Losing Murphy is a big blow - Bolt
Published:Monday | July 4, 2011 | 12:00 AM
LILLE, France:
Leacroft Bolt, head coach of Jamaica's team to the IAAF World Youth Championships in Lille, France, was understandably disappointed with the forced omission of sprint sensation Jazeel Murphy from his 21-member squad, after the youngster failed to recover in time for the meet, which begins on Wednesday.
Murphy, who suffered a quadriceps injury to his right leg during the running of the Under-20 boys 4x100m relay at the Carifta Games in Montego Bay earlier this year, was pulled from the squad as his coach Carl Page believes he needs more time to recover.
Bolt laments that the loss of Murphy will have a significant impact on the make-up of his team, particularly for the Swedish relay, in which he was expected to run the 100m leg. His omission now means that sprint hurdler Tyler Mason is likely to step into the 100m slot.
"I'm very disappointed because I had Jazeel (Murphy) in my plans for both the 100m and the relay, so losing him is certainly a big blow for this team, but we just have to move on and focus on those that are here," said Bolt, before weighing up his options.
"If you were to compare a Tyler Mason speed-wise to a Jazeel Murphy, there is a big difference and it will reflect on the relay team. Jazeel is running at 10.21 seconds while Tyler is probably running 11 seconds over the 100m, so that's a huge difference and our quarter-miler in the relay is not as strong as he should be, so losing Jazeel is big," Bolt added.
Athletes in good shape
The St Andrew High School coach was, however, happy with what he has seen with the athletes at his disposal and reported that everyone is healthy and in good shape, with the start of the meet just a couple days away.
"Most of them are in good condition; I would say that they are about 80-90 per cent, but we are having two times a day training so that should get everybody closer to their peak," Bolt noted. "We are putting in the work and everyone is excited to be here and they are making the effort to get into the best condition."
Murphy, who is the fastest youth athlete in the world this year with a best of 10.21 seconds, was expected to lead Jamaica's medal charge in Lille, but Page believes it would be too much of a risk to run him at the championships and has opted to rest his young charge with his long-term future in mind.
"I just want to allow him enough time to rest and recuperate so that he can be in the best condition next season. I'm not one of those persons who will rush him, we are more concerned about his long-term future, so I'm just going to let him rest," Page said.