Devonish will be back

Published 21 Aug 2009 14:00 0 Comments

Share this

Athletics

MARLON Devonish has confirmed he will quit athletics - but not until he's had a fourth crack at the Olympics, writes Tom Oldfield.

The Athens relay gold medallist will be 36 in 2012 but he insists he can still be competitive, despite crashing out of his 200m semi-final at the World Athletics Championships.

The runner who trains at the Thames Valley Athletics Centre in Eton, was seeking a place in a third career world final, finished a distant seventh, crossing the line in 20.62 seconds.

Devonish was found wanting down the home straight by medal contenders Wallace Spearmon and Steve Mullings - but he promised nothing would crush his dreams of ending his career in London.

"I've always had 2012 on my calendar and that's when I'm going to retire and call it a day - there's no better place to do it as far as I'm concerned," Devonish said.

"As long as I stay fit and confident and I get through the trials, I'll bow out in London. After 2012, I'm finished and I think that's going to be nicest way to go."

Devonish added: "But I'm disappointed to miss out on the final here. I think I ran it too aggressively in the end. I tried to hang on for fourth but I couldn't maintain the intensity down the straight.

"Maybe it was a bit of a schoolboy error to go off so quickly because I didn't have much left for a good finish.

"If I had managed to keeps it going though I would have been in the mix for qualification.

"I don't want to make excuses but I've had injuries which have stopped me doing as much preparation as I wanted."

Devonish, whose semi-final time was a fraction off his season's best of 20.55, will now look ahead to this weekend's sprint relay where he'll attempt to banish memories of last summer's bungled baton exchange with Craig Pickering.

The former Olympic gold medallist won a bronze in Osaka two years ago but only he and Pickering remain from that quartet.

"I've got the relay to come too which I always look forward to and I've closed the book on the 200m now," he explained.

"I'm ready to continue racing and I'll be pumped up for that."

Aviva has been the team behind UK Athletics for over a decade, supporting the Aviva GB & NI Team both at home and abroad. Please visit aviva.co.uk/athletics to find out more.

This article appeared in Royal Borough Observer 21 Aug 09

Return to the main index, get more from this section or browse our Sport archives.

Follow @windsorobserver