|You are in: Athletics|
Wednesday, 19 June, 2002, 11:51 GMT 12:51 UK
Jackson seeks golden farewell
At the age of 35, most world-class athletes have hung up their spikes and turned their back on competition.
Colin Jackson is the exception. After 15 years at the top of his sport, not to mention two world titles, three European golds and a world record, the Welshman is aiming to add another Commonwealth title to his long list of honours.
In 2002, Jackson could finally wave goodbye to the sport he has dominated for so long.
But there is no sign yet of his powers diminishing. In March he took his third European indoor gold, the 60m hurdles crown in Vienna, holding off local favourite Elmar Lichtenegger to win in 7.43 seconds.
He has suffered just one hitch, a back injury he picked up in weight training.
"It was worrying at first because this season I just have to stay injury-free," says Jackson.
"But once we knew it wasn't serious it was frustrating. It set me back about three weeks in my training, and that's all."
In 1998 he angered Welsh officials back by pulling out of the Kuala Lumpur games at short notice, arguing he was too tired to compete.
"I didn't really fancy taking a 20-hour trip from South Africa to Kuala Lumpur - so I pulled out," he recalls.
"I still think it's up to the discretion of the athlete to pull out. I genuinely didn't believe I was capable of a performance that justified my selection."
"Everything I am doing is geared towards the end of July," he says."My focus is on Manchester.
"And, being greedy, I would like to add more titles to my collection."
Jackson failed to compete at the 2001 Welsh Championships, participation in which was originally part of the selection criteria for the Welsh team for Manchester.
But that rule has now been waived for the former world champion.
"I've spoken to the Athletics Association of Wales about the situation and obviously a rule was set for competing at the Commonwealth Games," he says.
"I wanted the AAW to know that, if I'm fit and healthy, I want to run for Wales and I wanted to tell them face to face."
[an error occurred while processing this directive]
Other top Athletics stories:
Links to more Athletics stories are at the foot of the page.
|E-mail this story to a friend|
Links to more Athletics stories