Sport

Brave Jevon bows out

By ELTON TUCKER, Assistant Sports Editor

Athens, Greece

JAMAICA'S JEVON ATKINSON was touched off by Jose Mafio of Uruguay in the fourth heat of the men's 50 metres freestyle at the Athens Aquatic Centre yesterday.

Atkinson finished in 23.61 seconds, three-hundredths of a second behind the Uruguyan who won the heat in 23.58. It was the best placing by a Jamaican swimmer so far at the 2004 Olympic Games.

His time, however, was not good enough to get him into the semi-finals. Overall he was 51st of the 83 swimmers.

A big casuality in the heats was world record holder Alexander Popov of Russia. Popov who set the world mark, 21.64, four years ago finished joint 18th with 22.58. Only the top 16 times advanced to the semi-finals.

The leading qualifier was American Gary Hall with 22.04. The 20-year-old Atkinson who was having his first Olympic swim was naturally nervous before the event.

"I really was nervous last night and just before the start but it was a good swim and my ranking improved nine spots from 60 to 51."

Atkinson said he lost his focus a bit prior to his heat.

"I started looking everywhere including watching the guy next to me."

He is five foot eight inches and below average height for a top swimmer but he is not overly concerned.

"It is a fact you have to deal with but one has to work with what he has. It ticks me off that he just touched me off but we will meet again."

Atkinson who was also disappointed that he did not get the national record will start the new term at Western Kentucky University.

"I just got back into the water two months ago but hopefully when I am in college I will be training all year."

To really improve and test the top swimmers Atkinson said he needed to improve physically and to practice more.

"I need to get a stronger upper body and lower body, better starts, quicker reaction. There is a lot of stuff I need to work on. I have a lot of natural speed, it's just that I do not put it in the water. It is more like all over the place. So once I concentrate and focus, I will get it."

Alia Atkinson who placed third in 1:12.53 in heat three of the women's 100m breaststroke on Sunday, will be Jamaica's final competitor in the pool tomorrow. The 15-year-old will compete in the women's 50m freestyle.

Bolt scare

Teenage sensation Usain Bolt had a minor scare on the warm-up track on Wednesday.

An athlete ran across his path and in taking evasive action, he suffered a slight squeeze of his ankle. His now okay and has resumed training.

Powell on show

Sports clothing and shoe manufacturers Nike have been showing off their top stars at the Games. Jamaica's 100 metres favourite Asafa Powell attended a Nike press conference this morning in Athens along with American Shaun Crawford. Crawford has the fastest time, 19.88 seconds, over 200 metres this year.