WHEN the 17th edition of the IAAF World Indoor Championships gets underway later today in Birmingham, Great Britain, Saint Lucia will be represented by a two – member team and one official.
On Sunday, Head Coach, Denise Herman, confirmed with The VOICE, that Nick Joseph, 20, of Choiseul will compete in the men’s 60 metre dash, along with three times Olympian, World ranked high jumper and multiple Sportswoman of the Year – Levern Spencer, who received an invitation, will carry the flag for the island nation.
Herman, an IAAF coach and teacher by profession, will also serve as the team’s manager.
Despite the size of the team, Herman said she’s confident that the two athletes will be well represented in Birmingham.
“It’s a very lean team, but I think that we should reap some returns from it”. She noted.
As for the individual competitors, Herman said, “Joseph gets a chance to rub shoulders with some of the World’s best; he is also eager to see how he matches up with the rest of the field”.
Competiting this past Saturday at the Independence Games, which was organised by the Saint Lucia Athletics Association, Joseph finished second in the men 100 metres with a time of 10.51 seconds, behind Stephan Charles (Pacesetters) in a time of 10:46 seconds.
Coach Herman convinced that Joseph will be able to perform very well in the men’s 60m dash. He will run the heats in the morning session of day three on Saturday, March 3 with the semifinal and final slated for the evening.
Meanwhile, expectations will be at an all-time high for this evening’s straight finals in the women’s high jump, the opening night of the championships, as World rank Levern Spencer with a season best of 1.95 metres, has been a regular fixture in most global finals for close to a decade. She will want nothing less than a podium finish, as she looks to be in striking distance of a long-elusive medal.
Also competiting in the ladies high jump – MirelaDemireva (Bulgaria – SB 1.95m), MariyaLasitskene (Neutral Athlete – SB 2.04m), Vashti Cunningham (USA – SB 1.97m) and YuliyaLevchenko (Ukraine – SB 1.97m) are just some of the big names that will be on show.
