Athletics: Olympic champion Fraser pulls out of New York meeting
AFP
KINGSTON- Beijing Olympic 100m gold medallist Shelly-Ann Fraser has withdrawn from Saturday's Reebok Grand Prix in New York, the head of her club confirmed Wednesday.
"Yes, that is true," Bruce James, president of Fraser's MVP Track Club SAID when asked if the Jamaican sprint star was pulling out of the meeting.
Last week, coach Stephen Francis said that Fraser had failed to "spark" in three recent races - a 100m in 11.15sec at the Jamaica Invitational, a 200m (23.44) at the UTech Invitational, and an appearance in the 4x100m at the Penn Relays.
Fraser has been working her way back from an operation (appendix) in early April, which Francis said was a huge set-back at a time when she was coming into form.
"I think she is coming back to where she was before, and I think towards the end of July, August, I think she will be better than last year, because she certainly has trained a lot harder," Francis said last week.
"I expect by the time the (World Championship) trials roll around, she should be good enough to be in the top three, and certainly by this summer, I think you will start to see her looking close to what she was last year."
Fraser, who recorded a lifetime best 10.78sec to claim the Olympic 100m title last August, was down to run the women's 200m in New York.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------