been working hard to close.

"Last season, as you noticed, I kind of changed the way I run. I used to go out a bit slow and finish strong, now I go out fast and try to hold on. I am still trying to get stronger, going to the gym, strengthening my core area," he pointed out. "I realise that in order to beat Wariner I have to be a lot stronger."

Set to open his season at the JN Jamaica International Invitational on Saturday, Gonzales is expected to use the meet as a yardstick to measure his progress.

"Saturday is going to be a test to see where I am at. I'm 100 per cent healthy now, but training-wise I'm a bit behind," he said.

"I know what I have to do. I'm not worried about that (injury), I'm fully healthy and training hard so I think it will take a couple of months before I get back," said Gonzales.

"Right now my main focus is on the National Trials. If I can get through that, I'll be all right."