European Athletics (EAA) – News – European record holder Obikwelu to keep on sprinting

Portugal’s European 100m record holder Francis Obikwelu has decided not to hang up his spikes after all and he will keep on competing until the 2012 European Athletics Championships in Helsinki and the  Olympic Games in London later that summer.

Obikwelu, who turns 32 next month and has the continental standard of 9.86 to his name, initially decided to retire from international competition after this summer’s European Athletics Championships but his results in Barcelona have convinced him to extend his career.

The 2006 European Athletics Championships 100m and 200m gold medallist finished fourth over the shorter distance this summer, just missing out on another medal by two-thousandth of a second. Great Britain’s Mark Lewis-Francis and France’s Martial Mbandjock were awarded the silver and bronze medals respectively but all three men were given the time of 10.18 in the official results.

French sprint sensation Christophe Lemaitre, of course, claimed gold and has since said he has Obikwelu's continental records in his sights.

Obikwelu also lead the Portuguese 4x100m relay team to a national record of 38.88 when the quartet finished sixth in Barcelona.

Obikwelu, after several years being based across the border in the Spanish capital Madrid, has now returned to Lisbon and is training under the direction of João Ganço, who is also the coach to the 2008 Olympic Games triple jump champion Nelson Évora.

“I felt good and so I’m keeping going,” explained Obikwelu simply. “The knee problems I’ve had for some years are now under control.”

Sadly, Obikwelu admitted that because of the risk to his knees, he is unlikely to run indoors and the popular Portuguese sprinter will not be competing at the European Athletics Indoor Championships in Paris next March.

"I have not done indoor track for several years (since 2008) and my goal is to do well outdoors. The problem for me indoors is that we are forced to brake hard after the line and the final climb (up the banking and hitting the buffer mattresses) is a risk,” admitted Obikwelu.

European Athletics (EAA) – News