Sinclair still seeking elusive World medal

Gordon Williams, Gleaner Writer

"Kee-nia," the slender, but firmly built woman advised a stranger who asked the proper way to say her name, "point of correction."

Even Kenia Sinclair's fellow Jamaicans have got her name wrong, often pronouncing it like an African country. And in the global uproar that surrounded the eventual winner of her event at the 2009 IAAF World Championships in Athletics (WCA), some may even have forgotten it completely.

Sinclair, sixth in the 800 metres at the Olympic Games only a year before, failed to make the final in Berlin, Germany, the third consecutive WCA she had bowed out in the semis. So while the world hotly debated the gender of gold medallist Caster Semenya of South Africa, Sinclair was left with another missed opportunity to win a medal at one of track's two premier events.

A repeat of her national record one minute 57.88 seconds would have secured silver in Berlin. Her 1:58.24 at the Olympics would have been good for fourth. Sinclair's 2:02.31 was close to neither. The disappointment crushed the rest of 2009.

"Not making the final, mentally, messed up the entire season," Sinclair admitted the day before anchoring Jamaica's sprint medley team to victory at the recent Penn Relays in the United States. " ... I didn't feel like I wanted to race no more."

BAFFLING

Now 30, Sinclair wonders about the circumstances that turned her medal dream into a nightmare. Training leading up to WCA 2009 had gone well. In late July, she clocked a season-best 1:59.16, which would have earned her seventh in Berlin. Less than three weeks later, Sinclair coasted through her WCA heat in 2:04.7. But it all started to unravel before the semi-final.

"At the warm-up, my body wasn't feeling too hot," Sinclair recalled. "So I decided that I was just gonna run according to how I feel."

A monumental mistake. Normally, near the lead pack, Sinclair changed tactics, dropping back, hoping to find a decisive late burst. It never came. Sinclair said she "gave up" and "didn't try at no point" towards the finish as she watched her medal hopes vanish.

"I didn't run my race," she said. " ... and I paid for it at the end."

Dearly. Sinclair plodded in fifth. The failure left her "mentally frustrated, a little bit depressed."

There are doubts she can bounce back, especially to make a medal bid at WCA 2011 in Daegu, South Korea, this August and next year's Olympics. Sinclair confessed at 'Penns' that since her days at St Jago High, she would "freak out" in front of the big, raucous crowds that flock to Franklin Field armed with massive expectations of Jamaican fans.

"Not good memories," she said.

At St Jago, Sinclair "was not a mentally strong athlete," according to national coach Raymond 'K.C.' Graham, who guided her high school career. Yet, both believe she is now better at handling the pressure. Growing confidence - from years on the circuit and four straight victorious medley anchor legs at Penns - indicate Sinclair may yet deliver her best on track's biggest stage.

"She has been through the worst," said Graham. " ... But she is a young lady who is determined and she will fight back."

BOUNCING BACK

Sinclair said she brushed off the disappointment of Berlin and sought to "rejuvenate" herself in 2010. She's always been a physical force, now she's "trying to get faster." The 2006 Commonwealth silver medallist ran 1:58.16 to win silver at the IAAF/VTB Bank Continental Cup last September, her best time since she set the national mark four years earlier.

Sinclair's form spilled into 2011. In mid-February, she opened with 1:58.6 in Australia following "a long flight ... and two hours sleep." After a month Down Under, she was not surprised by her 1:57.06 relay split at Penns on April 30.

"I knew I was in 1:57 shape," she said.

A week later, Sinclair rolled to a world-leading 1:58.41 win at the Jamaica International Invitational in Kingston, a meet record.

Her plan is to focus on Jamaica's trials next month and earn another WCA medal shot. That will be tough. Semenya, gender tests behind her, is expected to defend the title she won as an 18-year-old in 1:55.45. Even Sinclair well-wishers believe the Jamaican's podium prospects are slim.

"I think she will make the final," said Graham. " ... But it's gonna be real hard for her to medal because the Africans, they dominate this event."

Sinclair said she has "learned" from her mistakes. WCA 2011 is a chance at a medal and redemption.

"I'm working towards it," she said. " ... Hopefully, I will be in the top three."

First, she must make the final. By then, everyone should get her name right.